By John Eberhard
What is the best advertising strategy for a local business? With Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, SEO, email marketing, direct mail and dozens of other choices available, deciding where to spend your advertising budget can be difficult.
For most small businesses, the best approach isn’t to advertise everywhere. It’s to identify where potential customers are actively looking for your services and concentrate your budget there.
Start With Google Ads
For many service businesses, Google Ads is one of the most effective forms of local business advertising because it reaches people who are actively searching for a product or service.
Consider someone searching for “plumber near me,” “personal injury attorney,” or “kitchen remodeling company.” These aren’t people casually scrolling through social media. They’re actively looking for a business.
Google Ads allows a local company to appear near the top of search results almost immediately.
However, Google Ads has become increasingly complicated. Keyword match types, negative keywords, geographic targeting, bidding strategies and conversion tracking can all have a major impact on results. Having an experienced Google Ads consultant manage the campaign can help reduce wasted spending and improve lead quality.
Most importantly, track phone calls, forms filled out, appointments and sales—not just clicks.
Invest in Local SEO
While Google Ads can produce traffic quickly, local SEO should be an important part of a long-term small business advertising strategy.
Local SEO needs to include optimizing your Google Business Profile, creating individual service pages, developing useful website content, generating customer reviews and building relevant links and citations.
SEO takes time, but strong organic rankings can generate leads for months or even years without paying for every click.
Ideally, a business should appear in both Google’s paid and organic results.
Consider Facebook and Instagram Advertising
Facebook and Instagram advertising can also be effective, but these platforms work differently from Google.
Google Search captures existing demand. Social media advertising frequently attempts to create demand.
For example, a homeowner may not be searching for a kitchen remodeling company today. But a Facebook ad showing a dramatic before-and-after kitchen transformation could get that person’s attention.
Social media advertising can be particularly effective for visual businesses, special offers and remarketing campaigns.
Use a Dedicated Landing Page
One of the most overlooked local advertising strategies is improving what happens after someone clicks the ad.
Instead of automatically sending advertising traffic to your homepage, create a dedicated landing page.
Clearly explain your service, geographic area and competitive advantages. Include customer reviews, testimonials, photographs, a prominent phone number and a short contact form. And don’t put navigation buttons on the page.
Make the page especially easy to use on smartphones. Every unnecessary step can reduce conversions.
Track Leads and Customers, Not Just Traffic
Ultimately, the best advertising for a small business is the advertising that produces profitable customers.
Track where phone calls and form submissions originate. More importantly, determine which sources produce qualified leads and actual sales.
For many businesses, an effective strategy combines Google Ads for immediate leads, local SEO for long-term visibility, and social media or remarketing advertising for additional exposure.
Don’t worry about advertising everywhere.
Start where your customers are already looking, carefully track the results, and gradually put more of your advertising budget into the channels that actually produce new business.
Get a free consultation on your promotional strategy. Contact Real Web Marketing at 661-441-2429 or fill out a form here.
