Are You Leveraging AdWords Call Extensions?

Check out the screenshot below. I really like the MetLife and SelectQuote ads. Why? They leverage Google AdWords call extensions. Also known as desktop call extensions, these ad extensions offer a neat way for advertisers to display a phone number in their AdWords ads outside of descriptions lines 1 and 2. They are incremental to your existing AdWords ads and provide a great way to connect with users. If you’re set up to handle customer calls and conversions via phone, I highly recommend giving AdWords call extensions a try. Following are a few quick facts.

• AdWords call extensions work for both top, yellow bar advertisers as well as right rail advertisers. They work for everyone.
• They used to be free during the beta testing period but now cost money. Each call starts at $1.
• When you enable call extensions, you will activate a few new columns in your AdWords interface that display the number of phone calls and phone through rate (PTR), a metric very similar to click through rate (CTR) but for phone calls.
• Google displays its own number and then forwards to the number you enter in your ad extensions setup. That’s how Google measures the number of calls and charges you.
• To the best of my knowledge, phone calls do not count towards your overall CTR nor quality score at this time. If you get a ton of calls (and see fewer clicks as a result), you may experience a lower CTR and therefore quality score. That said, the economics may still make sense. You just need to model it all out and test both scenarios. In the future, calls may count towards your quality score.
• Call extensions only show up for ad groups that got at least 30 clicks in the last 30 days. They do not display for lower volume ad groups.

It’s my personal belief that call extensions add a lot of credibility to ones ad. I actually believe they can improve your CTR. Just having the call extensions number present shows that you mean business and you’re legit. This trust factor can really draw attention to your ad and make it look appealing. In my opinion, it’s a true winning situation and an ad extension that must be explored by all major AdWords advertisers. Are you currently leveraging call extensions in your AdWords campaigns?