Site links are effective tools for promoting any PPC ad. In a regular text ad, the user only has a limited number of ways to access the destination URL – either through the headline or the display URL. With site links, you now have the option to provide additional points of access for the user. Moreover, as long as the link has keywords relevant to the user’s search, you can increase the overall relevancy of your ad and therefore increase the overall CTR of your campaign.
What this means for hotels: Let’s say you have ad copy A, but the user type in “geo-modifier + hotel room”. Your text ad, headline, and display URL should have relevant keywords. The destination URL should be relevant to rooms. However, the user may specifically be interested in room rates, room amenities, virtual room tour, etc. You can provide a high level of relevancy by providing links to the user to further enhance your text ad. By offering more options of links, you further entice the user to click.
I ran a test for a Seattle Hotel to measure the impact for site links.
Between 4/1/10 – 4/27/10, their search campaign achieved a 1.29% CTR. I enabled the following 4 site links on 4/27/10:
- Seattle WA Hotel – this link led the user to the website’s Location page
- Photos of Seattle Hotel – this link led the user to website’s Photo Gallery
- Seattle Hotel Discounts – this link led the user to one of the website’s Promotions page
- Seattle Hotel Video – this link led the user to the website’s video tour
For the same date range that followed, CTR almost doubled. And the site links contributed to 10% in incremental clicks.
If your PPC campaign qualifies for site links, take advantage of the tool immediately. It offers more options for the user to visit your website. It also enhances your text ad to make it stand out on the SERP. Lastly, it entices the user to click because you are now offering more options to see your website rather than through the hyperlinked headline and display URL. You are likely to see an increase in clicks.
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Contributed by: Nelson Toriano, Milestone Internet Marketing
