Chapter Eleven

Will AdWords Work for Local Business?

By Ben Hart

Heck, yes!

More than 60% of Internet searches are for local business!

Real estate is one classic example.

When you are first setting up your campaign on Google, you can select countries, language, regions and cities.  You can even customize your campaign so that your ads only appear within a certain distance from your business.

Google uses IP address and some other tricks to track where searchers are searching from.

Keep in mind that this level of match is only available on Google, not for ads running on it’s AdSense Content Network sites.

If someone in New York is looking for tee-shirts in Los Angeles and specifies that in the search, Google will override its IP address restriction and show the Los Angeles locations selling tee-shirts.

Because of the way Google identifies local searchers, it’s essential that you also set up a national campaign to market your local business.  The second campaign is not actually a national campaign, just configured as a national campaign in Google.

Your locally configured campaign can include more generic keywords, while all your keywords for your national campaign would need to include your state and the names of towns in your local trading area.  The reason it’s important to configure ads both ways is:

1) Google identifies local searchers primarily through IP address.  But searchers who are using a large ISP such as AOL will be routed through proxy servers.  So the IP address Google sees might not be anywhere near the location of the searcher.

2) Many people search at work and have long commutes.  If they are searching for something near home and not near work, the local businesses Google gives the searcher might not be close to where she’ll be shopping.

If you read the Region and City Targeting Accuracy section in the Google AdWords Learning Center, you’ll see the problem.  You’ll find that here:

http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/text/19167.html#19172

Note also that Google adds a fifth line of text to local ads in order to distinguish them from national ads. This helps you if you are a local business.  So you certainly want to benefit from the local business designation – another reason to be sure to set up your business in Google as a local business.  But create a national ad as well, with local area names included in your keyword phrases.

To do this, go to a map and make a list of  all towns and locations in your local trading area. Include these locations with your keywords.  If you are a roller skating rink, your keyword list for your national ad will look something like this if you select “phrase match” or “exact match” as your level of match                       

san diego roller skating

roller skating san diego

la jolla roller skating california

other surrounding towns, etc.

Start with “exact match”; then expand to “phrase match” and “broad match” if you want more traffic.

For your nationally configured ad promoting a local business, you will have a big list of keyword combinations.

When you select “exact match” or “phrase match,” you need to think of every possible combination that specifies the service and location.  This might give you a list of 200 keyword combinations, or more.

Get Your Local Business Included on Google Maps

Local businesses are eligible to appear in two places: 

1) On the regular ad listings on Google, Search Network and Content Network.

2) Also on Google maps!

 Google is now emphasizing the importance of collecting data on local businesses. This is certainly going to help Google continue to add massively to its already massive business database.  But it’s also enormously helpful to local business.

To have your local business included in Google maps and the enhanced listing, you need to go to Google’s “Local Business Center” and register your business.  Google walks you through the steps on how to do that.

Once your business is registered at the Local Business Center for maps, Google will display an interactive map both next to the organic listing and PPC listing. Each local listing for your search category is marked on the map with a red balloon.

If someone clicks your red balloon, the map zooms into your location and a big balloon pops up on the map with you and your local competitors highlighted in the balloon.  So if you are searching for Italian restaurants in Boston, Google will show you on a map a selection of Italian restaurants -- including their location, contact information, directions and even reviews by others. When the searcher clicks your business all the information you provide on your business then pops into view.  You can include a ton of information in there – a list and description of your services, your hours of operation, ways you accept payment, address and phone number, directions, links to your website, and more.

Google even includes a printable coupon feature.  You decide what the coupon should say.  Your prospective customers can then print them.

This tool is becoming more important everyday for local business. 

If you are a local business and are not included in Google maps, you are missing the boat in a big way.  So if you are a local business, you absolutely must also register at the Google’s Local Business Center in addition to creating your regular AdWords campaigns. 

For your Local Business Center ads, Google wants the name of your business in the headline of the ad.  This violates my rule on what makes a good AdWords headline, but that’s what Google wants for its Local Business Center ads.  Google was to capture the look and feel of a directory (similar to the Yellow Pages) with its Local Business Center ads.

But that does not stop you from also creating ads in your regular AdWords account. You must do both.

Tip: Try Other Pay-Per-Click Ad Programs

Google is one search engine. And it’s by far the biggest one.  But there are lots of other search engines out there and they all have pay per click advertising programs.

And you can often get keywords for less per click than you can on Google.  You’ll get less traffic, but really what matters most is how much are you paying for a lead.  If you can get the same quality name for less on another search engine, you should do it.

Yahoo has the second biggest PPC program. Exact Seek, MSN and all the major search engines have PPC programs.  So do the online Yellow Pages and Super Pages. 

I love pay-per-click advertising because I have complete control over my costs.  I can monitor how my ads are doing minute to minute.  I can turn off or change a campaign anytime I want.  I always know exactly how my ads are doing.

Pay-per-click gives me more control over my advertising and over my costs than any other form of advertising.   That’s why 70% of my online advertising is in the pay-per-click arena.

The best way to learn is just to start doing it.