I’ve seen it countless times with local businesses: a great new restaurant with amazing food, a charming little boutique with unique products, or a skilled mechanic with a reputation for honesty. They have everything they need to succeed in the real world, but when a potential customer searches for them on their phone, they’re nowhere to be found. It’s frustrating to know your customers are out there, ready to buy, but they just can’t find their way to your door. This is a problem many business owners face, and it’s a feeling of missed opportunity that hits close to home.
In today’s world, the phone in our pocket is how we find local services and shops. The search for a “coffee shop near me” or a “florist in Berlin” happens dozens of times a day. If you want to connect with these nearby customers, you can’t just rely on word-of-mouth anymore. You need to be visible online, and the best way to do that is to combine the power of Local SEO and Local PPC.
What is local SEO and why does my business need it?
Think of Local SEO as building a strong foundation for your online presence. It’s the process of optimizing your website and online profiles so that you appear in the “organic” (unpaid) search results, especially the Google Maps listings. It helps you get “free” traffic from people who are actively searching for what you offer in your area.
For a local business, this means:
- having a fully optimized Google Business Profile
- collecting customer reviews
- ensuring your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across the internet
- having a website with content specific to your location
Local SEO builds trust and authority over time. It is a lasting asset for your business.
What about local PPC? Is it different?
Yes, Local PPC is different from Local SEO, and it’s essential for getting immediate visibility. While Local SEO is your long-term foundation, Local PPC is the big, bright sign you put up right away. It involves paying to have your business show up at the very top of search results.
- geo-targeted search ads → campaigns that are set up to only show to people within a specific radius of your location
- google local service ads → these appear with a “Google Guaranteed” badge and often show up even above regular search ads
- social media ads → campaigns on platforms like Facebook or Instagram that target users in your local community
Local PPC gives you immediate visibility and allows you to get in front of customers at the exact moment they are searching for a solution. It also gives you control over your message and budget.
Do local SEO and PPC work together?
Yes, and using them together creates a powerful “one-two punch” that allows you to dominate local searches.
When a potential customer searches for “plumber near me,” they often see three things on the results page: 1) Paid Ads, 2) The Google Maps “3-Pack”, and 3) Organic results. By using both PPC and SEO, you can appear in multiple places on that page, making it much more likely a customer will see and choose you. This strategy combines immediate attention from ads with the trust and authority of organic listings.
Let’s look at a florist shop called “Petals & Pots.”
local SEO in action → Petals & Pots has a complete Google Business Profile with their hours, address, and beautiful photos of their arrangements. They encourage every customer to leave a review. On their website, they have a page called “Flower Delivery in Budapest” and a blog post about “The Best Flowers for a Local Wedding.” All of this helps them show up in the Google Maps section.
local PPC in action → to get more immediate business, they run a Google Ad campaign. The ad says, “Need Flowers Today? We Offer Same-Day Delivery in Budapest!” This ad is set up to only show to people within a 5-mile radius of their shop. For a big event like Mother’s Day, they also run a Facebook ad that shows a special offer, targeted to people in their city who have birthdays coming up or who are interested in gardening.
The result is that when a customer searches “florist near me,” they might see a Petals & Pots ad at the top of the search results, followed by their business listing in the Maps section right below. They are everywhere a customer looks, guiding them directly to their physical door.
Is it possible to do this myself?
Yes, you can. However, as a small business owner, your time is your most valuable asset. You’re busy running the day-to-day operations, serving customers, and managing your team. Trying to master both Local SEO and Local PPC on your own is often overwhelming and can lead to wasted time and money.
These two disciplines require different skills and constant attention. SEO needs ongoing content and profile optimization, while PPC requires daily monitoring, budget adjustments, and testing. Doing it all yourself can mean you’re always playing catch-up, missing changes to Google’s rules or opportunities to get ahead of your competition. This is where a strategic partner can help. I focus on getting your business seen by the right local customers, so you can focus on running the business you love.
Running a successful brick-and-mortar business today means being just as visible online as you are on your street. By combining the long-term authority of Local SEO with the immediate power of Local PPC, your business can get found more easily and more often.
Wanna have something more than just random tips?
Let me help you create an ad strategy that works for you and is in fusion with your organic efforts to reach better results.