How to Create a Winning Local PPC Strategy for More Conversions

Now, more than ever, local businesses need effective strategies to reach their target audience and maximize their return on investment – like local PPC.

Local PPC advertising offers businesses an unparalleled opportunity to target specific audiences, boost brand awareness and optimize conversions like never before.

Ready to unlock the full potential of local PPC for your business? Let’s dive right in!

Jacqueline Foster

Demand Generation Marketing, Lever.co

We can count on them to bring new ideas to the table consistently

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The Power of Local PPC Ads

Local PPC ads open a gateway to immense possibilities for businesses aiming to expand their footprint in a specific geographic area:

Their targeted approach allows businesses to directly connect with potential customers who are actively looking for their products or services in the local market, setting them apart from other local marketing tactics.

So why are local PPC ads gaining momentum in the world of online advertising? Their power lies in three distinct areas: local targeting, brand awareness boost, and conversion optimization.

Let’s take a look at each of these areas and discover how they contribute to the effectiveness of local PPC campaigns.

Local Targeting

Local targeting enables businesses to:

• Zero in on a specific geographic region
• Ensure that ads reach the most relevant audience, including local searchers actively seeking products or services in their area
• Be precise in terms of location
• Effectively use their advertising budget through local campaigns
• Ensure that their ads are only visible to prospective customers who can truly benefit from their service
• Improve their local search visibility

In a world where competition is fiercer than ever, bidding on a competitor’s branded keywords can give local businesses a significant advantage. In this example of branded search for “fireplacepro blower kit,” all the SERP real estate is owned by that one particular brand, “fireplacepro.com”:

Whereas, for a traditional SEO keyword search, like “electric fireplace for sale online,” a number of different brands are shown:

This strategy allows brands to appear on the same search engine results page as their competitors, which grants them access to a vast user base.

With local targeting in place, businesses can harness the power of local marketing tactics and efficiently reach their target audience by using local keywords.

Brand Awareness Boost

Local PPC ads also play a critical role in elevating brand awareness by placing businesses right in front of potential customers in their local area. These ads not only increase visibility, but also foster a sense of trust and familiarity among local users.

Since 46% of Google search results are for local information, these businesses can increase visibility and foot traffic with a local online ad.

By incorporating local jargon and cultural icons in the ad copy, businesses can emphasize their local presence and connect with users on a more personal level through a well-crafted local PPC ad.

Here are a few examples of local jargon and cultural icons that you could include in ad copy:

• Local jargon: This could include slang terms, catchphrases or other expressions that are commonly used in the local area. For example, if you’re advertising a pizza restaurant in Chicago, you could use the phrase “deep dish” or “tamale pie.”
• Cultural icons: This could include anything from local sports teams to famous landmarks. For example, if you’re advertising a hotel in New York City, you could use the Statue of Liberty or Times Square.

Another advantage of local PPC ads lies in their position on the search engine results page. These ads often appear above organic results from traditional SEO efforts, providing businesses with prime real estate to showcase their products or services.

Conversion Optimization

Local PPC campaigns can be optimized for conversions by targeting the right audience, using effective ad copy and optimizing landing pages.

While local PPC ads can bring numerous potential visitors to your website, the success of these campaigns ultimately depends on the strength of your landing page, call-to-action (CTA), and product or service offering.

This Uber ad:

Matches this Uber landing page:

To maximize the effectiveness of local PPC campaigns for conversions, it is crucial to focus on targeting the appropriate audience, developing compelling ad copy, and ensuring that landing pages are optimized. This way, a local business can attract qualified leads and increase the likelihood of turning them into customers.

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Essential Components of a Successful Local PPC Campaign

A successful local PPC campaign is built on three essential components: keyword research and selection, engaging ad copy and extensions, and optimized landing pages. Each of these components plays a critical role in determining the effectiveness of a local PPC campaign and helps businesses achieve their desired outcomes.

In the following sections, we will delve into each of these components, exploring their significance and providing tips on how to optimize them for maximum success in your local campaigns.

Keyword Research and Selection

Keyword research and selection are the bedrock of any local PPC campaign, as they enable businesses to target the most appropriate audience and avoid unnecessary ad expenditure.

You can also go straight to Google and type your keyword into the search bar – but don’t hit enter. Instead, study the list of recommended keywords that are based on the top queries that people are searching for:

Note: If you’ve got the Keyword Keg Chrome extension installed, you can see the search volume and competition score for each phrase (like the screenshot above).

