To achieve PPC success, small businesses with a regional focus need a local search marketing strategy. It may seem illogical to narrow your reach with location parameters and keyword modifiers, but you’re actually mitigating the influence of national competitors with seemingly endless resources. Never let size become a barrier to advertising success: use it to your advantage.

Here’s an example: Imagine you’re a skilled tailor crafting custom sportcoats in Cambridge, and you believe Google Ads is the ideal way to acquire new customers. Perhaps you consult a few blog posts for guidance. You observe that when you bid on terms like “custom menswear” and “tailored jacket,” your ads are constantly outranked by those from Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A Bank. You also notice these giants seem to be using the exact same ad copy for both terms, even on mobile devices. Astutely, you start adding “Cambridge,” “Boston,” “Newbury Street,” and similar location-based terms to your tailoring keywords. You incorporate those same keywords into your compelling, locally-focused ad copy. And you utilize call-only ads to schedule custom fittings at your shop. While the volume is significantly lower, the clicks you’re paying for are highly relevant and more affordable. Quality Scores increase. Conversion rates increase. Revenue increases. The lesson? If you’re not a national brand, concentrating on local is the key to outmaneuvering your competition. This is precisely what Firstline Locksmith, a (you guessed it) locksmith serving the mid-Atlantic region, accomplished. And this strategy continues to yield impressive results.

The marketing services team at nexus-security successfully scaled Firstline’s PPC campaigns rapidly and effectively. “They joined us in December 2015, aiming for 50 calls monthly from paid search at a $50 CPA. Since then, Firstline has consistently received over 100 calls each month at a $23 CPA,” says account manager Ashley Noel. This remarkable performance boost not only thrilled the client but also earned them recognition at the US Search Awards for Best Local Campaign. To commemorate this award-winning work, we’ll delve into some of the techniques Ashley employed to help Firstline Locksmith dominate the local SERP (and how you can implement them in your account).

Tip #1: Excel in Local Business Marketing with Call-Only Ads & Calls from Your Website

What nexus-security Achieved… The market for residential locksmith services is vast and characterized by its hyperlocal nature and reliance on mobile searches. Therefore, our strategy for these campaigns specifically targeted mobile users. We began with call-only campaigns and, following their initial success, expanded into local search campaigns with ad groups focusing on specific residential neighborhoods and suburbs.

These campaigns—optimized with bid adjustments and mobile-preferred ads—aggressively cater to the mobile market. When traditional mobile conversion rates fell short, we adapted. Our focus shifted from driving quote completions to generating more phone calls from landing pages. These calls were tracked using nexus-security’s keyword-level call tracking software, enabling us to optimize bids and ad copy for these leads. How You Can Implement This… If your business operates in an industry where customers have immediate needs, such as being locked out late at night, experiencing a dental emergency, or urgently needing a dinner jacket, call-only ads might be a perfect fit. To set up your call-only campaigns, go to the “Campaign” tab and click the prominent red button…

Next, after naming your campaign and choosing your desired network (Search), select “call-only” using the last radio button on the right.

Structurally, call-only ads differ from standard and Expanded Text Ads because your phone number serves as the headline. This limits your available ad copy space to the description lines.

On a separate note: I’m curious to see how call-only ads will adapt once Expanded Text Ads become the norm. Structurally, I’m unsure how two headlines would function: perhaps a phone number combined with a bolded CTA? Additionally, their mobile-exclusive nature would lead to truncation of any extensive, elaborate description lines. Remember that call-only ads are only displayed in the top two positions. To reduce cost per click (which in this case translates to cost per phone call), maximize Quality Score by incorporating your targeted keywords within the limited ad copy space. **** If you aim to drive phone calls from a well-designed landing page instead of the SERP, like Firstline, you’ll need call tracking software. It’s worth noting that a developer (or, if you’re a nexus-security client, our Implementation Team) can be instrumental in setting up your call tracking effectively.

