Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) is an extremely useful feature within AdWords that allows for extra flexibility when writing ad copy. I’m going to illustrate what I believe to be the fundamental features and benefits of using DKI. We’ll start with the basics and I’ll provide a checklist that can help determine whether or not the use of DKI is a viable solution for any ad text.
The Basics of Dynamic Keyword Insertion
DKI is designed around the concept of showing potential customers/visitors the most relevant keyword to their query within the ad at the moment of the query. When a user goes online and does a search for something, Google – by default – is going to choose the “best” relevant keyword in the AdWords account. DKI is going to allow the ads to change in real time from a default set of text to the keyword within the account that google matched the user’s search to. If this is still confusing check out this video explaining the basics.The reason why DKI is so important is because it makes the ads more relevant to end users, but advertisers can also benefit from an efficiency standpoint in some cases (more on that later).Dynamic Keyword Insertions sounds more complex than it really is but if we break it down into parts I’m positive it will all make sense. Dynamic = To constantly change, Keyword = words or phrases used to match user’s queries, and Insertion = to put in between. In part 2 of this 3 piece series, I will provide an example to help elaborate.
The Checklist
Before we use DKI we need to audit our ad groups and see if they are compatible with ads utilizing this feature. The important things to look for are:
- Find the longest keyword in each ad group and determine the character length
- Note ad groups that have multiple keywords with less than 30 or 15 characters
- Check the likeness of the keywords and the phraseology of long tail keywords
- If the keywords are going to change in real time, then ensure that the message of the ads remains regardless of the keyword Google selects
- Eliminate keywords with gross misspellings of the intended keyword or keyword phrases
- Mitigate the risk of ads seeming unprofessional or poorly written
- Determine the best case style to write the ads in
- See case styles below
A fundamental understanding of DKI and going through this checklist are paramount to the success if the implementation. Next time, we’ll look at how to successfully implement DKI.
