Geo Targeting

Unless you’re a company like Apple or Facebook with a corporate goal of massive worldwide sales and an advertising budget to match, you probably don’t need to display your ads to everyone, everywhere. So why pay for your Google AdWords ads to be shown to people who are unlikely to become customers?

Targeting Your Google AdWords Campaigns

Geo-targeting, or local pay-per-click (PPC), is a Google AdWords feature that lets you choose to have your ads appear only to customers in a certain geographic location or set of locations. Having that kind of control over your promotions will allow your budget to go farther and will also give you better results.

However, understanding and implementing geo targeting can be complex. And, unfortunately, the pitfalls can be costly.

Charlottesville SEO Web Development can help you set up PPC ad campaigns that are geographically focused so as to maximize your ROI in Google AdWords.

Location, Location, Location

You’ve heard the expression, “Location, location, location.” But it doesn’t only apply to purchasing real estate. It can also refer to purchasing advertising, particularly for certain types of businesses.

A neighborhood grocery store, for example, will draw the majority of its customers from a relatively small radius, usually no more than 25 miles. Outside that radius, customers will likely choose an alternative store. So advertising beyond that radius would be a waste of your time and money.

With traditional forms of marketing, zeroing in on location is easy. Print ads in newspapers reach only the circulation area of a newspaper. Television commercials reach only the viewership area of the station.

Now, geo targeting gives you the ability to target people geographically when you advertise on the Internet. And when you know the location of your prospective customers, not only do you save money by directing your ads to the right people, you can also hone your message, delivering content that you know will resonate with them.

What Geo Targeting Can Accomplish

Whether you have a local brick-and-mortar store and would like to increase foot traffic, or you have a national business but would like to target select cities or regions, geo targeting your ads can help you get clicks and customers.

Your marketing tactics can be laser focused. Think of the possibilities! You can create specialized content. Or offer specific deals or coupons to appeal to local prospects.

An online retailer, for example, can prominently display swimming pool supplies to consumers in Miami, Florida while promoting snow shovels to potential customers in Boston, Massachusetts.

Organizations with multiple locations can show geo-targeted customers the address of their nearest office, not to mention providing specific directions.

As an advertiser, you’ll be more likely to connect with your customers and, even better, you won’t be wasting your ad budget on clicks from people unlikely to buy from you because of their location.

How Geo Targeting Works

In Google AdWords, a searcher’s geographic location is determined by a combination of clues including his or her IP (Internet provider) address and search terms used. Google then uses that information to determine which ads should be shown to the searcher.

You can geo target by the qualifiers below, which can also be mixed and matched.

• City, state, region, or country
• Designated market area
• ZIP code
• Radius around a specific point
• Location extension targeting

In choosing designated geographic areas, it’s equally important to exclude locations that won’t deliver the customers you want. For example, a retail chain could eliminate locations where they don’t have a store. An online store could eliminate destinations that it doesn’t ship to, such as Hawaii and Alaska.

Using the AdWords exclusion feature will help improve your ROI because you won’t waste your budget on searchers in areas that your business doesn’t serve.

AdWords Campaign Management

As with all PPC advertising, proper campaign management is critical. It starts with monitoring your results. Why base your decisions on best guesses when you can obtain hard data?

Google will tell you which locations are generating the most traffic. You can also view data on clicks, impressions, average cost-per-click (CPC), and average position, as it applies to each of your specified locations. You can even track how many clicks you receive from outside your targeted location.

With Google AdWords, you can also test specific variables to determine what’s most effective. Test your wording as well as your offer. You can see which keyword phrases generate the most clicks. At each step, apply what you learn to further refine your ads.

By monitoring your PPC campaigns and testing the significant variables of your ads, you can ensure you get the most bang for your advertising buck.

Take Your Business to the Next Level

Geo-targeting is an innovative way to introduce precision into your online advertising. It lets you focus your advertising on the areas where you’ll find the right customers, and steer clear of areas where you won’t. Ultimately, you’ll be able to extend your reach without squandering your budget on unlikely prospects.

However, geo targeting is complicated. Understanding and applying it to your promotions can be time-consuming. Charlottesville SEO Web Development can help. Working within your budget, we can create and manage geo-targeted PPC ad campaigns that get results and take your business to the next level. Call us today at 434-284-2840! After hours (in Virginia), please use our contact form below.