How do you use Location Extensions to drive local traffic?

Location Extensions in Bing Ads are a powerful tool for driving local traffic by showing potential customers the physical location of your business alongside your ads. This feature helps users find your store, office, or service center easily when they search for your business or related keywords.

Here's how you can use Location Extensions effectively to drive more local traffic:

1. Display Store Location Information
The most direct way Location Extensions help drive local traffic is by providing clear, easy-to-find location information in your ads. When users are searching for products or services near them, seeing a physical address or proximity to their location makes it more likely they'll click on your ad.

How It Drives Local Traffic:
Show Physical Address: Location Extensions allow you to display your business address directly in your ads. If users are searching for nearby businesses, seeing your address will make it easy for them to visit your location.

Increase Visibility for Nearby Searches: Location Extensions target users who are searching within a certain radius of your store, making your ad more relevant and timely.

2. Promote Store Hours and Contact Information
Alongside the physical address, you can also display store hours and contact information in your ads. This gives users essential details to make decisions about when to visit or call your business.

How It Drives Local Traffic:
Provide Store Hours: Users are more likely to visit your business if they know when you're open. Including your store hours in the Location Extension can encourage users to come at the right time.

Show Contact Info: If users want to reach out before visiting, providing a phone number in the Location Extension can encourage direct calls, increasing the chances of conversion.

3. Use Distance and Proximity Targeting
Location Extensions allow you to serve ads based on the proximity of a user to your business. When set up correctly, these extensions help drive local foot traffic by showing your ads to people within a specific distance from your location.

How It Drives Local Traffic:
Target Nearby Users: Set up radius targeting or use location-specific targeting to ensure your ads are shown to users near your business. This increases the likelihood that people who see your ad will actually visit in person.

Focus on High-Converting Local Areas: By analyzing which locations yield the most traffic or sales, you can adjust your targeting to focus on these areas, optimizing your campaigns for maximum local relevance.

4. Integrate with Google Maps for Easy Directions
When you use Location Extensions, Bing Ads can display your business location on a map (through integrations with Bing Maps or Google Maps if applicable). This makes it even easier for users to get directions to your store or office.

How It Drives Local Traffic:
Clickable Map: Users can click on your business location and get directions to your store, which reduces friction in the decision-making process.

Mobile-Friendly: Since many local searches happen on mobile devices, users can easily tap to open the map and navigate to your location directly.

5. Highlight Special Offers for Local Users
You can pair Location Extensions with other ad features, such as promotion extensions, to make your local offers even more enticing. If you're running a local promotion (e.g., a "grand opening" sale or "in-store only" discount), you can feature these promotions along with your location details.

How It Drives Local Traffic:
Promote Local Offers: Advertise local sales, events, or promotions alongside your address to entice nearby users to visit your business. For example, "Get 20% off in-store this weekend only!"

Create Urgency: If you have time-sensitive offers, using Location Extensions to highlight these promotions can drive immediate foot traffic, as users may want to take advantage of the deal before it expires.

6. Use Call-to-Action (CTA) with Location Extensions
Including a compelling call-to-action (CTA) along with your Location Extensions can further prompt local customers to take action. For example, if you offer services or products that users need immediately, you can add CTAs like "Visit Today," "Call for Details," or "Shop Now."

How It Drives Local Traffic:
Encourage Immediate Visits: A well-crafted CTA, such as "Visit Our Store Today" or "Find Us Nearby," creates urgency and prompts users to head to your physical location right away.

Increase Direct Engagement: Use CTAs like "Call Now" alongside your address to drive phone calls for immediate inquiries or appointments.

7. Customize Location Extensions Based on Campaign Objectives
If your business operates in multiple locations, you can create different campaigns or ad groups for each location. This allows you to target specific regions or areas with tailored messaging that is relevant to local users.

How It Drives Local Traffic:
Location-Specific Ad Messaging: Customize your Location Extensions based on the location-specific features, services, or promotions you offer. For example, if one store offers a specific product or service, highlight that in the extension for users in that area.

Adjust Bid Strategy: You can adjust bids based on location performance, targeting higher-converting areas with higher bids, ensuring you maximize local traffic where it's most likely to convert.

8. Optimize for Mobile Devices
Since many local searches happen on mobile devices (e.g., "near me" searches), ensuring that your Location Extensions are optimized for mobile is key. Bing Ads automatically adjusts the display of these extensions for mobile users, showing a prominent business location, contact details, and map information.

How It Drives Local Traffic:
Mobile-Friendly Features: Users can tap the address or phone number directly from the mobile ad, which encourages quick action (e.g., calling or navigating to the store).

Increased Conversion Potential: Local searches are often time-sensitive, and mobile optimization ensures users can act immediately when they see your ad.

9. Track Local Campaign Performance
To ensure that Location Extensions are driving the right local traffic, you should closely monitor and analyze the performance of your campaigns. This includes metrics such as clicks, phone calls, store visits, and conversion rates.

How It Drives Local Traffic:
Measure Foot Traffic: If your business is set up with offline conversion tracking, you can track store visits that occur as a result of users clicking on your ad and getting directions to your store.

Analyze Conversion Data: Look at data for individual locations and adjust bids, targeting, or messaging based on which locations are performing best.

Conclusion
Location Extensions are a powerful way to drive local traffic by making your business more visible to people searching nearby. By providing clear, relevant location details, promoting local offers, and optimizing for mobile users, you can encourage more foot traffic and improve conversions from local searches.

You can further optimize Location Extensions by targeting specific regions, using CTAs, and analyzing your location-specific data to ensure you're getting the best ROI from your campaigns.