Local PPC Management
by Kirt Christensen
A giant fraction of Google searches are local. Advertise your business locally and you'll get traffic and customers for a fraction of the cost of other media. This may sometimes reach more people than Yellow Pages ads; it's more traceable than billboards, and it costs you less than mailings and fliers.
The Kelsey group reports that of the millions of internet searches 60 percent are local. Others estimate that it is as many as 75 percent, but even if the percentage was only 20 that is still a whole boatload of searches targeted at locals.
Whatever the number is, local search is undoubtedly the most untapped opportunity in PPC management.
So you are looking to sell dieting plans, downloadable MP3s, HDTVs, or home refinancing on Google in the national market? It can be done, but you better get ready for a battle.
Yet if you are a chiropractor, automotive shop, carpet layer or landscaper, you are prime to be victorious. Your competition is more than likely uneducated in internet marketing strategy.
This is also a great place to consult, setting up campaigns for neighboring businesses, because it's so undeserved. Think about it:
Hundreds of local businesses in your city spend upwards of $1,000 a month just on Yellow Pages ads, so these people are already spending money!
The Yellow Pages reps are also selling Internet Yellow Page listings, creating more awareness of online marketing. But they're not selling Google ads on Yahoo.
Companies like Google are so busy dealing with existing opportunities, putting reps on the street to sell PPC to local businesses is a long way off at best. (There are rumors of partnerships with Yellow Pages companies though.)
On topics where mail order is not an option, and it has to be obtained locally, clicks are cheap. As an example in Chicago there are just 6 ads that come up for the keyword 'brake shop' and E-bay is one of them. Did someone say nickel clicks?
Web savvy local advertisers are very rare, and this is not going to change any time soon. Running a retail store and running an online store are two entirely different things. So for local yokels, "In the land of the blind, the man with one eye gets to be king."
If you can embrace the certainty that a good portion of your keyword will only get a few local clicks per month, then the ROI (return on investment) on the clicks you do get is exceptional.
With over a decade of experience in ppc management , Kirt Christensen, will share his experience in ppc management, by giving you tips he found that work (and some that don't work). http://www.managemypayperclick.com">http://www.managemypayperclick.comunique content version of this article.
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