Here’s how to set up call tracking:

• Create a pool of phone numbers. The number of numbers needed depends on your website’s traffic volume.
• Replace the HTML phone number on your website with a JavaScript code snippet.
• When a visitor from a PPC ad lands on your site, the JavaScript code dynamically inserts a phone number from your pool where the old HTML phone number used to be. This number remains associated with the visitor throughout their session, regardless of the pages they visit, and persists for a set time even if they leave and return to your website.
• The JavaScript code embedded on your site captures the keyword that triggered the ad, allowing you to link the phone call back to the specific keyword.
• The number is eventually recycled, eliminating the need to continuously add new numbers to your pool. Discover more about mobile PPC strategy.

Tip #2: Minor (Local) Optimization Makes a Big Difference

What nexus-security Accomplished… Previously, Firstline faced challenges in differentiating itself on the SERP alongside numerous “fake, spammy locksmith advertisers.” To stand out from competitors using unethical tactics, we established a Google listing for Firstline (known as a Business Profile), which boosted their organic rankings and enabled the use of location extensions in paid ads. We also collected genuine reviews from past customers and the Better Business Bureau to emphasize the credibility of their listings using valuable review extensions.

How You Can Implement This… To create a compelling listing like the one above, you must not only create a Business Profile on Google but also set up a Google My Business account to claim and optimize that profile. Here are a few of the many optimizations you can perform within Google My Business:

• Adding your phone number, website, and business hours (including special hours)
• Selecting primary and secondary categories
• Regularly uploading photos
• Frequently publishing posts Google My Business is a free tool that allows you to occupy more space on the SERP for branded searches and serves as a valuable resource for potential customers. Enhance your local business marketing by creating an account today! You can also run Google Local Services Ads through a GMB listing. *** To incorporate location extensions into your Google Ads (an excellent way to highlight your business’s proximity to users), go to the “Ad Extensions” tab in the Google Ads interface and select “Location Extensions.” If you haven’t previously added a location, you’ll be prompted to sync your Google My Business account. Once completed and enabled, your ads will resemble this:

Discover more about local online marketing.

Tip #3: Geo Ad Customizers: Achieving Hyper-Specific Copy Effortlessly

What nexus-security Achieved… Our keyword strategy involved structuring ad groups around different service categories for residential, auto, and business services, as well as various cities, neighborhoods, destinations, and routes. This enabled us to tailor our ads and landing pages to directly address the specific needs of local searchers.

However, frequently updating numerous local ads became a time-consuming task. To expedite the process while preserving the crucial element of locality, we implemented geo ad customizers to better resonate with users’ local search queries and streamline our messaging.

By integrating location-specific language into Firstline’s ad headlines using geo ad customizers, we observed improvements in their CTR and Quality Score. How You Can Implement This… To set up geo ad customizers in Google Ads, you need to create a feed and upload it to the Business data section of the Shared Library tab.

Constructing a feed can be a bit tedious, but as long as you include the fields you intend to modify, you shouldn’t encounter any issues. Consult Here’s a template for guidance on customizer feed construction, and refer to here’s for a list of targetable attributes you can incorporate into your feed! Once your feed is uploaded, navigate to the campaign where you wish to implement location-specific ad copy and create a new text ad:

The next step mirrors the process of using Dynamic Keyword Insertion. Simply insert an opening bracket, like this ‘{’, and a list of feeds will appear. Select your desired feed and then choose the attribute containing the values you want to display in your ad (I’ll spare you from further mentions of “feed” now, I promise). While the text displayed in the UI might appear cluttered…

Your potential customers will see an ad that speaks directly to their needs and location.

Important: Character limits apply when creating ads, so ensure that your attribute values and ad text adhere to the Expanded Text Ad limits. Learn more about Geo Customizers! **** By implementing the strategies outlined above, Firstline Locksmith’s account manager, Ashley Noel, achieved a 30% increase in conversion rates and, more importantly, a significant improvement in call quality. Explore SEO tips specific to COVID-19, or learn more about nexus-security’s marketing services.