A giant fraction of Google searches are local. Advertise your business locally and you’ll get traffic and customers for a fraction of the cost of other media. This may sometimes reach more people than Yellow Pages ads; it’s more traceable than billboards, and it costs you less than mailings and fliers.

The Kelsey group reports that of the millions of internet searches 60 percent are local. Others estimate that it is as many as 75 percent, but even if the percentage was only 20 that is still a whole boatload of searches targeted at locals.

However the numbers work out, local search is doubtlessly the best underused option for managing your PPC.

Are you selling weight management programs, audio downloads, flat screen TV, or home loans nationally on Google? It is possible to do but it will be an uphill fight all the way so be prepared.

However if you happen to be accounting firm, electrician, handyman, or foot doctor, the battle is easily won. The competitors in your market most likely have no idea what they are doing.

This is also a great place to consult, setting up campaigns for neighboring businesses, because it’s so undeserved. Think about it:

Most businesses in your area of the city shell out as much as $1,000 per month simply on Yellow Pages ads. The money is being spent.

The Yellow Pages reps are also selling Internet Yellow Page listings, creating more awareness of online marketing. But they’re not selling Google ads on Yahoo.

Because there are so many existing opportunities to see to, companies such as Google are not likely to be putting salesmen on the street to market pay-per-click to local businesses any time soon. (Murmurs of deals with Yellow Pages companies have been heard though.)

On topics where mail order is not an option, and it has to be obtained locally, clicks are cheap. As an example in Chicago there are just 6 ads that come up for the keyword ‘brake shop’ and E-bay is one of them. Did someone say nickel clicks?

Local advertisers that are knowledgeable about the web are quite rare. That most likely won’t be changing soon either. There is a big difference between running an online store and a retail store. The saying “In the land of the blind, the man with one eye gets to be king”, is only too true.

If the fact that many keywords will produce only a few clicks a month doesn’t bother you, then the ROI (return on investment) for the clicks you get is phenomenal.

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