Best Practices for PPC Location Targeting
Want better PPC results? Start with location targeting. It ensures your ads reach the right people in the right places, saving budget and boosting conversions. Whether you’re a Manchester plumber or a London retailer, tailoring your ads geographically can improve relevance and engagement.
Key Takeaways:
- 36% of Google searches are tied to location.
- Local targeting can boost conversions by 5% and foot traffic by up to 30%.
- Use methods like country, city, or radius targeting to match your audience.
- Exclude low-value areas to avoid wasted spend.
- Adjust bids and personalise ads based on location performance.
Pro tip: Regularly review location data and refine your strategy to maximise ROI. PPC location targeting isn’t just about where to show your ads – it’s about where not to show them. Keep tweaking for better results.
Google Ads Location Targeting Strategies
Location Targeting Methods for PPC Campaigns
Choosing the right location targeting method is essential for aligning your PPC campaigns with your business goals and geographic needs. Whether you’re aiming for broad national coverage or pinpointing a specific neighbourhood, each approach offers unique advantages. Here’s a closer look at the main targeting options to help you tailor your strategy effectively.
Country-Level Targeting
Country-level targeting allows you to focus your ads on entire nations, making it ideal for businesses with a wider reach. For example, a UK-based company might target the entire United Kingdom or expand to include markets like Ireland, France, or Germany. This method ensures broad exposure, which is perfect for brands looking to establish a large-scale presence.
Interestingly, 89% of marketers report higher sales after implementing location-based strategies. Even with broader targeting, it’s crucial to monitor how different regions perform and adjust bids to maximise your return on investment. This ensures your campaign stays efficient while reaching a large audience.
Regional and City Targeting
If your business operates in specific areas, regional and city targeting lets you narrow your focus to counties, cities, or even postal codes. This method is particularly useful for businesses with a local presence or those catering to areas with high demand. For instance, a law firm in Manchester might target Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Cheshire while excluding areas outside its service zone.
Consumers appreciate precision – 80% prefer ads tailored to their local surroundings. Geo-targeted PPC campaigns often lead to better results, with sales performance improving by 89%, engagement rates by 84%, and response rates by 78%. This approach also helps you adapt to varying market conditions across cities like London, Cardiff, and Edinburgh. For even sharper focus, radius targeting offers an additional layer of precision.
Radius Targeting
Radius targeting takes proximity-based advertising to the next level, ideal for businesses like restaurants, retail stores, or local service providers. Instead of targeting broad areas, you can define a specific distance around your business location. For example, you might set a 5-kilometre radius around a Birmingham showroom or a 15-kilometre radius around a Leeds delivery hub.
This method aligns perfectly with local search behaviour. A third of mobile searches are location-specific, and 88% of these result in a call or visit to a physical store within 24 hours. You can even fine-tune your strategy by adjusting radius sizes based on population density – smaller zones for city centres and larger ones for suburban areas. Adding strategic exclusions within these zones ensures you’re reaching the right audience while avoiding wasted spend.
Location Exclusions
While targeting the right areas is important, excluding irrelevant locations is just as crucial. Location exclusions ensure your ads won’t appear in specific areas within your chosen targets. This prevents wasting budget on audiences unlikely to convert, ultimately boosting your ROI.
"Where your ads should appear is important – but where they shouldn’t appear is just as crucial to your campaign’s success." – Google Ads Help
Exclusions take precedence if an area is both included and excluded in your settings, giving you full control over ad placement. For instance, agencies often maintain extensive exclusion lists to focus on profitable markets. Reasons for exclusion could include poor past performance, limited service availability, or high competition.
"There’s no need to exclude areas that you haven’t already targeted – we won’t show your ads in places unless you explicitly target them." – Google Ads Help
Regularly updating your exclusion lists is key to keeping them effective. Monitoring reports can help you spot any changes, ensuring excluded locations don’t start receiving impressions. Combining positive targeting with exclusions creates a well-rounded strategy that enhances campaign performance while minimising waste.
How to Set Up Location Targeting in PPC Platforms
Getting location targeting right is a crucial step for running effective PPC campaigns. Here’s a guide to setting up your campaigns for the best geographic results.
Configuring Location Settings
Start by heading to your campaign settings and navigating to the locations section. Here, you’ll choose your primary targeting method. Options include targeting entire countries, specific regions within a country, or setting a radius around a particular location. If you’re targeting multiple areas, bulk operations can save you time.
Think about where your customers are, not just where your business is based. For example, a consultancy in Manchester might target clients in London, while a local restaurant would focus on a small radius around its location.
