Unlocking the power of Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)

Dynamic Search Ads are a game-changer in the world of PPC. Designed to automate ad creation and targeting, they allow you to reach a broader audience while saving time on campaign management.

In the fast-paced world of PPC marketing, this can be a great option for larger accounts, and can help free up more time for you, so that you can focus on strategy and analysis.

Sounds like a win-win, right? Let’s break down exactly how these ads work, their benefits, and the best practices for setting them up and optimising over time. It’s time to unlock the full potential of DSAs.

• Introduction to DSAs
• How do DSAs work?
• The benefits of DSAs
• Best Practices for setting up DSAs
• What to look out for
• Measuring success and optimising DSAs

Introduction to DSAs

What are they?
DSAs are automated Search ads that dynamically generate ad headlines and landing pages based on a website's content. Instead of targeting specific keywords, DSAs use content from your site to match user Search intent.

They are ideal for businesses with large websites or extensive product inventories.

How do they differ from traditional Search ads?
Traditional Search ads rely on manually selected keywords and ad copy, offering more control but requiring more effort. This is a time-consuming process that is starting to become a little outdated, as Google begins to favour generative, keyword-less ad formats like Performance Max.

DSAs automate the process by using Google’s algorithms to match searches to content on your website, reducing manual workload.

How do DSAs work?

So, how can you create a DSA that links to your brand’s products or services, and how does a DSA target the right audience? 

The role of website content in DSA targeting
Google crawls your website and indexes its content to determine which pages are most relevant to user queries. It picks up on the best existing copy on each page that summarises the content found on that URL.

Well-structured, SEO-friendly websites with clear categories and product descriptions perform best with DSAs. If your theme, offers and product descriptions are clear to users, it’ll be clear to Google.

How Google automatically generates headlines and pages
When a user’s query matches your content, Google generates a dynamic headline based on the most relevant page. Google will crawl the URL that you provide, sourcing the best text to use as headlines for the ads.

The ad directs users to a dynamically selected landing page, ensuring relevance to their search intent.

The Benefits of DSAs

Increased reach by targeting long-tail keywords

• DSAs capture long-tail search queries that are often missed in traditional campaigns.

• By covering a broader range of searches, DSAs can increase impressions and clicks without you having to build out countless campaigns based on what you think users might use as a search term.

Enhanced relevance through automation

• Automation ensures that ads are tailored to user intent, improving ad relevance and click-through rates (CTR).

• Google’s algorithms dynamically create headlines and choose the most relevant landing pages, saving you time.

Compatibility with other campaign strategies

• DSAs work well alongside keyword campaigns, helping to fill gaps in coverage.

• They complement remarketing campaigns by targeting new users while allowing other campaigns to retarget existing ones.

Best Practices for setting up DSAs

How to structure a DSA campaign effectively
Start by organising campaigns around logical categories or themes from your website (e.g., product types or services).
Use separate campaigns for DSAs to avoid overlap with keyword campaigns and ensure proper tracking. This also makes it easier to distinguish conversion sources of different products or themes.
Finally, make sure any existing copy on your site is easy to crawl, keeping titles and headlines limited to 60 or 90 characters. This will help Google find the most useful text for generated headlines.

Tips for choosing the right targeting options

Choose from targeting methods such as:

• All website pages (broad reach).

• Specific categories (more focused targeting).

• Individual pages or URLs (highly precise targeting).

Focus on pages with high-quality content and clear calls-to-action (CTAs).

Managing exclusions to maintain control over ad content

• Exclude irrelevant or poorly performing pages to avoid wasting ad spend.

• Use negative keywords to filter out searches that don’t align with your goals.

• Regularly review and refine exclusions to optimise performance.

What to look out for

Risks of poor targeting and irrelevant ads
If website content isn’t optimised, DSAs may show ads for irrelevant or low-quality pages. Poor targeting can lead to wasted spend and lower CTRs, so keep an eye on this. 
The best way to prevent this from happening is to create DSA’s based on specific URL’s, rather than an entire site. This will give you the opportunity to review the copy and performance of each page manually, to prevent low-quality URL’s from slipping through.

Limited control over headlines
Google automatically generates headlines, which may not always align perfectly with your branding or messaging. This can impact user perception and require additional monitoring.

How to mitigate potential issues

• Use detailed and highly specific negative keyword lists to prevent ads from triggering irrelevant searches.

• Regularly audit campaigns to identify and address performance issues.

• Ensure website content is optimised for Search and aligned with campaign goals.

Measuring success and optimising DSAs

Key metrics to track for DSA campaigns

• Click-through rate (CTR).

• Conversion rate.

• Cost per conversion (CPC).

• Impression share.

Compare performance against traditional campaigns to gauge effectiveness, and see which DSA’s are performing the best. From this data, you can analyse what’s making certain DSA campaigns work, and what needs a little work to improve.

Tips for ongoing optimisation

• Test different targeting options, such as categories or individual pages, to identify what works best.

• Continuously refine exclusions and negative keywords based on performance data.

• Experiment with bid adjustments to maximise ROI.

In conclusion

Versatile and efficient, Dynamic Search Ads are a revolutionary tool that you can use to upgrade your PPC marketing campaigns. Through making use of the wealth of data at Google’s fingertips, and pulling vital useful information from your specific site URLs, you can reach untapped audiences and make the most of those long-tail search queries.
Move over, keywords. DSA’s are the future of PPC, so long as you know how to make the most of them. If you ever need a refresher, just pop back to this article for everything you need to know to get the best out of this exciting new ad type.