This is a great way for you to visually see a preview of your ads, without have to log into your Google Ads account.

The tool is very easy to use. Simply your enter your headlines, descriptions, and display URL. You can also add ad extensions like site links and call-outs. It even includes character count limits to help you stay within Google’s requirements.

Once you finish completing all of the fields, you can click on “save as image” to download the image file.

How You Can Still Create Expanded Text Ads in Google Ads

Not so long ago, Google shifted to add more support for expanded text ads within Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords). While this came as exciting news to advertisers in the PPC space, many of them found that creating these expanded text ads wasn’t quite as simple as they would have hoped.

Despite these difficulties, the ever resourceful web advertising community has developed several solutions that you can take advantage of while created an expanded text ad for Google Ads. These solutions range from dedicated expanded text ad tools to best practices that reduce the difficulty of creating an efficient advertisement.

To help you create expanded text ads, we’ve created a handy guide that covers everything from the definition of an expanded text ad to specialty tools that you can use to build your next advertisement for Google Ads. You’ll learn about all of these subjects and more as we explore the following topics and questions:

• What is an Expanded Text Ad?

What is an Expanded Text Ad?

An expanded text ad is an advertisement that shows up on the top of a search engine results page (SERP) for a targeted keyword and is twice as large as a standard text ad. The increased size allows advertisers to increase the volume of information that is added to the page, making it easier to inform users about the product or service being advertised. It also takes up a greater amount of space on the SERP, reducing the likelihood that your target audience scans past the ad on their way to organic traffic results or goes to view another text ad on the page.

Why is Creating an Expanded Text Ad Difficult?

Most of the complaints surrounding the new format for expanded text ads is related to old habits. Advertisers like us have grown accustomed to a 140 character limit, and much like when Twitter changed their character limit back in 2018, it has resulted in some consternation from power users of the platform.

The other element that increased the difficulty of creating an expanded text ad in Google Ads is the introduction of a secondary headline. These headlines, which don’t always show up, need to thread the needle of adding useful information to both the first headline and the body copy of your ad, while remaining inessential to both of those elements themselves.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons that advertisers struggle to create effective expanded text ads, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. To help you become more confident when building an expanded text ad, let’s take a look at how they’re constructed.

How Expanded Text Ads are Constructed

Expanded text ads are constructed out of four distinct elements, each presenting their own benefits and challenges. Let’s explore what these four elements are and build an understanding of how to use each to your advantage.

• Headline 1: The first headline is the most important element of your text ad. It is the first thing that your audience will see and is the only thing that you can guarantee that your target audience will see in exactly the way that you created it. The main challenge when it comes to building your Headline 1 is the 30 character limit. Our main tip is to cook up something disruptive that interrupts the natural scanning instinct that people have when using a SERP, but make sure not to get too clever, throwing in an adjective like “STOP!” can hew too close to the realm of spam. It’s best to give a brief hook that provides value to the reader of the ad.
• Headline 2: While headline 1 is the most important element of your text ad, headline 2 is the most challenging. Headline 2 doesn’t always show up, and whether or not it is included with your ad is up to the Google algorithm’s discretion. As a result, you need to create something that can add value to the headline 1 and description, but won’t be missed if the algorithm decides not to show it to your audience.
• Description (Body): The description is the largest portion of your ad, and can be up to 80 characters long. As a result, it needs to be snappy and attention grabbing while being informative. The best strategy for creating a great description is to rely on logical and emotional appeals in conjunction with a clear call to action that directs your audience to engage with your page or product.
• URL Paths: URL paths aren’t essential but should definitely be considered when you’re creating your next ad. These vanity links can be used to add additional information about the landing page, product or service that you want your audience to interact with.

How to Build an Expanded Text Ad Using Our Expanded Text Ad Generator

Of course, building a great ad only matters if you can get a client to approve it. Our expanded text ad preview tool can help you design these ads in a more visual manner. Having the added visuals that our tool provides can not only increase the likelihood of your client understanding your add but improve your own ability to create an effective ad.

To build an ad using this tool, you simply fill in the associated fields with your copy and watch as our tool instantly generates a visualization of the ad for you to review. You can also add extensions like call-outs and site links that can increase the success rate of your expanded text ad.

Try our Expanded Text Ad Preview Tool

Don’t let the confusing nature of expanded text ads hold you back from success. Try out our expanded text ad preview tool for Google Ads today for free and see the difference that added visualization can make for you and your clients!