A plain search ad gives you a headline, a description and a link. Google Ads lets you add more to it. Extra links, short selling points and a call button can all sit under the main ad. Google calls these extras assets.
Assets cost nothing to add. They can make an ad larger and more useful, which gives people more reasons to choose your business. This post covers three of the most practical types for local businesses: sitelinks, callouts and call assets. It also explains why they do not show every time.
What Google means by assets
The Google Ads help page about assets describes them as the pieces of business information that make up an ad. That includes headlines and descriptions, links to pages, call buttons and location details. Some types are optional extras you add yourself. Others, such as headlines and descriptions, are required for responsive search ads.
There are many asset types beyond the three covered here. Google lists structured snippets, location, price, promotion, image, lead form and app assets among them. Each suits a different goal. For most service businesses, sitelinks, callouts and calls are the easiest place to start.
If you are still deciding whether search ads suit your business, it helps to see where they sit in the wider mix. Our overview of the main types of digital marketing sets out the options. Search ads work best when someone is already looking for what you offer. Assets give that person more ways to act on the spot.
Sitelinks
Sitelinks are extra links under your ad that send people to specific pages on your site. A plumber might link to emergency repairs, hot water systems and a contact page. The sitelink asset guide says an ad can show up to six sitelinks on desktop and up to eight on mobile. You need at least two for them to appear at all.
Sitelink text is limited to 25 characters in most languages. Each link can also carry description lines, which make the ad more helpful to the reader. Google recommends at least six sitelinks with descriptions for your busiest campaigns. Basing them on your website’s main menu is a sensible starting point.
A big advantage is flexibility. You can change sitelink text and addresses at any time without rewriting the ad. Editing a sitelink keeps its performance history. You can also schedule them, for example to promote a sale page only during the sale.
Sitelinks work well for firms with several distinct services. Our post on Google Ads in legal marketing looks at how law firms use search ads. A firm could give family law, conveyancing and wills their own sitelinks. Each link then sends the searcher straight to the right page.
Callouts
Callouts are short phrases that appear with your ad to highlight offers or details about your business. Think of lines like free quotes, open seven days or locally owned. Callout text is limited to 25 characters in most languages, and you can add up to ten. How many show depends on spacing, browser and device.
Google’s advice is to keep callouts short, since shorter text lets more of them show. Be specific so people can judge quickly if you meet their needs. Add general callouts at the account level first if they apply to every campaign. Then add more specific ones at campaign or ad group level.
Be aware of how levels interact. Callouts set at a more specific level stop higher level callouts from serving there. If you add a callout to an ad group, your account callouts will no longer show in that ad group. Google then picks the best performers from the callouts that are eligible.
Callouts suit claims you can stand behind. Only list offers that are real and current. A callout that promises something the business no longer does will frustrate the person who clicks. It can also cost you a lead you paid to attract.
Call assets
Call assets add a phone number to your ads. On phones and other devices that can make calls, a call button appears under the ad. On a desktop computer, the ad shows a Call us button that reveals the number. It can also show a QR code that opens the dialler on a smartphone.
A tap on a call asset costs the same as a click on the headline. You can schedule the number to show only during the hours you can answer. That matters for small teams, because a missed call is still a paid click. Turning on call reporting lets you count calls as conversions using Google forwarding numbers.
Google checks that the number belongs to the business being advertised. Vanity, premium and fax numbers are not accepted. The number must also be entered in the correct international format, or the ad may be disapproved. Get these details right before launch to avoid delays.
Call assets suit businesses where a conversation often comes before the sale. Our article on how wills lawyers can use Google Ads covers one practice area where search ads can bring in new clients. A call button makes contact easy from a mobile search. It removes a step between the search and the enquiry.
Why your assets do not always show
Adding assets does not mean they appear every time. Google shows them only when they are predicted to improve performance. Your ad’s position and Ad Rank also need to be high enough. Ads in higher positions get the first chance to show more assets.
Ad Rank takes into account your bid, the quality of your ad and landing page, the search context and the expected impact of assets. Google requires a minimum Ad Rank, including your assets, before extra assets show. Assets are also reviewed like ads, and a disapproved asset will not show until it is fixed. Even approved assets are not guaranteed to appear.
What assets cost
There is no charge to add assets to a campaign. You pay when someone clicks, just as you would for the main ad. A sitelink click costs the same as a headline click. Google also caps charges at two clicks per impression for each ad and its assets.
Google points out that adding assets is often cheaper than paying to move up a position. That makes them good value on a modest budget. Check the assets report every month or so to see which links and callouts earn clicks. Replace the weak ones and keep testing.
Automated assets
Google Ads can also create some assets for you when it predicts they will help. These need no setup. Dynamic sitelinks, for example, give the system more chances to show assets with your ads. If automated assets do not suit your business, you can turn account level automated assets off under Advanced settings in the Assets report.
Automated assets can be useful, but review them like anything else in your account. Pause or remove any automatically created sitelinks that point to the wrong pages. Ads bring in new enquiries, but keeping existing clients is a different task. Simple touches such as birthday emails for clients help with that side of the business.
Frequently asked questions
Are sitelinks and callouts free?
They are free to add. You pay only when someone clicks your ad or one of its sitelinks, as with any search click. Adding a callout does not create a separate fee. Google caps charges at two clicks per impression for each ad and its assets.
How many sitelinks should I add?
Google recommends at least six sitelinks with descriptions for busy campaigns. An ad needs at least two to show sitelinks at all. Up to six can appear on desktop and up to eight on mobile. Start with the main pages from your site menu.
Why is my call button not showing?
Call assets do not appear with every impression. The auction decides when they show, and Google says it is normal for them to show only some of the time. Check the asset is approved and scheduled for the current hours. Also confirm the number has passed Google’s verification checks.
