How Display URLs Matter in Paid Search?

For every ad you create, the content you use in your ad will have an impact on how well it performs. Ad performance can be influenced by headlines, keywords, and even the CTA. You must be aware of the impact of a correct landing page on conversion rates. It is possible to face variation in the performance depending on the URL in your ad. Most of us forget the value of the display URL when creating PPC landing pages. However, it is important to note that, all search engine marketers, have only a certain number of lines of text to deal with and should make the most of each one. Let’s go through the basics of the display URL, how it affects quality scores, and how to test display URLs, in this article.

Display URL basics

The 4th line of your ad text is a display URL. This line of ad copy informs the searcher which website they will visit after clicking the link. The display URL does not have to be a page on your website. Nevertheless, based on the PPC management services, the display URL’s root domain and the destination URL’s root domain must be the same.

Display URLs and quality score

The display URL click through rate within an ad group is one of the quality score elements. When calculating the CTR used in quality score, the PPC URL is evaluated separately from the rest of the ad copy. While display URLs are useful for raising CTR and, as a result, the quality score, they are far superior for testing conversion rates. Well, there are some misconceptions regarding the quality score such as:

• Quality Score is calculated by Google without taking keyword match type into account. As a result, if you have a broad, phrase, and precise match of the same keyword in your account, the Quality Score for all three will be the same. The QS of a keyword is determined by an exact match with a query. As a result, changing a keyword’s match type has no effect.
• When ads or keywords are paused, the quality score does not suffer. Since the Quality Score is based on how well your keywords and advertising perform, pausing paid search ads or keywords has no effect on it. 
• Quality Scores are distinct and have no effect on the display network, since the parameters used to determine these quality Scores are distinct.

Descriptive Keywords in Display URLs May Reduce Click-Through Rates

Understanding that a PPC URL attracts a lot of attention is more than just a branding issue. In order to improve results, the display URL must be changed. Adding descriptive keywords to the end of the domain name is the most popular way of accomplishing this. However, putting keywords in front of a domain name fails in the vast majority of cases, especially for domains with considerable brand equity and name recognition. Adding keywords to the end of the domain name, on the other hand, raises click-through rates frequently enough to be worth testing.

The Use of a Popular Domain Name in the Display URL Has a Big Impact

A study was carried out to see how effective it was to use the stronger brand name in the PPC URL of a paid search ad. In a display URL, the importance of an identifiable parent company domain name was emphasised. The display URL, resulted in a 20% higher click-through rate for the PPC ad. It would appear that the ad was the winner based purely on that information. Thus, the test demonstrated the positive influence a popular domain name in the display URL can have on click-through rates.

A Display URL Test with Subdomains

To acquire a better understanding of viewer interaction with display URLs, an eye tracking study was done on a specific brand, evaluating the length of time visitors spend gazing at display URLs on Google search engine results pages. The eye tracking study’s findings indicated that the display URL is a crucial part of a PPC ad. The display URL was responsible for a large amount of the time spent seeing each PPC landing page.

Findings of the Test Conducted

The general placement of a paid search ad on the page had a substantial impact on the amount of gaze activity received by the URL. The display URLs on the left of the page, predictably, received more attention than the URLs on the right. URLs on the left side of the page received nearly three times as much attention as those on the right. The amount of time spent looking at a URL was also affected by the ad’s placement. The URL in the first ad was examined for the longest time, while the URL in the third ad was examined for the shortest time. 

Display URLs drew greater attention than ad text descriptions but less attention than ad headlines of ads on the left. This is understandable given that the display URL in those PPC ads is to the left of the text, immediately below the headline, making it more visible than the description text but less visible than the headline. URLs within right-hand advertising, on the other hand, garnered less attention than both headlines and ad text descriptions. As they are displayed at the bottom of the PPC ad, the display URLs for ads on the right are the least important ad elements.

Conclusion

The findings of the eye tracking study, as well as the results of the other studies, indicate that display URLs are a significant part of PPC paid search ads. By cluttering the display of the domain name and changing display URLs as a test, dismisses the risk of lowering the branding value of a PPC ad. The long-term reward of acting on a successful test, on the other hand, can easily surpass the short-term expense of a failed test. A closely monitored display URL test is thus likely worth it for many PPC marketers.