Adwords Extensions – Location Extension

As mentioned in last weeks post, the Location extension in Google Adwords can be a great way to attract more potential clients from the local area. The best bit is that you can link it with your Places page and get the full version, which adds a nice touch to your ad:

Location Extension in action

Here’s how to do that:

The first thing you’ll need is a Google Places account and a Google Adwords account. I assume you already have the Adwords account so this is how to set up the other one.

Setting up a Google Places page

1. Go to http://www.google.com/places/
2. Choose ‘Get Started’
3. Sign in with your existing Google Adwords account (essential, if you want to link places & PPC together)
4. Follow the instructions until you’re told to wait for a PIN code
5. Wait for a PIN code to arrive at your specified address (usually within 2 weeks in UK)
6. Go to  http://www.google.com/places/ again
7. Input the PIN in the provided field
8. Done!

Congratulations, you’ve just put your business on the map, literally.

one of us, one of us, one of us, one of us, one of us...

Now on to part two:

Setting up Location Extensions in Adwords

Nothing overly hard here either. Just follow these steps:

4. Choose your extension

1. Login into your Google Adwords account: http://adwords.google.com
2. Choose the ‘Campaigns’ tab on the green menu
3. Choose ‘Ad extensions’ tab on the grey menu (here’s how to enable ‘Ad extensions’ tab)
4. Choose to view Location Extensions (see picture)
5. Have Google Places verified?
• YES
1. Choose the first option ‘Addresses from Google Places’
2. Click ‘New Extension’
3. Choose the campaign and Google Places account
• NO
1. Choose the second option ‘Manually Entered Addresses’
2. Click ‘New Extension’
3. Choose campaign and enter the address and details
6. Click ‘Save’
7. Done!

Congratulations, you’ve enabled Location extensions for your Adwords Search ads campaigns that you selected.

As you probably guessed, you can only have one location extension per campaign, so if you have several business locations that are using the same campaign, I’d suggest changing that to local versions (let’s say 10 to 20mi around each office) with appropriate location extension enabled. Also you can continue running the ‘global’ campaign (if you have one), just remember to exclude the allocated local territories from geo targeting. Remember – the key to good results in Adwords is micromanagement…but don’t go over the top!

I wrote that by hand.. honestly

That’s about all to say about the location extensions. If you have anything to add – feel free to do so in the comments or our Twitter feed.

Still to come in the series: Call Extensions, Sitelinks Extensions, Product extensions.

Edit (June 1st, 2011):

Location Extension Update

In the days since this post was published, Google has announced that they will start charging for clicks on the ‘Get Directions’ part of the location extensions. Here’s a repost of their short Q&A:

Q: Where will I see performance metrics for clicks on directions?

A: You can see the number of clicks on directions in the same place as your other click metrics (select Segment, then Click typefrom your summary tables). You can review the performance of these clicks to determine if they’re helping you meet your marketing goals.

Q: How will directions appear in ads on desktop and mobile devices?

A: For AdWords campaigns with location extensions enabled, a “Directions” link will be eligible to appear in your ads and sponsored Google Maps info windows on desktops.

On mobile search ads, a “Get directions using Google Maps?” pop-up will appear when the user clicks on the expandable map. Clicking on “OK” in the pop-up allows users to get directions to your business.

Q: Where can I see the past performance of clicks on directions?

A: For a report, select the Free clicks view within the Dimensions tab of your AdWords account. If you don’t see the Dimensionstab in your account, click on the arrow button next to the existing tabs above your performance table, and select it in the dropdown menu.

Q: I don’t want to pay for clicks on directions. How can I opt out?

A: You can do this by removing the location extensions associated with your campaign. However, location extensions provide valuable information to local customers about your business, so we encourage you to carefully analyze your campaign performance before doing so.

Read the whole Google post here.

Links to other extension posts:

• Adwords Extensions
• Title Extensions
• Sitelinks Extension
• Call Extension
• Products Extension