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AdWords Express vs Google Boost vs Google Places: How to Advertise
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Google Boost (now called AdWords Express) is Google's latest advertising innovation: local search ads that 'boost' your Google Places listing to the top of the list, so to speak. But Google Places is free and Google Boost (now called AdWords Express) costs money. What are the pro's and con's of using Google Boost (now called AdWords Express) vs. Google Places?
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By Jason McDonald
Senior SEO Instructor - JM Internet Group.
Posted: July 5, 2011
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Contents:
Google Places: Basics
Local search is huge on the Internet! Upwards of 50% of all searches are allegedly local in character - searches for Pizza, Roofing Company, Personal Injury Attorney, Bail Bond... - the list goes on and on. For many local businesses, Google Places (formerly known as Google Local) is a new advertising and promotion opportunity. Best of all, Google Places is FREE! If you haven't already, you want to find your listing and claim it. Claiming your business on Google Places lets you manage your categories, your company description, and respond to reviews (good or bad).
Before we look at Google Places vs. AdWords Express vs. Google Boost, let's step back and understand how Google Places works. Google Places is all about local search. There are two possibilities -
- A search such as 'Pizza' or 'Personal Injury Attorney' - Google 'understands' your location, and provides local Pizza Restaurants or Personal Injury Attorneys EVEN IF you do NOT enter a city name. Google looks at your IP address and guesses your location.
- A search such as 'Pizza New York City' or 'Personal Injury Attorney Chicago' - Google looks at the search keywords plus the city name and gives local results for that city. It overrides your geolocation.
Beyond those basics, whether your business shows up in a Google Places search at the top is a function of these factors -
- Your business physical address vs. the physical address of the searcher, OR your business physical address vs. the city typed in as a keyword.
- The 'match' between your business categories and the search terms entered (e.g., your category is ROOFING COMPANY and the search is for ROOFER.)
- Keyword density on your company name and description in Google Places vs. the search keyword.
- Quantity of reviews, and whether these reviews are in the city in question and/or contain the search keyword.
- Interlinkage of your Google Places listing and your website, especially SEO factors such as TITLE tags, etc., onthe website that reinforce the target keywords.
So that's Google Places. Your first step is to claim your listing and re-write it to be keyword heavy. You can claim your listing at http://www.google.com/places. Second, get reviews! The more the merrier but be polite and honest about it.
Google Boost (AdWords Express)
Google Boost (now called AdWords Express) is Google's advertising program for small businesses in local search. It is meant to be an easy,effective way for small businesses to reach local customers. First, how does Google Boost work? Once you have signed up for Boost, then if a local search is entered (see above), your Google Places listing is elevated into the AdWords format (the long format ads on the top, or ads on the right), and your place marker is changed from red to blue. Hopefully, your ad stands out more because of the higher position and the change in color marker (more on this below). The concept is that by paying you elevate your ad to the top, get more clicks, and make sales.
Here are the steps to sign up for Google Boost -
- Sign up for Google Places. You MUST have a Google Places listing to use Boost!
- Click on create Boost ad from inside your Places Account (http://www.google.com/places).
- Select the categories you want to boost - these come from the categories you already chose for your Google Places listing.
- Write your ad.
- Set a budget
Want to learn more? Here are the best official links on Google Boost -
Google has definitely done a good job making it easy to set up once you've already claimed your Google Places listing. The complexity comes from whether it's an effective spend of your marketing dollars or not, and whether you should use Boost (now called AdWords Express) or the Google AdWords to advertise.
Google Boost vs. Google Places
Should you use Google Boost? AdWords Express? In other words should you PAY for Google Boost? Google, of course, is eager for you to sign up and become a paying customer... So I wouldn't necessarily trust everything Google says about Boost.
There are several big negatives to advertising on Google Boost. First, it costs money!. Why on earth would you advertise on Google Boost if you are already getting a top placement - FOR FREE - on Google Places? Google's answer is that you are elevated to a top position as an AdWords advertiser... But, second, the elevation to the top listing position into AdWords may not be that effective, after all. Consumers are cynical about advertising and they will likely perceive your elevated listing as an advertisement, vs. the more reputable free listings below. So the elevation factor may not actually be to your advantage! Third, once you pay to elevate your listing, your free listing disappears - therefore, you never really know if you would have been there for free - you lose the ability to compare / contrast getting there for free vs. paying, as Google does not allow 'duplicate' listings.
The one major positive to Google Boost is using it when / if you cannot get to the top for free. Then it does get you in the game, it does get your marker on the page (albeit in blue). So to sum up the strategy of Google Places vs. Google Boost -
- Try to get to the top on Google Places - for FREE - using effective SEO and review solicitation techniques.
- If you cannot get to the top - for free - then consider using Google Boost for those specific categories.
Finally, consider adding an AdWords campaign that is geotargeted to your Google Places efforts. All things considered, AdWords is a more effective alternative than Boost.
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