Creating Google Ads that perform well is about more than just good writing—it’s also about structure.
One big question advertisers have is: How many ads should you put in each ad group? Let’s break it down.
Table of Contents
- 1 Ad is Usually Enough
- Benefits of Sticking to One Ad
- Keeping Ad Groups and Ads Relevant
- How to Best Leverage Your RSA
- Should You Pin or Not Pin?
- When to Add a Second Ad
- Final Recommendations
1 Ad is Usually Enough
When it comes to Google Ads, more ads don’t always mean better results. For most ad groups, start with just one Responsive Search Ad (RSA).
Why? RSAs are flexible. They mix and match headlines and descriptions to show the best-performing combinations. So, even one RSA can cover different search terms and audience needs.
Benefits of Sticking to One Ad
Using only one RSA has three major benefits:
- More Data for Each Ad
With only one ad, Google’s algorithm can gather more data on how it performs. This data helps Google understand what works and what doesn’t, so your ad can improve over time. - Better Use of Your Budget
Fewer ads mean that more of your budget goes to that single RSA. With all your budget in one place, your ad has a better chance to perform well without spreading your money too thin. - Easy to Manage
One ad is easy to monitor and optimize. If something isn’t working, you’ll see it right away. You won’t need to sort through multiple ads to figure out what needs to change.
Keeping Ad Groups and Ads Relevant
To get the best results, it’s important to keep each ad group focused on a single theme. Your ad group should target a specific set of related keywords, and your RSA should be relevant to those keywords.
If you start feeling like you need a second ad to capture all your keywords, that might be a sign it’s time to create a new ad group instead. Breaking up ad groups by theme allows you to keep each ad specific and relevant, which Google rewards by showing your ads more often and helping your budget go further.
How to Best Leverage Your RSA
To get the most out of your RSA, it’s important to structure your headlines thoughtfully. I like the framework of spreading your headlines to cover a range of utility.
- Headlines 1-4: Keep these closely related to the keywords you’re targeting. This helps Google’s algorithm understand the ad’s relevance and matches the user’s search intent.
- Headlines 5-12: Use these for the benefits or outcomes of your service or solution. Show why your service is valuable, emphasizing what users gain by choosing you.
- Headlines 13-15: Add call-to-actions here, like “Get Started,” “Sign Up Today,” or “Learn More.” While call-to-actions are still useful, they’re less critical than before since Google focuses more on matching search intent.
Should You Pin or Not Pin?
Pinning allows you to lock certain headlines or descriptions in specific positions. For example, if you always want your first headline to be closely related to your target keyword, you could pin it to position 1. However, be cautious with pinning—too much pinning can limit Google’s ability to test combinations and may reduce ad performance.
I’ve found allowing Google’s algorithm to find best headline combinations more performant than pinning headlines for the companies I’ve worked with, but I’ve seen pinning being touted as more performant by other Google Ads advertisers.
Looking for inspo? Check out our favourite Google Ad Examples.
Recommendation: Try not to pin unless you have a strong reason. If you do pin, keep it minimal to give Google’s machine learning enough flexibility to find the best-performing combinations. This is something that is important to test on your audience and keywords.
When to Add a Second Ad
If you want to try something new, consider adding a second RSA. Here are a couple of situations when it makes sense to add another ad:
- To Test New Ideas
If you want to try different headlines, descriptions, or messaging, a second RSA lets you compare results. Maybe you want to try a new call-to-action or a different selling point. A second RSA is a great way to do that without overloading the ad group. - If Your Audience Changes
As your campaign grows, your audience or goals may shift. Adding a second RSA can help you see if new ideas work better for a changed audience.
Just remember: don’t go overboard. More than two ads in a single group can confuse Google’s algorithm and slow down performance.
Final Recommendations
To get the best results:
- Start with one RSA and see how it performs.
- Add a second RSA only if you need to test something new.
- Keep things simple. One or two ads per group will keep performance strong without making things messy.