If not, or even if you do, use tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs and Semrush, to identify the most effective keywords (with search volume and score) for their local PPC campaigns:

When it comes to keyword match types, you should conduct trials to find the match type that best suits your brand’s needs.

Exact match keywords in PPC advertising refer to searches that match the exact term or are close variations of that exact term. This means that if someone is searching for that exact keyword, your ad may appear, but if their search includes additional words or is a broad interpretation, your ad won’t be shown.

Conducting trials to find the optimal keyword match type for your brand involves a systematic approach of testing, tracking and optimizing:

• Research Keywords: Start by identifying a set of potential keywords that are relevant to your product or service. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner for suggestions.
• Create Campaigns: Create separate campaigns or ad groups for each match type: exact match, phrase match, and broad match. Make sure to include the same keywords in each group, but with different match types.
• Set Budgets & Bids: Allocate a similar budget to each campaign to ensure a fair comparison. The bids might be higher for exact match keywords as they’re typically more competitive.
• Track Performance: Run the campaigns for a set period, usually a few weeks or a month. Monitor the key metrics such as Click-Through Rate (CTR), Cost per Click (CPC), Conversion Rate, and overall ROI.
• Analyze and Optimize: Analyze the performance of each campaign. Exact match keywords often lead to higher relevancy and engagement, while broad match keywords may bring more overall traffic, but with lower engagement. Phrase match keywords typically fall somewhere in between.
• Refine and Iterate: Based on the results, refine your campaigns. You may decide to increase the budget for exact match campaigns if they’re bringing in high-quality traffic, or you might optimize your broad match campaigns by adding negative keywords to filter out irrelevant traffic.

By using exact matches, businesses increase the probability that users clicking on their ads will be engaged with their product or service.

Not only that, but creating ads groups focused on individual product lines and narrowing the geographic scope of the campaign can result in a more targeted and effective local PPC campaign.

Ad Copy and Extensions

Effective ad copy and extensions in local PPC ads can improve click-through rates and conversions by providing relevant information and engaging potential customers.

One of the most powerful features in local PPC campaigns is ad extensions, which provide supplementary information about a business, such as contact numbers and addresses.

Ad extensions help your ad campaigns in two important ways:

• They increase the physical real estate of your ad, which boosts the visibility of your campaign.
• They provide more information and context that might be valuable to the user.

There are many types of extensions, including structured snippet extensions, call extensions and sitelink extensions.

Location extensions are particularly useful in local PPC campaigns because they furnish additional business information and often include a clickable button for customers to make direct contact.

Here are some tips to optimize your ad copy and extensions for local PPC ads:

• Incorporate local dialect (jargon and icons, as mentioned above) to connect with your target audience.
• Include the locality in the ad headline to attract local customers.
• Bid on brand names and competitors to increase visibility and attract potential customers.

By implementing these strategies, businesses can optimize their ad copy and extensions to resonate with their target audience and drive better results.

Landing Page Optimization

Optimizing landing pages for local PPC campaigns ensures that users have a seamless experience from clicking on the ad to converting on the website. And that means the business can see increased conversions and click-through rates, and decreased costs per click.

Optimizing a landing page for better user experience means:

• Removing Navigation Elements: A landing page has one purpose, and that is to get the user to take a single action. If you give users other choices on that page, you are reducing the likelihood that they will convert. People are easily distracted!
• Write a Spectacular Headline: The best way to do this is to succinctly address your audience’s pain point in the headline. Tell them how you will solve their issue with your product or service:

• Don’t Forget the Sub-header: This is your chance to add a bit more info than can fit in a succinct headline. For example: The headline “Get Organized, Save Time, and Find Tax Savings” can be followed by “Customers find on average $3,534 in tax savings per year.”
• Social Proof: This can include testimonials, industry awards, customer reviews and ratings, and logos of companies you have worked with.
• Quality Images: On this PayPal landing page about invoicing, you see a simple but quality image of an invoice on a mobile device and on a tablet that supports the text on the page:

• Methods of Contact: Make it super clear how an interested prospect can easily get in touch with you. Include a contact form, email address (which the contact form most often leads to), and telephone number.
• A Powerful CTA: You may have to A/B test a few versions, but overall a CTA that actually causes action will focus on the benefit. Use words that remind the customer that they’re getting something, like “Start My Free Trial” or “Get My Consultation Now”.

By tracking metrics such as click-through rate, cost per click, and conversion rate, businesses can evaluate the effectiveness of their landing page optimization efforts. Then A/B testing can be employed to optimize landing pages and ensure they are performing as anticipated.