You’ll also need to decide between ‘Presence or Interest’ and ‘Presence’ targeting. The former casts a wider net by including users interested in your area, while the latter focuses only on those physically located there. For local businesses, ‘Presence’ is often the better choice, as it ensures your budget is spent on people who can actually visit.
To boost effectiveness, consider using location assets. These integrate your store details into ads, showing your address, a map, or even the distance to your business. This makes it easier for nearby customers to find and visit you.
Fine-tuning language settings alongside location targeting can further improve your campaign’s reach.
Using Language and Location Targeting Together
Ensure your language settings align with your location targeting. For instance, if you’re targeting the UK, set the language to English (UK). Research shows that 65% of international consumers are more likely to engage with content in their native language.
If you operate in multiple English-speaking regions, create separate campaigns for each market. A UK campaign should use British spelling, the pound (£), and local references, while an Ireland campaign might include terminology specific to that audience.
Take advantage of location insertion features to personalise your ads by dynamically adding city, county, or country names. This makes your ads feel more relevant to local users. For example, Symphonic Digital reported a 5.7% increase in clicks and a 70% reduction in cost-per-click when targeting Hispanic audiences with tailored content.
"Effective localisation can be the difference between resonating with international audiences and missing valuable conversions." – Benjamin Wenner
Once your basic settings are in place, it’s time to organise your campaigns by geographic segments for better tracking and control.
Structuring Campaigns by Geographic Segments
Dividing your campaigns by geographic areas helps you monitor performance and manage budgets more effectively. If your business operates in multiple regions, create separate campaigns for each. This allows you to customise messaging, bids, and budgets based on each area’s specific needs.
Use clear naming conventions to make campaign management easier. For example, names like "UK_Search_London_Legal_Services" or "Scotland_Display_Edinburgh_Restaurants" clearly indicate the focus of each campaign.
The level of detail in your campaign structure should depend on your business model. For e-commerce businesses, country-level campaigns might work best, while local services may benefit from city or postcode-level targeting. The goal is to strike a balance between control and complexity.
A three-tiered approach can help refine your targeting: focus on core areas, high-concentration zones, and exclusion regions. This ensures your budget is directed toward the most profitable locations.
Will Yang, Head of Growth & Customer Success at Instrumentl, offers this advice:
"Leverage location targeting and bid modifiers. You can set up campaigns that target each of your locations and then use bid modifiers to automatically adjust bids up or down based on performance for each location. This allows you to have a centralised campaign that is then customised for each local market with minimal manual effort. The automation finds the optimal bid for each location to maximise your results."
Start with broader targeting and refine it based on performance data. Regularly reviewing analytics will help you pinpoint which areas deliver the best results, enabling you to adjust your structure over time.
| Campaign Structure | Best For | Key Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Single national campaign | Businesses serving entire countries with consistent offerings | Simplified management, broader reach, easier budget allocation |
| Regional campaigns | Companies with distinct regional markets or varying service levels | Tailored messaging, regional budget control, location-specific bidding |
| City-specific campaigns | Local businesses or those with location-based promotions | Precise targeting, local keyword use, community-focused messaging |
| Radius-based campaigns | Service businesses with defined delivery areas or foot traffic focus | Proximity relevance, efficient local spending, distance-based targeting |
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How to Optimise Location Targeting for Maximum ROI
Once you’ve set up and segmented your campaigns, the next step is fine-tuning your geographic targeting to get the best return on investment (ROI). After launching, it’s crucial to keep adjusting your location targeting based on performance data to maximise results.
Adjusting Bids by Location
Adjusting bids by location allows you to control how often your ads appear in specific areas. Start by analysing which locations deliver the best conversion rates and the lowest cost-per-acquisition. Increase bids where conversions are strong, and lower them in underperforming areas.
Google Ads Help sums it up well:
"Bid adjustments allow you to show your ads more or less frequently based on where, when, and how people search… You can also adjust your bids based on how your ads perform, helping to improve your return on investment (ROI)."
One case study found that fine-tuning bids based on location improved return on ad spend (ROAS) by over 31% and boosted revenue by 144.61% year-over-year.
Keep an eye on performance metrics in real time and shift budgets to areas showing positive trends. Location-specific campaigns are particularly useful for addressing differences in audience behaviour, local competition, and market opportunities.
To complement these bid strategies, consider using location extensions to enhance local engagement.
Using Location Extensions
Location extensions make your ads more interactive by integrating business details like your address, phone number, and even a map. This feature transforms your text ads into tools that connect your online presence with offline visits. Ads with location extensions have been shown to increase click-through rates by 10%.
