How to Use Location Targeting in Google Ads to Reach the Right Customers

Location targeting is a crucial element of maximizing your Google Ads budget. You have to ensure that your ads are seen by the people most likely to convert!

How to Show Ads in A Specific Location Using Google Ads

If you advertise online, recent data suggests that 50% of ad spend is wasted. Imagine you're spending $10,000 a month on Google Ads. Now, think about what you could do with an extra $5,000 in your pocket! One straightforward best practice that can help you save money is to show your ads only to customers in your specific area. In this article, I'll show you exactly how to do that inside Google Ads to help you avoid mistakes in Google Ads.

Introduction to Location Targeting in Google Ads

Let's dive straight into the Google Ads interface. We start by creating a new campaign. Here's how you can do it:

1. Create a Campaign: Once you’re inside Google Ads, select "Create Campaign."

2. Campaign Setup: Select ‘Search’, select your Goal, and input your website URL.

    

3. Select Networks: Choose between the Search or Display Network. For this example, we’ll stay with the Search Network. (you will also see a 'search partners' option. Learn more about that here.)

Location Settings

Now, comes the crucial part—location settings.

1. Location Options: You’ll see some preset locations like United States and Canada. But we want to enter a more specific location. Select "Enter another location."

2. Input Location: Type in your zip code, county, or town. Let’s say you want to advertise in Charlottesville, VA (that is near me!). Type in "Charlottesville" and check how it appears on the map.

    

3. Advanced Search: Click the advanced options and scroll out to see your targeting region. What’s great about Google Ads is that you can target multiple areas in one campaign. For example, you can add Waynesboro, a nearby town, to see its reach.

    

4. Radius Targeting: Radius targeting allows you to select a specific location and define a radius around it. You can select how many miles around Charlottesville you’d like to target.

    

5. Multiple Locations: Add another town like Crozet and see how its radius overlaps with Charlottesville. This will give you a clear view of your reach.

    

Excluding Locations

You can also exclude specific areas within your targeted locations.

1. Add Exclusions: Remove a town like Crozet from your targeted area and add it as an exclusion. This helps ensure your ads don't show up in places you don't want them to.

    

Important Location Options

One key setting that many people get wrong is choosing between "Presence" and "Presence or Interest" targeting.

Presence vs. Interest: "Presence" targets people who are in or regularly in your targeted location. "Presence or Interest" targets people who are in, regularly in, or have shown interest in the location. In other words, "Presence” is a stricter form of targeting because “Presence or Interest” could target people who are researching a quick visit to a location (that they don’t live in). Usually, most businesses will be better of selecting “Presence”. (NOTE: I’ve seen a lot of businesses that select “Presence or Interest” struggle with more junk and spam conversions versus businesses that select “Presence”.

Summary

In order to maximize your ad spend efficiency, you have to get the fundamentals right, like location settings. Following the steps I outline in this video/article will help you do just that!