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Multi-Platform Approach to Local PPC Advertising

A multi-platform approach to local PPC advertising can help businesses reach a wider audience and maximize their ad spend. By leveraging multiple PPC platforms, such as:

• Google Ads
• Facebook Ads
• Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads)
• LinkedIn Ads

…businesses can broaden their reach and optimize their advertising efforts to achieve their desired outcomes.

Let’s explore each of these platforms, discussing their features, benefits and how they can be used for local PPC campaigns.

Google Ads

Google Ads is a popular platform for local PPC campaigns, because it offers a range of targeting options and ad formats, including local search ads, to suit different business needs:

As the most widely used search engine, Google provides businesses with unparalleled access to potential customers actively searching for products or services in their local area.

Consider these Google Ads numbers:

• On average, businesses make $2 for every $1 spent on Google Ads.
• 80% of internet users see ads on the Google Display Network daily.
• Google Shopping Ads generate about 85.3% of clicks.

The benefits are numerous, from enhanced brand awareness and the ability to outrank the competition to easy retargeting capabilities and faster results than organic SEO.

With Google Ads, businesses can:

• Use precise location targeting to reach customers in specific geographic areas
• Set radius targeting to reach customers within a certain distance of their business
• Customize ads based on the user’s location to provide more relevant and personalized messaging

These features enable businesses to tailor their campaigns to meet their unique objectives and reach their target audience more effectively.

To learn more, check out:
* 14 Google Ads Strategies to Try
* 10 Best Google Ads Bidding Strategies Used by PPC Experts

Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads can also be used for local PPC advertising, allowing businesses to target users based on their location, interests and behaviors. As with Google Ads, there are plenty of benefits to make this worth your while, such as:

• Narrow your audiences with demographic and behavioral targeting
• Ads increase social media engagement
• They can improve search engine optimization
• They’re budget-friendly and scalable
• They provide objective-based measurement (awareness, consideration, conversion)

Facebook proximity ads, for example, can be an excellent tool for publicizing special deals or promotions to local consumers browsing through their news feeds.

Facebook proximity ads are a type of location-based targeting that allows you to show your ads to people who are physically close to your business. This can be a great way to reach people who are already in your area and who are more likely to be interested in what you have to offer.

To create a Facebook proximity ad:

• First you’ll need to specify the location you want to target. You can target a specific city, zip code, or even a radius around your business. You can also choose to target people who have recently been to your location.
• Once you’ve specified the location, you can create your ad as usual. You can choose the ad format, the targeting options, and the budget.
• When someone who is in your targeted location sees your ad, they’ll see a message that says “This ad is for people near [your business name].” This helps make sure that people are only seeing ads that are relevant to them.

Facebook proximity ads can be a great way to increase brand awareness, drive foot traffic to your business, and generate leads.

In addition to Facebook Ads, businesses can also leverage Instagram for local PPC advertising by optimizing their profile for sales, listing locations, and publishing posts that bolster the local image.

To learn more, check out:
* Facebook Ads E-commerce Case Studies that Increased ROAS
* How This E-commerce Store Doubled Its Revenue Using Our Facebook Ads Advice

Other Platforms

Other platforms, such as Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) and LinkedIn Ads, can also be used for local PPC campaigns, depending on the target audience and business objectives. While these platforms may not have the same reach as Google Ads or Facebook Ads, they can still provide valuable advertising opportunities for businesses looking to expand their local presence.

When conducting local PPC campaigns on other platforms, it’s always wise to conduct thorough research on the platform and its features, create campaigns tailored to the target audience, and track and assess the results.

To learn more, check out:
* The Easy Guide to Using Bing Ads
* The Ultimate Guide to Creating a LinkedIn Ads Campaign
* LinkedIn Ads for Enterprise B2B SaaS: The Only Guide You’ll Need

Geo-Targeting Techniques for Enhanced Local Reach

Geo-targeting is a marketing tactic that uses geographical locations via users’ IP addresses to show location-specific (city or neighborhood) ads to them.

Geo-targeting techniques can help businesses enhance their local reach and improve the effectiveness of their local PPC campaigns. By using precise location targeting, radius targeting and location-based ad customization, businesses can direct their ads to the most relevant audiences and improve their overall campaign performance.

Let’s take a look at each of these geo-targeting techniques to see how they can be used to enhance the local reach of your PPC campaigns.

Precise Location Targeting

Whereas location targets ads to people based on their physical location, geo-targeting targets ads to people based on their geographic location – such as their IP address, GPS coordinates, or even their WiFi network.

