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.
However if you happen to be accounting firm, electrician, handyman, or foot doctor, the battle is easily won. The competitors in your market most likely have no idea what they are doing.
Consulting in this area is a great idea. You can put together campaigns for businesses around you. The need is under filled. Consider this:
Most businesses in your area of the city shell out as much as $1,000 per month simply on Yellow Pages ads. The money is being spent.
The representatives for Yellow Pages also sell Internet Yellow Pages listings, this helps make businesses more aware of internet marketing. However these reps are not selling Google or Yahoo ads.
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?
Local advertisers that are knowledgeable about the web are quite rare. That most likely won’t be changing soon either. There is a big difference between running an online store and a retail store. The saying “In the land of the blind, the man with one eye gets to be king”, is only too true.
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.
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