Pay Per Click Advertising for Local Small Business With Google Ad Words
Many small business owners are concerned about who their pay per click advertisement is being offered to. After all, if you own a bakery in Tampa you probably don’t want you ads showing up in a search for Atlanta bakeries. It would be a big loss of advertising revenue when they click on your ad.
But done right, pay per click marketing can be the fastest way to get traffic to a local business owners website.
I’m going to focus on Google Ad Words here but that doesn’t mean you should ignore other pay per click sources like Yahoo and Bing.
I want you to start using a new option when advertising on Google Ad Words called “Geo Targeting” and I’ll give you an example of what I mean. If you type in “bakery” in the search box on Google you’ll see the local listings on the search results page even though you didn’t type in what city you were looking for a bakery in!
What is happening is that most users conducting searches are more interested in finding local results for their searching efforts so Google is using your I.P. address to determine which bakeries are in your area and showing a local directory in hopes that you’ll have a satisfying searching experience and continue to use Google’s search engine. In the directory there is usually seven local bakery listings and a link below the seventh listing to click for more results.
Google is doing the same thing for their pay per click ad campaigns. As a local business owner you can set up a Geo targeted campaign and adjust the ad settings for just the cities you want targeted. Here is how you can set up a Geo targeted campaign in Google Ad Words.
Click on new campaign and begin. In the location and languages setting you’ll set up your Geo targeting ads. Select the metro area and a link will appear that says “select one or more locations.” Here you can view the different areas to choose from and if you want to narrow the geographic area down from the entire metro area you can click on the custom tab at the top of the page and choose a customized area. You can choose to make your advertisements available only within a certain number of miles from your business location! There are other option as well, to narrow the search area.
There are a lot of options available with this feature so go over to Google Ad Words and learn more about this great pay per click feature for local businesses. You will get a lot less ad displays but your ads will be very targeted, focusing on the geographic area you serve. This can really cut down on your advertising budget without sacrificing the traffic volume.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you and learning more about your local bricks and mortar Florida company.
Talk soon,
Randy Bess
Florida: FloridaInternetMarketingCompany.com
200 2nd Ave. South #359
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
727-254-3019
Dominican Republic: iCaribbeanAgency.com
La Mulata II
Sosua, Rep. Dominicana
809-880-9830 (Sosua)
305-280-6743 (Miami)
Press Release Strategy for Small Businesses
Have you ever thought about how you would love to tell the community about something really valuable that your business is offering like a new service or product? Maybe you know something that you would like to share with your niche market.
Are you familiar with press releases? Most small business owners don’t think of this as a powerful marketing strategy but is, if done correctly.
When we think of a press release, a major corporate announcement not a small local business comes to mind. But the benefits are the same for anyone who utilizes this marketing technique.
A press release is nothing more than a way to announce an event, new product, new procedure or anything that is considered newsworthy. As a small business owner you can write a short 250 word press release about anything, really. Write a press release about a new article just posted on your website or how your website can offer valuable information about a certain topic. You can inform people in your market by using the keywords that identify the local business in your title and body copy.
Writing a press release is a little different than writing an article. You first need to write a newsworthy title which includes your keywords. For example: “Orlando Chiropractor Reveals New Procedure for Neck Pain!” The keyword in this title is “Orlando Chiropractor” and when you also include this in the first sentence of the opening paragraph and maybe one more time in the body copy, you are optimizing the press release and there is a good chance that the search engines will rank this press release pretty high for the search term “Orlando Chiropractor”.
The first paragraph should have two or three sentences and should basically talk about the subject of the press release. It should state why you are writing this release and the purpose. Maybe you want to introduce you website to the local community or talk about a better way to cure an ailment. You are the professional in your market and a press release is a way to prove it.
In total you will write two or three paragraphs which includes direct quotes from you. Quotes are a way to pitch your products and services without sounding like you are trying to sell something. An example of a quote could be:
“According to Randy Bess, owner of FloridaInternetMarketing.com, Florida small business owners have a better opportunity than big budget major corporations in search engine ranking with the creation of Google Places”.
As you can see this sounds more professional than trying to pitch something.
Quotes can start with things like according to___, The owner of____ has said, Jack Jones, owner of___, and so on.
You should include a short closing paragraph with a call to action like “you can find out more at” or “visit our website for the complete details about this____.” Also, in the closing paragraph you will want to include your full website address like this: http://www.mysite.com. You can also include your business phone number and address if you want.
Once you finish writing the press release it’s time to submit it. I recommend the free service at Free-Press-Release.com because they are considered by the search engines to be a high authority site and your press release should rank very well if you include the correct keywords.
If you want to submit to more press release services just do a search on Google. Other free site I like include prlog.org and i-newswire.com.
Writing press releases is something that your local competition is not doing and it is a tremendous marketing strategy for small business owners to get local attention and establish themselves as an authoritative source.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you and learning more about your local bricks and mortar Florida company.