Precise location targeting allows businesses to:

• Focus their ad spend on specific areas where their target audience is most likely to be found
• Strategically allocate their ad spend
• Reach their desired audience more effectively

This level of targeting ensures that ads are only shown to potential customers who are truly interested in the products or services offered, thereby maximizing the return on investment for local PPC campaigns.

To learn more, check out: Geotargeting: How to Find the Right Customers for Your Brand

Radius Targeting

Radius targeting is a type of location-based targeting that allows you to show your ads to people who are within a specific radius of a location.

If you’re planning to use radius targeting, just make sure:

• Your ad is relevant to the people who are seeing it
• You use a clear and concise call to action.
• Track the results of your ads to see how well they’re performing.

Targeting by radius enables businesses to:

• Target users within a certain distance from their location
• Ensure that ads are shown to potential customers in the immediate vicinity
• Focus their advertising efforts on a specific area
• Increase the likelihood that the users who see their ads will be interested in their products or services.

By targeting a specific radius, businesses can better target the right people at the right time, ultimately leading to increased foot traffic and higher conversion rates.

Location-Based Ad Customization

For more specific targeting, you’ll want to customize your location-based ads. Location-based advertising customization allows businesses to:

• Tailor their ad copy and offers based on the user’s location
• Make ads more relevant and engaging
• Increase click-through rates and conversions
• Resonate with users’ specific needs and interests

This level of personalization can lead to higher engagement and better results for businesses. Here are a few examples of how location-based advertising customization can be used:

• A coffee shop might customize its ads to show different offers depending on the time of day. For example, it might offer a free coffee to people who show up before 9am, or a discount on a latte to people who show up after 5pm.
• A museum might customize its ads to show different information depending on the location of the user. For example, it might show information about the exhibits that are closest to the user, or it might show information about upcoming events.
• A retailer might customize its ads to show different products depending on the location of the user. For example, it might show winter coats to people who are in a cold climate, or it might show swimsuits to people who are in a warm climate.

By leveraging location data and customizing ad content accordingly, businesses can create more targeted and effective local PPC campaigns.

Analyzing and Optimizing Your Local PPC Campaigns

Analyzing and optimizing local PPC campaigns is essential for ongoing success and maximizing return on investment. By tracking key metrics and conducting A/B testing, businesses will be able to gain valuable insights into the performance of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions to improve their results.

Tracking Metrics

Tracking metrics such as click-through rates, conversions, and cost per acquisition can help businesses understand the performance of their local PPC campaigns and identify areas for improvement:

• Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who see your ad and click on it. This is a good metric to track because it shows how well your ad is resonating with people. A high CTR means that your ad is getting attention and that people are interested in what you have to offer.
• Conversions are the actions that you want people to take after they click on your ad. This could be anything from visiting your website to making a purchase. Tracking conversions is important because it shows you how effective your ads are at driving business.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA) is the amount of money you spend to acquire a customer. This is a good metric to track because it helps you understand how much you’re paying for each sale. A low CPA means that you’re getting a good return on your investment.
• Return on Investment (ROI): ROI measures the profitability of your campaign. It considers the revenue generated from conversions and compares it to the cost of running the PPC campaign.
• Impressions: The number of times your ad was displayed to users. High impressions indicate good visibility, but it’s essential to balance this with other metrics like CTR and conversions.
• Ad Position: The average position of your ad on the search results page or display network. Higher positions generally lead to better visibility and potentially higher CTR.
• Quality Score: On platforms like Google Ads, a quality score is assigned to your keywords, ad copy, and landing page. It affects your ad rank and the cost you pay for clicks. Higher quality scores usually lead to lower costs and better ad positions.
• Phone Call Tracking: If phone calls are important to your business, track the number of phone calls generated through your PPC ads. This can be done using call tracking software or specific call extensions in the ads.
• Store Visits: For businesses with physical locations, if available, track the estimated number of store visits that occurred as a result of your PPC campaign.
• Geographic Performance: Analyze the performance of your ads based on different geographical areas to identify which locations are generating the most conversions or showing the most potential.
• Device Performance: Understand how your ads perform on different devices (desktop, mobile, tablet). This can help you optimize your bids and targeting for better results on each device type.
• Ad Schedule Performance: Analyze how your ads perform at different times of the day or days of the week. Adjust your ad schedule if certain periods show better conversion rates.
• Search Terms Report: For keyword-based campaigns, review the search terms report to see which search queries triggered your ads. This helps identify irrelevant terms and potential new keywords to target.

