Friday, October 31, 2008

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

By Brian Basch

Target your pay per click for more value for your dollar. Advertising campaigns can be specific to your area if you desire, this means you can promote your business in your city using the internet. There are lots of options, but one of the best systems for geotargeting PPC campaigns is Google's AdWords.

This is the best option if you're advertising is only suited to people living in your area. Geographical targeting means that you use Google AdWords to focus on a city. That way, only people in that city will see your advertisements when they use a search engine.

You're now wondering why would anyone want to keep their ads from being seen. Let's face it, if you only do business in the one city, clicks from outside the area will just cost you money without any chance of a return. If you need your ads to be seen in one city, and only that city, it can be done using AdWords.

There is a lot more to geotargeting than just isolating cities. What about someone who doesn't live in your area, but plans to travel there on a holiday? This is a potential sale missed if you don't take it into consideration. If your business relies on income from tourism, it would be an advertising disaster.

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.

Using this type of targeted keyword campaign also opens up your options with other systems besides Google AdWords. Any PPC ad system can geotarget keywords and phrases similar to the way AdWords does it. You can even use a combination of both techniques to target tourists and locals if you really think it's needed.

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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