Setting them up is simple: link your Google My Business profile to your Google Ads account. This ensures your business details are consistent across platforms. Location extensions work especially well for businesses with physical locations, helping potential customers find and contact you.
Here’s why they’re so effective: 76% of people who search for something nearby on their smartphone visit a business within a day, and 28% of those searches lead to a purchase. By making it easier for users to locate and reach you, location extensions capitalise on this behaviour.
Customising Ad Copy for Local Audiences
Tailoring your ad copy to local audiences can make a huge difference. Using local references, terminology, and even cultural nuances helps your ads resonate better with potential customers.
For example, if you’ve opened a new branch near the University of Oxford and locals refer to the town centre as "the Hub", include that term in your ad copy. Similarly, when targeting various regions in the UK, mention well-known landmarks, neighbourhood names, or regional phrases that connect with your audience.
Instead of organising campaigns by product lines, consider grouping them by geographic areas. For instance, rather than creating ad groups for "Car Repair", "Aftermarket Parts", and "Transmission Repair" in Greater London, you could create location-specific ad groups like "Croydon", "Greenwich", "Ealing", and "Harrow", each with tailored messaging.
Highlight local events, promotions, or unique selling points to make your ads feel timely and relevant. A restaurant could mention nearby festivals, while a retail business might focus on area-specific delivery options. Just make sure your landing pages align with these localised ads. For example, if your ad promises "Fast delivery across Manchester", your landing page should back that up with clear details on Manchester-specific delivery services.
Once your ad copy reflects local nuances, leverage data tools to refine your targeting further.
Using Data Tools for Local Insights
Data tools can help you uncover high-performing locations and optimise your ad spend. Google Trends is particularly useful for identifying location-specific keyword opportunities, while other geolocation tools provide insights into visitor behaviour and conversion patterns.
Google Trends allows you to analyse search data to discover seasonal patterns, regional preferences, and emerging keywords. This information can guide both your ad targeting and the language you use in your copy.
Geo heatmaps are another powerful tool. They visually highlight performance trends across different areas, helping you identify high-value regions and cut back on wasted spending. These insights go beyond basic campaign settings, showing you where your ads are truly making an impact.
For example, geo-customised ads have been shown to increase click-through rates by 30%, conversion rates by 13%, and reduce cost-per-acquisition by 50% within two weeks.
In February 2024, Geo Targetly’s tool helped William D., a small business owner, redirect international customers to location-specific pages. This ensured they saw the right content and could manage different currencies on his Webflow website.
Use these tools to personalise your ad text with city-specific details and localised keywords. Adjust your targeting to focus on locations with strong engagement, and exclude areas where your audience isn’t active. This ensures your ad spend is directed where it matters most.
Regularly analysing geographic data also helps you stay ahead of trends. Look for patterns like time-of-day performance by location, seasonal shifts, or the impact of local events on campaign results. These insights can help you refine your strategy and make smarter decisions about where to focus your efforts.
How to Monitor and Improve Location Targeting
Getting the most out of location targeting means keeping a close eye on performance and making data-driven tweaks along the way. Here’s how to stay on top of it.
Tracking Location-Based Metrics
Keep an eye on key metrics like impressions, clicks, conversions, cost per click (CPC), conversion rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS), all broken down by geographic region. These numbers help you spot which areas are driving results and which ones might be draining your budget without much return.
Don’t stop at basic conversion data. Dive deeper into metrics such as Quality Score, page visits, and time spent on-site for each location. These figures give you a clearer picture of user engagement and overall experience. If you notice inconsistent performance across different regions, it might be time to revisit your ad copy or landing pages.
It’s worth noting that location-based marketing can lead to an 84% increase in engagement rates and a 78% boost in response rates. But these benefits only materialise if you’re tracking the right data. Location-specific conversion tracking is essential to identify which regions are generating valuable actions – whether that’s phone calls, form submissions, or purchases.
To stay on top of things, set up custom dashboards with automated alerts. These can help you monitor metrics like click-through rate (CTR), CPC, conversion rates, and ROAS in real-time. With this data at your fingertips, you can make informed adjustments as needed.
Regular Reviews and Adjustments
Make it a habit to review location performance data weekly, but only act on patterns that persist for at least two weeks. This helps you avoid making knee-jerk changes based on short-term fluctuations.
Segment your data by location to pinpoint underperforming areas. For example, if Birmingham shows high impressions but low conversions, it might be time to rethink your strategy there. On the flip side, if a smaller town like Bath delivers strong conversion rates but limited traffic, increasing your bids could help you capture more opportunities.
