You Can Target Your PPC Campaign To Reach Customers In Your Area

by Brian Basch

It’s relatively easy to target your pay per click, or PPC, advertising campaign to your area, so you’ll be able to get customers for your business. While there are lots of options available, one of the best systems for geotargeting PPC campaigns is Google AdWords.

If you want your ads only to be seen by people in your area, geographical targeting comes in to the picture as a valuable tool. Use Google AdWords to focus on a specific city. That way, only people searching Google in that city or area that you specified will see your ads. Keywords don’t matter here, if the person searching the internet isn’t in the city you have targeted, your ad won’t come up.

Why would you want to keep your ads from being seen by people outside the correct area? If you only do business locally, clicks from outside the area cost you money without bringing in a return. Confining your ads to the pool of possible customers means that each click has a much higher chance of turning into a sale.

Of course, there’s more to geotargeting than just restricting to searchers currently in an area. For instance, if someone who’s traveling to your area is searching for the product or service you offer, you’d like to be able to help them. However, if you target only one area, they’ll miss your ad, even though they could be a potential customer.

Use a locally targeted keyword list to enable tourists (or perhaps you have another use) to zero in on offers from specific cities or areas. You can even modify this to suit seasons and it can be tailored to suit your local marketing plan. It’s as simple as adding the area to the keyword phrase. Something like “ski rental” becomes “ski rental in Alaska” or any other area you’d like to specify.

This gives you a choice about targeting. Using a locally targeted keyword campaign also means that you can use other systems than Google AdWords, though they’re still a big sector of the market. Just about any good PPC system can use geotargeted keywords to make it clear who and where you want to market. Use both techniques together for greater effectiveness. You’ll find people who are more likely to become your customers.

There are a few things to pay attention to, as well. Ask yourself where and how your goods and services can be delivered. If there’s a limit to your effective area, remember to stick to that when you choose your keywords and your geotargeting methods. This might seem obvious, but many people forget it!

Locally targeted keywords should begin with a keyphrase that will receive good results, so do some research into what works. You may want to isolate the interest in your ad, but don’t completely close it off by choosing keywords or phrases that are too obscure. Monitor the effectiveness of geotargeted ads, as well as keywords or phrases to make sure your campaign is going well. A locally targeted PPC campaign can work wonders if you do your homework and, who knows, could lead to a sudden business expansion.

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