Localized Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is another Internet marketing strategy that you can use to get your business noticed online, drive targeted traffic to your site, and increase your brand awareness in your community. If you’ve been looking at the advantages of local PPC or have already been experimenting with different ads, these tips will help to maximize your investment and boost your click-through rates!

• Use keyword research tools – such as WordTracker, Google AdWords, and others and see which industry-specific keywords and phrases are most often used by people looking for things online. This will identify niche opportunities that you can capitalize on. The quality of your keyword research is directly related to how successful your local PPC ad campaign will be!
   
• Choose multiple keywords – and prepare to be flexible. If your preferred keywords are highly competitive and will cost more, use your research and choose other keywords with multiple variations that will still get results but save money.
   
• Include the name of your town or area with the keywords – People are getting better at using local terms in their searches so modify your keyword selection by including the name of your town or area. These will probably be less competitive terms which will allow you to get more results with less money!
   
• Use town or area nicknames with the keywords – This takes the idea presented above and expands it further. Choose keywords which include common nicknames or abbreviations of your city, county, or region.
   
• Test different ad features – Start slowly and experiment with adding images, animations, different ad copy, etc. and track the results. Look for innovative ways that help your ads stand out!

Be prepared to experiment with the look and composition of your PPC ads to see what works and what doesn’t. If a particular ad is underperforming and not getting results, you’ll have the option of shutting it off and trying a new one in its place. Local PPC advertising is all about the response rate and higher rates means higher sales for your business! These tips will save you money, drive more traffic to your site, and make your phone ring off the hook!

About the author: Nick Stamoulis is the President of Brick Marketing who is Website Magazine's “Local Thursdays” weekly contributor.