Keyword insertion is one of the features of Google Ads and it is also known as Dynamic Keyword Insertion, or DKI in short. It is used for replacing certain keywords in the ad, based on the words someone types in Google search.
When certain conditions are met, dynamic keyword insertion can work wonders for your Google account. It is mostly recommended to use for busy and overworked advertisers, for whom this practice can be a huge time saver.
How Does Dynamic Keyword Insertion Work?
In essence, Google dynamically inserts the user’s search query in your ad copy in real time. However, it depends on Google whether the entire query or just partial query gets inserted in the headline of the ad copy.
Obviously, it’s impossible for an advertiser to guess every word that someone types in when searching for a product or service. So, here is where dynamic keyword insertion comes into play. As you want to include keywords in your ad copy that increase engagement, you should use DKI as a way to display the ad with the exact terms that someone uses.
Dynamic keyword insertion is a great Google Ads strategy to use to achieve the relevancy of your ad with the user’s search query. You are able to customize your ad so that it appears most relevant to the user (your potential customer) who is searching for your business or product. Thus, there’s no need to design and create multiple ad copies for each search term.
And as the relevancy of your ad copy is high, the chances of qualified clicks on your ad will increase, therefore resulting in higher Click Through Rate (CTR). Hence, the number of visitors diverting from your ad to your landing page will increase.
Focusing on an ad copy that is more personalized to the people searching in Google as well as having a high CTR will help you to achieve a higher quality score. Also, employing this technique can help you to decrease your Cost Per Click (CPC), thus, saving you money. Eventually, it will help you to reduce bid amounts for your ad campaign.
How to Set Up Dynamic Keyword Insertion?
Setting up dynamic keyword insertion is a fairly simple and short process, and I will walk you through it.
₁. When logged in your Google Ads account, navigate to the “Ads & Extensions” section located on the left-hand side of your screen.
₂. Click on the blue plus button to create a new ad copy.
₃. In the Headline 1 section, press the SHIFT button and the curly brackets { symbol on your keyboard. A drop-down menu will immediately pop up with the Keyword Insertion option, which will be the first one from the top. This is where you must insert the keyword of your choice, which will trigger the ad. Remember to close the keyword with the } curly bracket.
₄. After clicking on the keyword insertion option, you will see another drop-down box.
- The first option in the box is Default Text, which is the text consisting of 30 characters that Google Ads is going to add to your ad copy in case it cannot insert the user’s query in the keyword insertion option. In other words, the default text will be displayed in the search ad and will be displayed in the ad exactly as-is.
- The second option in the drop-down box is the Case. You can select the type of capitalization which you prefer to go with from Title Case, Sentence Case, or Lower Case. This case style will be applied to the keyword insertion text in the ad whenever it’s shown in Google search.
₅. Continue with filling out the remaining fields in the ad copy. As you’re doing that, you’ll be able to see the default text in the preview on the right-hand side.
What Problems Can Occur When Using Dynamic Keyword Insertion?
I need to mention that there are a few things that could go wrong when using keyword insertion ads. It’s important to recognize them as soon as possible to avoid problems, and they include:
One word headlines
If the headline has just a singular keyword inserted, your ad copy will not only look boring but also spammy.
Oddly worded text
Some of your keywords, when dynamically inserted into the ad copy, can appear oddly worded in the search results. This is because particular keywords might seem to make sense for some ad copies but not for others.
Wrong code entered
If the keyword insertion code is entered with parenthesis rather than brackets, with extra spaces, or incorrect use of capitalization, it will affect the ad.
Use of the competitor’s name
While it’s completely legal to bid on keywords that include your competitor’s name, you would probably run into copyright problems if you employ it within the header of your ad. For more explanation on this common issue, refer to my Keyword Insertion Ads post, or listen to my Pest Control Internet Marketing podcast episode.
In Summary,
Keep in mind that this Google Ads feature isn’t for everyone. And like any other tool, it has its pros and cons.
However, using a feature that allows for inserting keywords into an ad copy dynamically is definitely worth testing out and in fact, it can prove to be an effective strategy for your Google ads campaign.