Integrating a Google AdWords Campaign as part of your local SEO strategy can be quite useful, and when used properly, can result in financial gain for your local business. AdWords might seem hard to use for the beginner, but by engaging in the following practices, you’re more likely to find success.
Take Care of Your Local SEO Keywords
The keywords you choose to target with Google AdWords campaign is the foundation. Try to answer these questions as you choose keywords:
- Is this keyword commonly used in searches?
- Is your budget large enough to make money on this keyword?
- Does it make sense to add a local qualifier to this search?
- Will this keyword accurately reflect your goals in an AdWords campaign?
There are also negative keywords–keywords that might get visitors, but will reflect poorly on your business. Words like “cheap” for a high-quality service, or “second hand” for a new clothing store.
Also be careful to target your ads to the right keywords. If you have 12 keywords, don’t try to use one ad to reach all 12 searches. You can combine ads for some keywords e.g. “best pizza in Maryland” and “best pizza in D.C.,” but trying to load a whole bunch of keywords onto one ad just weighs it down and makes it less likely that customers will click on the link.
Make Sure You’re Targeting Local Searchers
So someone has clicked on your ad. Great! Does that landing page compel them to buy something? If you want to make money with AdWords, you have to convert the person that clicked on your ad into a customer. Your ad needs to be well crafted, yes, but your landing page also needs your attention.
How to Optimize Your Website Landing Page
- Look trustworthy by using perfect grammar and a pleasing page design
- Appeal to someone who lives in the town/area you’re targeting
- Answer questions that your potential customer might have after clicking on your ad
- Make it easy to purchase your good or service
Your goal with AdWords is to convert a random click into a purchase as quickly as possible and the less clicks the person has to make to buy the better your results will be.
Monitor and Optimize Your Google AdWords Campaign
Here are three things to do while your campaign is running:
- Keep an eye on statistics to see what’s working and what’s not
- Make changes to your campaign on a schedule–weekly or bi-weekly
- Watch for campaign trends and capitalize on them
If you have a small budget, remember the top spot is not all that matters; it’s who sees your link and clicks. It’s better to be visible all day, then let to let the limited budget make it so after noon your ad will not be seen at all.
To wrap up, to get started with a Local SEO combined with a Google AdWords campaign the first step is to start.
You can’t learn how to create a great AdWords campaign if you don’t start somewhere, so get after it and let me hear how it goes.
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