MONADNOCK REGION, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) Think about your own behavior.

You become interested in something you want or need and within seconds you pull out your phone and search.

“Best pizza near me.”
“Tree service.”
“Used truck dealer.”
“Best credit union.”
“Plumber near me.”

This behavior happens constantly.

Cheshire County has roughly 77,000 residents. The average person performs several Google searches every day, which means hundreds of thousands of searches happen in our county every single day.

Many of those searches are tied directly to someone looking to buy something — a service they need, a business they want to compare, or a decision about where they are going to spend their money.

Those searches represent opportunities for local businesses to gain a new customer.

Why Google is the search engine that matters

When people search online, they overwhelmingly use one platform: Google.

Google controls roughly 90% of the search market. That means when someone in Cheshire County is looking for what you sell, there is a very good chance they are searching on Google.

That’s why having a strong presence on Google is so important. It’s where buying decisions begin.

Other search engines exist, but they represent a very small share of search activity. Unless you have unlimited advertising budgets, Google is the platform that matters most.

Simply put, it is the search engine your business has to win on.

Where SEO fits — and where it doesn’t

In a previous article we talked about SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a strategy designed to improve where your website appears in Google’s organic search results.

The challenge is that SEO is slow. It can take months, sometimes years, to significantly improve your ranking. The more competitive your business category is, the harder it becomes to move up in those results.

Meanwhile, new potential customers are searching every single day. Can you/your business wait that long for results?

Google Search Ads put you on page one immediately

This is where Google Search Ads come in.

Google Search Ads allow your business to appear on page one of Google the very day your campaign starts. There is no waiting period and no guessing about whether your business will appear.

You pay to appear when someone searches for the products or services you offer, and you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad.

That makes Google Search Ads one of the most efficient forms of advertising available.

“People don’t click on Google Ads.” (Yes, they do.)

Whenever I talk with business owners about Google Search Ads, I hear the same response.

“I never click on those ads.”

Maybe you don’t. But millions of people do every single day.

Research shows that about 65 percent of people click on Google ads when they are actively looking to buy something. When someone searches for a service they need right now, they are not studying the page like a marketing expert. They are simply looking for the business that appears to solve their problem.

Many of those businesses are showing up in the sponsored positions at the top of the search results.

Google earns more than a billion dollars every day, and most of that revenue comes from advertising connected directly to people searching for things online. If people truly didn’t click those ads, that business model would collapse overnight.

Why Google Ads often become the largest part of a marketing budget

For many local businesses, Google Search Ads eventually become one of the largest parts of their advertising budget.

There is a simple reason for that: they work consistently.

When someone searches for what you sell, they already have intent. They are not casually browsing or killing time. They are looking for a solution to a problem.

When your business appears at the top of those search results, you are meeting that customer at the exact moment they are trying to decide who to call, visit, or buy from.

Another major advantage of search advertising is that it is trackable. With many forms of advertising, you are estimating the impact. With Google Search Ads you can see activity happening in real time — how many people saw your ad, how many clicked, how many called your business, and how many visited your website.

That level of visibility gives business owners confidence that their marketing dollars are producing measurable results. When something works consistently and can be tracked, it naturally becomes a larger part of the budget.

An emerging threat to local businesses

There is also another trend local businesses should be aware of.

Companies from outside the area are actively looking for markets where local businesses are not doing a good job showing up on Google. When they find those opportunities, they move in.

They run Google Search Ads targeting those communities and start capturing customers who are searching locally.

This is happening frequently in both retail and home service industries. A company from another state can run ads in Cheshire County just as easily as a business located here.

When someone searches for something like “tree service near me” or “bathroom remodeling,” those ads can appear at the top of the page even if the company is not truly local.

The result is that business that used to go to a local company suddenly goes somewhere else.

Not because the outside company is better. Not because customers prefer them. But because they showed up where the customer was looking.

The opportunity for local businesses

Every day people in our community search for the things your business sells. The question is simple: When they search, do they see you? Or do they see your competitors?

Final thought

Strong marketing still plays an important role in creating interest in your business — through radio, television, social media, direct mail, and other channels. When people become interested in what you offer, their next step is always the same: they go online and search. And when they search, you must be there with a message that matches what they want.

If you want to know what a Google advertising campaign would look like for your business, contact me for a free, no-obligation consultation. I will pull it together for you, share it with you, and explain it in easy-to-understand language so you can get a feel for how it all works.

Just email me here: rcable@monadnockmediagroup.com