Seasonal trends also play a big role in location targeting. A seaside town might see a spike in performance during the summer but slow down in winter. Regularly reviewing data and tweaking your geo-targeting or bid modifiers can keep your campaigns effective year-round.
Another effective approach is reallocating budget. If Leeds consistently outperforms Sheffield in both conversion rate and ROAS, shifting some of the budget from Sheffield to Leeds can help maximise your returns. Regularly redistributing your budget ensures you’re putting your resources where they matter most.
Finally, keep an eye on your competitors. Local competition can shift quickly and impact your campaigns. If a new player enters one of your strongest markets, you might need to adjust your bids or refine your messaging to maintain your edge.
Setting Up Reporting Solutions
Automated reporting is a time-saver and ensures you’re always on top of performance. Set up custom reports that track metrics like CTR, CPC, conversion rates, and ROAS. For most businesses, weekly reports are enough, but during busy periods, you might need updates more frequently.
Your reports should answer key questions, such as: Which locations delivered the most conversions this week? Where did costs unexpectedly rise? Which regions showed the biggest growth compared to last month?
To avoid surprises, configure alerts for significant performance changes. For instance, if the cost per conversion suddenly spikes, you can investigate right away instead of waiting for the next report.
Tailor your reports to suit different teams. Your finance team might only need monthly ROAS figures by region, while your marketing team will likely benefit from detailed weekly data. This ensures everyone gets the information they need without being overwhelmed.
Analysing these metrics consistently can reveal patterns and offer valuable insights. Look for links between location performance and external factors, like local events, weather changes, or economic shifts. These insights can help you better predict and prepare for future trends.
Conclusion
Location targeting is far more than just a feature in PPC campaigns – it’s a core strategy that can make or break your advertising efforts. When executed well, it shifts your campaigns from casting a wide net to delivering laser-focused ads that reach the right audience at the perfect moment.
The numbers don’t lie: localised strategies consistently deliver better results, whether it’s increasing foot traffic to your store or generating more qualified leads. These results highlight the importance of understanding your local market and tailoring your campaigns to meet its unique demands.
But success with location targeting isn’t a one-and-done effort. It demands constant fine-tuning – adjusting bids, excluding areas that underperform, and adapting to seasonal patterns. This continuous process ensures your campaigns remain effective and your conversions stay strong. That’s why this guide has emphasised the importance of precise setup, ongoing optimisation, and careful monitoring.
Ultimately, there are three pillars to successful location targeting: precise targeting, relevant messaging, and persistent optimisation. Whether you’re running a radius campaign around your shop, excluding areas that don’t deliver results, or increasing bids for high-performing locations like Edinburgh, every move should be data-driven and focused on your audience’s needs.
The businesses that excel in location targeting are those that embrace its challenges while sticking to the basics. They know it’s a mix of strategic planning and hands-on execution – from structuring campaigns properly to regularly reviewing performance. Success here isn’t about luck; it’s about understanding your audience and making every ad count.
FAQs
What is the best way to choose a location targeting method for my PPC campaign?
To decide on the most effective location targeting for your PPC campaign, begin by identifying your target audience and campaign goals. If you’re running a local business, precise options like radius targeting or postcodes can help you zero in on nearby customers. On the other hand, if your aim is to reach a wider audience, you might opt to target specific cities, regions, or even entire countries.
Experimenting with different targeting methods and consistently analysing performance data is key. This approach allows you to fine-tune your strategy and ensure your ads are connecting with the right audience in the most efficient way possible.
How can I exclude low-performing locations in my PPC campaigns?
To improve the performance of your PPC campaigns, consider using location exclusions found within your campaign settings. This feature lets you block specific areas where your ads aren’t generating results, helping you avoid wasting your budget. Alongside this, implement negative keywords to prevent your ads from appearing in irrelevant searches linked to those locations.
Another way to fine-tune your targeting is by excluding audiences or demographics that are less likely to convert. Make it a habit to review your performance data regularly. This will help you pinpoint underperforming areas or groups, allowing you to redirect your budget towards regions with higher potential for success.
How can I monitor and adjust my location targeting to maximise ROI?
To get the most out of your investment, keep a close eye on your campaign performance data and pinpoint the locations that deliver the strongest results. By adjusting your bids and refining your targeting based on geographical performance, you can allocate your budget more effectively to areas that truly matter. Set up automated reports to keep tabs on trends over time, enabling you to make informed, data-backed adjustments. Regular monitoring is key to keeping your campaigns fine-tuned and delivering the best possible outcomes.
