What does “Local” Mean to Your Customers?

In Google Ads, (aka AdWords), successful local ad campaigns have a handful of important tools to help you win at local search. There are laser-focused targeting options that, used correctly, will help you trim unnecessary ad spend in the wrong markets.

Google's definition of what is “local” depends upon a variety of things: your industry sector, your competitive landscape, the population density of your business service area, and customer intent.  For example, a restaurant, a personal injury lawyer, and a canoe rentals outfitter will have different understandings of what is local to their customers.

When implementing your PPC strategy, you will have the most success when you thoroughly understand your market, service area, and the buying process of your customers. You want to be sure you define what local means for your business, and not let Google make possibly incorrect assumptions with default settings for your PPC campaigns.  

11 Tips for Effective Local Search Campaigns

---

1. Be Smart about Your Geographic Targeting

• Understand your geographic target: Where do your customers come from?  And, just as important, where are they located when they are actually looking for your products? These two places are not always the same!

• Adequately limit your geographic area: Google’s location targeting options let you limit the geographic area, (radius, zip code, county, city, state, etc.) where your ads will be seen. Google also lets you target customers looking for what you offer, regardless of where they are located.

• See where your customers are coming from now:  For local search ads, look at your existing User Location Report to see where your users are coming from. It may surprise you. If you find countries, states, or cities you don’t expect to see for your local business, then you need to tighten your t...