Talk soon,
Randy Bess
Florida: FloridaInternetMarketingCompany.com
200 2nd Ave. South #359
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
727-254-3019
Dominican Republic: iCaribbeanAgency.com
La Mulata II
Sosua, Rep. Dominicana
809-880-9830 (Sosua)
305-280-6743 (Miami)
Q & A About Your Local Business Listing on Google Places
When should I claim my listing?
Claim you listing right away and then spend some time on how to build out your profile and complete every category with quality information. This is what you must do to improve rankings. Claiming your listing right away informs Google that they have the most accurate and current details regarding your business but you will still have to focus on optimizing your page for the best targeted keywords. If you are located in a small town with very little competition your listing could be ranking well before you claim it. But by claiming it you can improve the page with more specifics about your operation and you eliminate the possibility of someone else hijacking your Google local listing.
Are businesses located at the center of the city going to rank the best?
The overall distance from the center of the city is not as much of a factor today! However, local businesses located somewhere within the city that’s being searched usually have more influence and receive greater local rankings. It really comes down to the level of competition in that location! If there’s only a few local businesses providing the same service, Google just may have listings from other areas still ranking high. And if a listing is complete and offers greater value than a listing in a specific town, there is a chance the out of area listing will out rank that same city listing. There are mixed opinions on how Google places the listings, Andrew Shotland, a local business marketing expert says “You’ve got to be in it to win it.”
How important is Category selection?
Categories are extremely important because they establish relevance with the online searcher! Your Place Page can list five categories and the first category should be one of Google’s default categories! The categories are an important ranking factor so it’s essential that you categorize based on who and what your business is all about. This is one classification that requires research and constant testing to perfect the optimization. The primary terms for which you wish to be found are critical to your success.
Does Google mind if I add a couple keywords to my listing title for a better ranking opportunity?
The opinions are mixed but Google’s terms of service is very clear. Google says to use only the actual legal name of your business and not keywords that may describe your business. However, doing this does help rankings on Google Maps but the question is for how long! And, will Google crack down and start penalizing businesses.
An example of keyword stuffing in the title is when you add additional words to the name of your business. If my company’s name is Tony’s, and it’s a Mexican restaurant in New York City there’s a good chance that the name, “Tony’s, lacks the optimization to rank very well. But if my title is “Tony’s New York City Mexican Restaurant” I’ll bet my rankings will propel to one of the top spots on page one of Google.
So what do we do? Violate Google rules or improve out traffic and hope Google doesn’t start enforcing this rule. One important thing to understand is that whatever you do, make sure that the name of your business in the listing title is consistent with every other web page on the Internet that shows your business name.
The name on the title needs to match the name of your company in the website, your blog and any directory listings. You could change your business legally with a DBA and it may be something to consider. Right now businesses are getting away with including one or two keywords in the title but Google has also left the door open to close it quickly and de-list violators of their policy.
Can I write my 200 character description with all my keyword phrases?
Although I haven’t seen a problem with including keywords that describe your business some pundits feel that too many keywords in the description can result in a a penalty. However, If done in good taste without using keyword stuffing tactics, carefully placed keyword terms may help your ranking. So proceed with caution when using product and service keywords in your description but also understand that it may be the difference between a listing on that virtually priceless 7-Pack on the first page of Google versus a buried listing on page 10 that no one will ever find.
Is it really important to add photos to my Google Place page listing?
Adding 10 photos and filling out the listing in its entirety is key to good ranking. Plus its simple to do and gives your page a warm customer friendly feeling. Optimizing your image with keyword relevant tags is something your competition is not doing. You want to use your keywords to name your photo. Google can’t read images, only text so make it easy for them to reward you. Visualization add tremendous value to the business listing.
Can my primary phone number be an 800 number?
Google really wants to see a local area code in front of that number so give it to them. A local phone number gives you additional credibility as a real local company. Whatever phone you show on your listing, it must be the same phone number that appears on your website and everywhere else you can be found online.
I don’t have a video about my business what can I do?
You can use any video from YouTube that has your primary keyword in the title. Just don’t use videos created by your local competitors. I’m sure you can find product videos or “how to” videos related to your services! Videos enhance the user experience and Google allows five of them so build out your listing with what Google thinks is important.
Is the coupon worth using?
The truth is I haven’t heard of many businesses having success with the coupon as of yet. But as I have consistently said every category including the coupon contributes to the overall completion of the page. Obviously the coupon will work better for a restaurant than for a funeral home but fill it out and make an offer that the customer/client can’t refuse!
I’m looking forward to hearing from you and learning more about your local bricks and mortar Florida company.
Talk soon,
Randy Bess
Florida: FloridaInternetMarketingCompany.com
200 2nd Ave. South #359
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
727-254-3019
Dominican Republic: iCaribbeanAgency.com
La Mulata II
Sosua, Rep. Dominicana
809-880-9830 (Sosua)
305-280-6743 (Miami)
