It’s clear that Google is intent on marching down the road to advertising riches and that Local Search is a BIG part of its plans. We’re seeing ads around and in the Local Packs, as well as specific types of packs (such as those for hotels and home services) that you can only break into by paying Google in one way or another.

Anyone running AdWords campaigns for a locally-focused business without tailoring them to specific geographical markets is probably paying too much to attract searchers and is also likely to be paying for clicks made by people who could never become their customers.

Google offers AdWords Express, an automated version of its advertising product aimed at businesses that want to self-manage their accounts. However, most people who have tried it are not impressed with their results. In a survey done of SEOs and small to medium businesses conducted by Bright Local in March 2016, the takeaways tell us that whenever practical it’s preferable to use AdWords rather than AdWords Express.

The key to getting it right is to associate your AdWords account and your Google My Business (or Business Locations, for 10+ locations) account with each other to enable location extensions to work with your geo-targeting. Learn more specifics about location extensions here and here. Then follow the chart below to customize your AdWords account for Local Search.

The hardest part above is just getting AdWords and Google My Business Accounts linked in order to get started with location extentions. To do that you need follow these steps:

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