Optimizing Google Ads with Dynamic Search Ads (DSA)

Published by Tolulope Ajibade at September 6, 2024

What Are Dynamic Search Ads (DSA)?

Dynamic Search Ads are ads automatically generated by Google based on the content of your website. Instead of using keyword-based targeting, DSAs crawl your website and match user search queries to relevant pages, dynamically generating headlines and URLs for your ads.

This means you don’t have to create ads for every product or service page, and you can expand your ad coverage to queries that might not be captured by traditional keyword campaigns.

Key Benefits of Dynamic Search Ads:

Keyword Coverage Expansion: Capture new search queries related to your website’s content that you might not have targeted manually.
Time-Saving: Automates ad creation and targeting, reducing the manual work of building extensive keyword lists and writing numerous ads.
Dynamic Headlines: Google generates relevant ad headlines based on the user’s search query and your website content, improving ad relevance.
Ad Flexibility: Ads are automatically updated as your website changes, ensuring that ads stay relevant without manual updates.

How Dynamic Search Ads Work

DSAs rely on Google’s ability to crawl your website, index its content, and match user search queries to the most relevant page. Here’s a breakdown of how they function:

Website Crawling: Google indexes your website’s content. This can be controlled by specifying certain URLs or allowing Google to crawl the entire site.
Query Matching: When a user’s search query matches content on your site, Google dynamically generates an ad with a headline based on the query and the content of the matched landing page.
Ad Display: The ad is served, directing the user to the most relevant landing page on your website.
Automated Headlines and URLs: While descriptions are written by you, the headlines and URLs are automatically created by Google to match the search query.

Setting Up Dynamic Search Ads

Step 1: Campaign Creation

To create a DSA campaign:

In Google Ads, click on Campaigns, then New Campaign.
Select a goal like Website Traffic or Sales.
Choose the Search campaign type.
Under the “Select the way you’d like to reach your goal” section, select Dynamic Search Ads.

Step 2: Setting Targeting Sources

DSAs offer several ways to target your ads based on your website’s content:

All Pages: Targets the entire website.
Specific Pages: Choose certain pages or categories of your site, such as product pages or services.
Page Feeds: Upload a custom feed of URLs that you want to target. This allows for granular control over which pages should generate ads.

Step 3: Writing Descriptions

While Google generates headlines and URLs dynamically, you are responsible for writing compelling descriptions. These descriptions should focus on your unique selling points (USPs), promotions, or calls-to-action (CTAs).

Example of a DSA description:

“Find the best deals on [Product Category]. Shop now for free shipping and easy returns!”

Optimizing Dynamic Search Ads for Performance

1. Leverage Page Feeds for Control

One of the key optimization techniques for DSAs is the use of Page Feeds. A Page Feed is a spreadsheet of URLs that you want to focus on for DSA targeting. It allows you to fine-tune which parts of your website Google should prioritize when generating ads.

How to Set Up a Page Feed:

Create a spreadsheet with two columns: Page URL and Custom Label.
Populate it with the URLs of your most important pages (e.g., top-selling products or seasonal categories).
Upload the spreadsheet in the Business Data section of Google Ads.
Use the feed in your DSA campaign to target specific pages based on custom labels.

This method gives you control over which URLs Google should consider for DSA campaigns and helps focus your budget on high-priority pages.

2. Exclude Irrelevant Pages

While DSAs offer great flexibility, there’s always a risk that Google might target irrelevant or low-performing pages. To prevent this, use Negative Targets to exclude specific pages or categories from being used to generate ads.

For example, if your website has blog posts, support pages, or other non-commercial content, these may not be ideal for driving conversions. Exclude these URLs from DSA campaigns to prevent wasted ad spend.

How to Exclude Pages:

Navigate to the Dynamic Ad Targets section in your DSA campaign.
Add exclusion rules based on URL, page content, or categories to block unwanted pages from being used in your ads.

3. Refine Targeting with Categories and Custom Labels

DSAs can automatically organize your website content into different categories. These categories allow you to target ads more effectively by focusing on specific products or services.

You can also use Custom Labels in your Page Feeds to segment products by priority, performance, or other criteria. For example:

Label top-performing products as “High Priority” and allocate more budget to ads targeting these pages.
Create separate campaigns for different product categories or custom labels to better control budget allocation and bidding strategies.

4. Bid Adjustments for Dynamic Ad Targets

Just like with keyword-based campaigns, you can set bid adjustments for Dynamic Ad Targets. This allows you to prioritize certain categories or specific landing pages that are likely to generate higher conversions.

For instance, if you know that a particular product category converts better than others, increase the bids for those Dynamic Ad Targets to capture more traffic and conversions.

How to Apply Bid Adjustments:

In the Dynamic Ad Targets section of your DSA campaign, find the categories or custom labels you want to adjust bids for.
Apply bid adjustments based on performance data, increasing or decreasing bids to optimize results.

5. Monitor Search Terms and Add Negative Keywords

Even though DSAs are keywordless campaigns, you can still view the search terms that triggered your ads. This is crucial for understanding user intent and refining your campaign by adding negative keywords to block irrelevant queries.

Regularly check the Search Terms report to identify:

Irrelevant Queries: Add these as negative keywords to prevent your ads from showing for unrelated searches.
High-Performing Queries: Consider adding high-performing queries to your standard keyword campaigns for more control over bidding and ad copy.

6. A/B Test Descriptions and Targeting Options

Just like traditional search campaigns, testing is key to optimizing DSA performance. A/B test different ad descriptions, as well as variations in your Dynamic Ad Targeting options (categories, specific pages, or custom labels).

Testing Strategies:

Ad Descriptions: Rotate multiple description variations to find which messaging resonates best with your audience.
Targeting: Test whether targeting all pages, specific categories, or a Page Feed delivers better performance. You can split your budget across different targeting methods to compare results.

7. Combine DSA with Remarketing

Dynamic Search Ads can also be paired with Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA). This powerful combination allows you to tailor your DSA campaigns specifically to users who have already interacted with your website, such as previous visitors or cart abandoners.

By applying remarketing audiences to your DSA campaigns, you can bid more aggressively on high-value users who are more likely to convert.

Best Practices for Dynamic Search Ads

Start Small and Scale: If you’re new to DSAs, start by targeting a specific section of your website (such as product pages) before expanding to the entire site.
Regularly Review Performance: Monitor the performance of Dynamic Ad Targets, search terms, and categories to ensure that your ads are targeting relevant queries and pages.
Focus on Conversion-Optimized Pages: Use Page Feeds to prioritize pages with high conversion potential, such as top-selling products or services.
Test and Adjust: Continuously test ad descriptions, bids, and targeting options to optimize performance and ROI.

Conclusion

Dynamic Search Ads offer a versatile and powerful way to expand your Google Ads campaigns without the need for exhaustive keyword lists and ad copywriting. By leveraging advanced techniques like Page Feeds, category targeting, and bid adjustments, you can harness the full potential of DSAs to capture new traffic, increase conversions, and reduce manual workload.

For advertisers looking to maximize their search campaign efficiency, DSAs are an excellent tool that combines automation with high relevance, ensuring that your ads are always in front of the right users.