There are a number of tools that you can use to track these metrics. Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Facebook Ads all have built-in reporting tools that can help you track your performance. You can also use third-party tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to get more detailed insights into your campaign performance.

Once you’re tracking these metrics, you can use them to make informed decisions about your local PPC campaigns. For example, if your CTR is low, you might need to improve your ad copy or targeting. If your CPA is high, you might need to adjust your bidding strategy.

In addition to tracking these metrics, businesses should also regularly monitor their ad performance and make necessary adjustments to ensure their campaigns continue to meet their objectives and achieve the desired results.

A/B Testing

A/B testing different ad elements, such as headlines, copy and images, can help businesses identify the most effective combinations and improve their ad performance. By conducting side-by-side comparisons of various components of ads, businesses can gain valuable insights into what works best for their target audience and make data-driven decisions to optimize their campaigns.

Some of the top tools to run A/B tests are:

• HubSpot’s A/B Testing Kit
• Google Optimize
• Freshmarketer
• VWO
• Optimizely
• Omniconvert
• Crazy Egg
• AB Tasty
• Convert

Implementing the findings from A/B testing can lead to higher click-through rates, conversions, and overall campaign performance, ensuring that businesses continue to reach their target audience and achieve their desired results.

Ongoing Optimization

Ongoing optimization of local PPC campaigns, including adjusting bids, targeting, and ad copy, ensures that businesses continue to reach their target audience and achieve their desired results.

When you maintain ongoing optimization of your local PPC campaigns, this will usually include these tasks:

• Regularly reviewing performance data: This includes tracking metrics such as CTR, conversions, and CPA to see how your campaigns are performing. You can use this data to identify areas where your campaigns could be improved.
• Testing new keywords and ad copy: This is a great way to see if there are new keywords or ad copy that could improve your performance. You can use Google Ads’ Keyword Planner tool to help you find new keywords, and you can use Google Analytics to see how your ad copy is performing.
• Adjusting your bidding strategy: Your bidding strategy is how much you’re willing to pay for each click on your ad. You can adjust your bidding strategy based on your goals and the performance of your campaigns.
• Targeting your ads: You can target your ads to specific locations, demographics, and interests. This will help you ensure that your ads are seen by people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
• Monitoring your competition: It’s important to monitor your competition so that you can see what they’re doing and how you can improve your own campaigns. You can use Google Ads’ Auction Insights report to see how your competitors are bidding on keywords and how their ads are performing.

By regularly assessing their campaigns and making the necessary adjustments, businesses can maintain the effectiveness of their local PPC campaigns and maximize their return on investment.

Last Word on Local PPC

Local PPC advertising offers businesses a powerful tool for reaching their target audience, boosting brand awareness, and optimizing conversions.

By implementing a multi-platform approach, leveraging geo-targeting techniques, and continuously analyzing and optimizing campaigns, businesses can unlock the full potential of local PPC and achieve their desired outcomes.

So, are you ready to take your local PPC strategy to the next level?

Hopefully you learned how to create a local PPC campaign, but if you just want someone to do if for you, Single Grain’s PPC experts can help!

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Local PPC FAQs

• What is local PPC?

  Local PPC (pay-per-click) is an online advertising strategy focused on a specific local area, such as a city, state, zip code, or neighborhood. It involves using local keywords and geo-targeting, and only paying for clicks on your ads.

  With local PPC, you can reach customers within your desired geographic area with precision.

• What does PPC stand for?

  PPC stands for Pay-per-Click, a form of online marketing where advertisers pay a fee for every ad click. It is a way of paying to get people to visit your website.

• What does a PPC company do?

  PPC or pay-per-click is a digital advertising model in which advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. PPC agencies and management companies oversee and manage the online paid advertising efforts of their clients, through a range of formats such as search ads on Google and video ads on YouTube.

• What service is PPC?

  PPC is a service that allows marketers to advertise their products and services online, with strategic placement of ads on various marketing platforms. It includes keyword targeting, bid management, reporting and other deliverables such as PPC audits and competitive analysis.

• What is the primary advantage of local PPC ads over traditional PPC ads?

  Local PPC ads provide a powerful advantage over traditional PPC ads due to their ability to target a specific geographic region, enabling businesses to reach their desired audience with greater precision.

  This precision allows businesses to tailor their ads to the local market, ensuring that their message is seen by the right people.

If you were unable to find the answer you’ve been looking for, do not hesitate to get in touch and ask us directly.