IT Milk: entry

Google Adwords also offers the option to insert advertisements into the geography of Google Maps. If you own a physical business, local business ads are an awesome way to make sure all your services are included in the local searches. Not only can you add additional key words for people to find you, but you can also add custom logos and icons. Take a look at Pure Spa’s listing below: I added my own text descriptions, a 125 x 125 banner, and a water-drop logo that makes Pure Spa stand out on the map. From my Adwords statistics, I can clearly see that people click on Pure Spa’s listing 65% more of the time when it shows up with the unique icon.

The best part about leveraging Google’s local ads is that no one else is doing it. Maybe businesses pay for search marketing in urban areas like New York City or Los Angeles where the regional competition is fierce, but absolutely no one is taking advantage of this in places like Hackettstown, New Jersey. I’m sure other businesses in suburban or rural areas can use Google Adwords to double or triple their exposure to prospective customers.

Google’s local ads are especially helpful in Pure Spa’s case. Pure Spa used to show up on Google Maps only when you searched “nail salon” in Hackettstown, New Jersey. But I also wanted to have the store show up when you search its other services such as massage, manicure, waxing and other relevant key words. In this age where people heavily use the internet to search for local services, a simple thing like a Google Adwords campaign can increase business by many folds .

If you want to insert a paid listing into Google Maps, just go to the Ad Groups window in Google Adwords and click on “Local business ad” as shown below. I recommend that you also choose to create your own custom icon and logo so that you can optimize the clicks that you’re paying for.