Dear Kalena…
There is still one thing that confuses me about Pay Per Click advertising. Whenever I use a geographic term in my ad at the very end google comes back and tells me the search value will be too low.
For instance *web site designers Southern Maryland*. If that term is in the ad then the results seem to be flagged by Google, while the original estimates it gives me look ok.
Should I avoid uses regional terms in my ads? I left them because it didn’t tell me they were rejected and they seem to appear if I run a search for the terms at times.
Thanks
Debbie
Hi Debbie,
If you have your regional targeting set up accurately within the campaigns settings, there will generally be little need to use regional qualifying terms in your keywords/ads.
Google has determined that the number of people searching for your phrases that include *Southern Maryland* is very low so your ad is not likely to be shown. You should start by targeting more generic phrases such as *web design Maryland* and then if the search volume is too high you can reduce the click costs by adding *Southern* in later.
The other option is to set your regional target markets within your campaign settings and use Dynamic Keyword Insertion to determine your ad headlines.
Interesting timing on this Q&A. Just this weekend I reworked my entire AdWords account and tried something new: Geo-exclusion.
I know, not exactly the same thing asked about in the question, but similar.
I’m running a one month test where I’ve turned OFF my home state (Georgia) from showing my Ads.
I’m targeting out of towners moving to Atlanta only, and don’t want the bulk of local traffic which is low quality.
However, local clicks have been the bulk of my traffic.
So the danger is, my CTR drops, taking my Quality Score with it, and then I have no traffic from anywhere.
We’ll see.
Good advice in your second paragraph.
But isn’t using the dynamic keyword feature a really good with to burn through your cash with little to show for it?
@ Rob – Good luck with that. Let us know how you get on.
@ Sheldon – Using DKI can be tricky. Just like using the Google Content Network, it’s possible to use up your daily budget very fast if you’re not cautious. But that’s where careful and strategic keyword selection comes into play.