Create effective responsive search ads
If your responsive search ads are under review for more than 1 business day, they will not show. To fix this, make sure that each ad has at least 5 different headlines and 2 descriptions that do not repeat the same or similar phrase.
In this article, you'll learn best practices for writing responsive search ads and some common mistakes to avoid. Google recommends adding at least two expanded text ads and one responsive search ad per ad group. We have a video tutorial to help you create responsive search ads to serve the right messages to the right customers. Watch the tutorial here.
Best practices to create responsive search ads
Get started with creating responsive search ads, by reviewing the “Add responsive search ads” recommendation.
1. Add as many unique, relevant headlines and descriptions as you can
Providing too many redundant headlines and descriptions restrict the system’s ability to assemble ad combinations.
To increase the likelihood that your ad shows, focus on these key guidelines for each responsive search ad:
To increase the likelihood that your ad shows, focus on these key guidelines for each responsive search ad:
- Provide at least 8-10 headlines. The more headlines you provide, the more options there are to assemble your messages into relevant ads, which may increase performance.
- Provide at least 5 unique headlines that don't repeat the same or similar phrases.
- Be sure to include a keyword in 2 headlines.
- Be sure to have at least 3 other headlines that do NOT include your keywords.Try highlighting additional product or service benefits and features, a problem you're solving, or highlight shipping and return information.
- Provide at least 2 unique descriptions.
- Try highlighting additional information about your product or service that isn’t mentioned in your headlines.
Note: Responsive search ads can show up to two descriptions at a time.
2. Reuse existing content from your existing text ads
Reuse your existing headlines and descriptions from your high-performing text ads. The same content that worked in your existing text ads will work well in your responsive search ads, which can help improve performance.
3. Add popular keywords to your headlines
Try including text from your keywords that serve most often in your ad group to your headlines. This increases the relevance of your ad combinations for search users, which can improve the effectiveness of your responsive search ads.
For example, if you've included digital cameras as a keyword, your ad headline could be "Buy Digital Cameras." If there are five keywords in your ad group and three of them have the most traffic, try adding those keywords to your headlines to get your ad strength to the next level and improve the performance of your ad.
4. Improve your Ad strength → Get to ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ ad strength rating
Ad strength provides you with feedback to help you focus on providing the right messages to your customers. Try getting each responsive search ad to at least “Good” Ad strength. Use the action items to see what next steps to take to improve the effectiveness of your ad.
If you have pinned some of your headlines and descriptions, try removing the pinning to allow the system to assemble more ad combinations and potentially increase performance of your ads. You can also try pinning more than one headline to the same position.
Note: Ad customizers are currently not supported by responsive search ads.
Example responsive search ads
Example #1 - Women's Shoes
Good example
This example follows the best practices for creating a responsive search ad.
| Headlines and descriptions | Possible ad combinations |
|---|---|
Headlines
Descriptions
|
|
Bad example
This is an example of how NOT to create a responsive search ad.
Avoid repeating the same text in every headline. In the following example, “Women’s Shoes” is in every headline.
Issues
- Redundant text in headlines
- Fewer than 5 headlines
How to fix
- Add more unique headlines
- Break up your headlines into smaller units (for example: Latest Women's Shoes at STORE -> 1) Latest Women’s Shoes 2) STORE
| Headlines and descriptions | Possible ad combinations |
|---|---|
Headlines
Descriptions
|
|
Example #2 - Widgets
Good example
| Headlines and descriptions | Possible ad combinations |
|---|---|
Headlines
Descriptions
|
|
Bad example
Avoid using keyword insertion in too many headlines.
Issues
- Redundant text in headlines through keyword insertion
- Redundant descriptions
How to fix
- Add 2-3 more headlines without keywords
- Add one description that's unique from the existing descriptions
| Headlines and descriptions | Possible ad combinations |
|---|---|
Headlines
Descriptions
|
|
