Local Search Ads are one of the most effective ways for businesses to connect with customers searching for a local store or a walk-in in the United Kingdom. Do you know? What Amazon did when it found that, there were always 30% of untapped audience segment who loved to purchase old way or take a walk to the store, Amazon built retail stores so they can connect with the remaining 30% of customers as well.
Every business has both online and offline customers, even Amazon had to shift to retail stores. That’s power of potential customers. With over 50% of searches having local intent, having a strong local search ads strategy is key to reaching local audiences and driving in-store traffic, calls and sales.
In this short business guide, we will guide you how to attract that local audience and how many UK businesses used local search ads to reach the local audience to increase local/regional in-store sales.
Business Guide | Local Search Ads
How Local Search Ads Work
Local search ads are PPC (pay-per-click) ads that appear on Google and other search engines when someone searches for a business, product or service near them. For example; “hair salon in Manchester” or “coffee shops in London“.
These local search ads appear above or below the organic results and reach people actively looking for local businesses – making them a highly targeted form of advertising.
Businesses bid on keywords containing their service terms, business name and targeted United Kingdom location terms like city, postcode, “near me”, etc. You pay only when someone clicks your local search ad, giving you control over your budget.
Overall, local search ads help United Kingdom businesses get found by people searching locally for exactly what you offer.
Do you know? Local search ads drove a 27% rise in store visitors for retailer Halfords’ “fit it for you” campaign.
If you are a professional service provider, we would recommend you to use Local service ads. It has good potential and great opportunity to getting new leads.
Top Benefits of Local Search Ads for United Kingdom Businesses
Key advantages of using local search ads include:
- Targeted reach – Over 50% of United Kingdom searches have local intent, putting you in front of motivated local audiences with local search ads.
- Increased visibility – 2 in 3 people use search to find local business info. Local search ads make you easy to find.
- Higher CTR – Local search ads achieve up to 10x higher CTR than regular search ads thanks to relevant targeting.
- Drives in-store traffic – 76% of local searches result in offline purchases, converting searchers into paying customers with local search ads.
- Measurable ROI – Track calls, store visits and other conversions to accurately measure your local search ad ROI.
- Mobile optimization – Capture over 50% of local searches happening on smartphones in the United Kingdom with optimised local search ads.
Creating Effective Local Search Ads
- Prominently feature your business name and location in your local search ad to build trust.
- Use your city, postcode or other local terms throughout the ad text to optimise your local search ads for searches in your area.
- Highlight special offers or promotions in your local search ad copy to grab attention and incentivise clicks.
- Be transparent in your local search ad messaging – avoid exaggerated claims that overpromise.
- Send visitors from your local search ad to a customised landing page with address, contact details, menus, booking options etc. to provide a seamless experience. Check our complete SEO guide to optimise your landing and increase the chance of converting potential customer into sales.
- Use extensions like call, location and price extensions to improve local search ad visibility and performance.
Crafting relevant, honest local search ad copy tailored to your location and audience will drive more qualified clicks.
Optimising Local Search Ads for Mobile & Voice Search
Over 50% of local searches in the United Kingdom happen on mobile devices. Here are some tips to optimise your local search ads for mobile and voice:
- Use click-to-call extensions – these enable easy calling from mobiles to drive calls from your local search ads. Did you know? Houzz saw a 233% increase in calls after optimising local search ads for location keywords and implementing call ad extensions.
- Ensure your landing page is fast-loading and mobile-friendly to improve the experience for visitors from local search ads.
- Include your business name, address and phone number in your local search ad text to appear prominently in voice search results.
- Use natural conversational language in your local search ad copy to get picked up by voice searches.
Here is why it's important to have mobile optimised website
Tracking Local Search Ad Performance & Measuring ROI
To understand the success of your local search ads, make sure to track these metrics:
- Use UTM tags to identify website traffic, calls and conversions generated specifically by your local search ads.
- Enable store visit conversion tracking to match local search ad clicks and impressions to in-store customers.
- Track phone calls from your local search ads using call tracking numbers and call extensions.
- Check impression share and rank data – increase bids if needed to improve local search ad visibility.
- Review search term reports to see top-performing keywords for your local search ads. Refine targeting accordingly.
- Compare week-over-week and month-over-month performance of your local search ads to optimise campaigns over time.
- Analysing key metrics will help maximise your local search ad ROI as you refine targeting, bids, ads and more.
Did you know? Rental site Upad cut cost-per-click by 55% and increased CTR by 23% with hyper-local targeting of areas like specific tube stations in their local search ads.
Want to drive sales with Local Search Ads?
UTDS Optimal Choice is a digital marketing and advertising agency in Tirana, that can help your business set up, manage, and optimise successful local search ads campaigns. Our services include:
- Local search ads campaign setup – Our experts will help you structure an effective campaign optimised for your business, locations, and ideal customers.
- Local keyword research – We’ll identify high-potential localised keywords to target that align with your offerings and location(s).
- Ad copywriting – Our team will craft compelling, localised ad copy designed to earn qualified clicks.
- Landing page design – We can create custom landing pages to send local search ads traffic to fit your needs.
- Performance tracking & optimization – We will monitor key metrics and continuously optimise your local search ads for better results.
- Mobile & voice search optimization – We’ll ensure your campaigns are optimised for how United Kingdom consumers search locally on devices.
- Competitor analysis – We’ll analyse competitor’s local search ads strategies and help you leapfrog them.
Local search ads target people searching for businesses/services near them by using location-based keywords and targeting.
Research keywords that contain your products/services, brand names, and location terms like city, neighbourhood, postcode, etc.
Local search ads are paid per click (CPC), so you control costs by setting your bids and budget caps. Average CPC is £1-5.
Most businesses see clicks coming in within hours/days. Sales cycles vary but conversions happen faster with highly targeted local ads.
They work very well for location-based businesses but service area businesses can also see success with careful targeting. However, we would recommend “Local service ads” for service related businesses.
The post Business Guide | Local Search Ads appeared first on Utds Optimal Choice.
