Using the geotargeting feature of AdWords is supposed to give you an advantage when it comes to ranking for generic terms that likely have a local intent (i.e. "dentist"), but the Local Search Hound
cautions that it works best when using a broadly targeted region.
"The narrower the region being targeted the more flawed the geotargeting," he says. For example, if you target your
dentist ads only to queries originating from Newark, N.J., then your campaign may miss searchers who actually reside in Newark, but have IP addresses that generate from neighboring towns like Oakland
or Clifton.
The Hound says that for best results, don't only rely on geotargeting--try to include geographical keywords somewhere in your ad as well. Also, do some research on the
addresses of the local ISPs in the region you're going after. Since searchers' IP addresses will often originate from that location, you'll have to include it in your geographic range for the ads to
be most effective. Lastly, stick geotargeted ads in a separate ad group so that the lower CTRs don't affect your better performing ads.
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