Google Ads for Local Businesses: 6 Essential Strategies

By: Hannah Zora Strong, PPC Specialist

If you're ready to take your local business to the next level with online advertising, this blog post is for you. We'll break down the essential steps to set up and optimize your Google Ads campaigns for local success.

1. Location is King: Structure Campaigns Geographically

When it comes to structuring your Google Ads campaigns for local businesses, prioritize location over keywords.

This approach offers several advantages:

• Granular Control: Optimize bids and budgets for specific locations based on performance and demand.

• Improved Click-Through Rates (CTR): Include the town or city name in your ad copy to boost relevance and attract more clicks.

• Landing Page Testing: Easily A/B test location-specific landing pages versus service-specific ones to see which drives better conversions.

2. Master Location Settings

Fine-tune your targeting by adding specific locations or postcodes in bulk within your campaign settings. This ensures your ads are shown only to people in the areas you serve. 

You can also set a radius around your store to target users within a specific distance, maximizing relevance for businesses with a limited service area.

3. Prioritize Presence Targeting

When it comes to location targeting options, start with the "Presence" option rather than "Presence or Interest." This ensures your ads are shown only to people physically located in your target areas, increasing the likelihood of attracting genuine local customers.

4. Leverage Ad Extensions

Ad extensions enhance your ads with additional information and features, such as click-to-call buttons, Google reviews, and location details. To enable these extensions, connect your Google Ads account to your Google Business Profile.

5. Track Store Visits

Store visit tracking provides valuable insights into how your online ads drive foot traffic to your physical locations. While Google's eligibility criteria for this feature can be somewhat vague, ensure your locations are verified, campaigns are running location assets, and your account meets data thresholds.

6. Explore Local Services Ads

Local Services Ads are a pay-per-lead advertising format that connects your services directly with local customers. These ads are ideal for service-based businesses with smaller budgets, as you only pay when you receive a qualified lead. They work on a separate system from Google Ads, though.

You can effectively reach and attract local customers with Google Ads, driving foot traffic and boosting your business's growth. With a well-optimized PPC strategy, your local business will be ready to thrive.

Hannah is a PPC Specialist based in Newcastle. She supports brands with local customers to get better performance from Google and LinkedIn Ads. 

You can find her on LinkedIn