The Holiday Season Is Coming: Get More Local Now - NetConneXion

The big holiday season of 2012 is almost here! Businesses prepare themselves for -what?s for many- the busiest and most important season of the year. As a business owner, you want to reach as many of the right target?customers as you can. Even though a purchase is still done mainly offline (i.e. in?a store itself), about 80% to 90% of people use the Internet to do research online?first. So, it?s critical that your business shows up during?that orientation phase.

You want to?make sure it?s easy for people to find, visit and call your business. To help you do a better job at this, Google has enhanced several of its AdWords (its online advertising system) features. Let?s have a look at some of the most important new features.

1) Airport? Targeting

Airport Targeting?is a?new way to reach travelers on the go. Google explains:

?Whether people are checking a flight status or passing time before take-off, mobile and tablet devices have become indispensable for airport-goers. With the launch of airport targeting, businesses are now able to connect with potential customers on mobile, tablet or laptop devices in more than 350 airports around the world via AdWords.?

So with airport targeting, you can?provide relevant, last-minute travel and entertainment opportunities, promote your mobile application to airport travelers,?improve interest in your in-airport campaigns, build your brand with mobile display ads, and much more.? In addition,?it?s easy to?the performance of these campaigns by using the geographic performance reports.

2) Location Extensions?& Sitelinks Together

Location extensions can now be shown alongside one-line sitelinks in text ads (on desktop and laptop computers) and will continue to show with two-line and three-line sitelinks. In case?you have a multi-channel business, you might want to?use location extensions in addition to sitelinks to help you?emphasize specific areas of your company.?See example ad below:

Example ad by Google

3) Larger Maps?With More Funcionality

Google reports that ?location extensions on desktop and laptop computers will now appear with a larger, more engaging map panel that will replace the current expandable map. When the location extension address is clicked, this new map panel appears to the right of the top search results.? Apparently, early testing suggests that?people will click to see locations on a map more?often than with?the previous design of the maps.

4)?What?s Working?And What?s Not???

If you use AdWords conversion tracking (which you should, otherwise how do you know if your online advertising is working?)?you probably want to know how location extensions affect your online conversion rates. Earlier this year,?Google included online conversion data within ad extensions reports. This helps you?analyze the overall impact of location extensions on online conversions. In addition, it?enables you to?measure your online conversions per location more effectively.

5) Expanding into more countries

Google says the geo-targeting and location extension features are now available in more countries such as?Argentina, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, UAE, and Vietnam.?We have also expanded geo-targeting options in the following countries: counties in the United Kingdom, departments in France, and cities in Argentina, Russia, and United Arab Emirates.

Summary

Google is working hard to make it easier for people to find and connect with your business by improving their local system and features.?The above features are the most recent and newest changes and will allow you even better target and reach potential buyers, just in time for the holiday season.

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Source: http://www.netconnexion.com/blog/holiday-season-coming-local/

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