Google Ads Location Targeting: 8 best practices and why it matters for your business

Last Updated on 20 January 2025 by Stu Edwards

You’re sitting at your desk, ready to launch a new Google Ads campaign, but here’s the catch — your product/service is perfect for people in your town, but not for someone browsing in Los Angeles or London…

How do you make sure your ads hit the right audience, in the right place, at the right time?

That’s where Google Ads location targeting steps in: Giving you the ability to pinpoint your ads where your target user is located.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of location targeting — what it is, why it matters, and how to use it to focus your ad spend on audiences that convert.

Whether you’re targeting a bustling city, a handful of zip/post codes, or an entire country, you’ll learn how to make every impression count.

What is Google Ads location targeting?

Google Ads location targeting is a feature that allows advertisers to focus their ads on specific geographic locations.

This means you can choose where your ads appear based on factors like countries, regions, cities, or even a defined radius around a particular point.

The key advantage of location targeting is precision.

Instead of wasting your ad spend on people outside your target area, you can concentrate your budget on the locations where your ideal audience lives or works.

For example:

• A local restaurant can target ads to people within a 5-mile radius of its location.
• An e-commerce store offering international shipping can target ads to multiple countries where it operates.
• A business with multiple branches can create separate campaigns targeting different cities to promote location-specific deals.

Why use Google Ads location targeting?

Google Ads location targeting helps you connect with the right audience by focusing your campaigns on specific geographic areas.

Whether you’re a local business aiming to boost foot traffic or a national brand tailoring offers to regions, location targeting turns your ad spend into a precision tool for reaching the people who matter most.

Using Google Ads location targeting helps you:

👍 Show your ads to the right audience. Reach people in the locations where your products or services are most relevant. Whether targeting a neighborhood, a city, or a country, location targeting ensures your ads are seen by the right people, increasing the chances of engagement and conversions.

👍 Maximise ad spend efficiency. Stop wasting money on areas that don’t convert. Focus your budget on high-performing regions or exclude locations where interest is low, ensuring every dollar works harder for you.

👍 Customise campaigns by location. Different locations often mean different customer needs. Location targeting lets you tailor your ads to resonate with local preferences, seasonal trends, or regional events. If you’re a national bookstore chain, you can advertise summer reading lists in Florida while promoting more ‘cozy’ winter reads in Montana.

Relevant, timely, and local — it’s a winning combination.

🏆 Tip:

Use tools like Google Trends to discover what’s trending in your target areas and match your messaging to what customers are already searching for.

👍 Gain data-backed insights. Use location-specific performance metrics to identify what works and refine your strategy. Discover which areas drive the most clicks, sales, or store visits and adjust your campaigns to amplify those results.

Here’s a few examples:

Insight type	Example	How it helps
Top Locations	“70% of clicks are from NYC.”	Allocate more budget to high-performing regions.
Poor-Performing Areas	“Rural areas have poor cost/conversion.”	Exclude low-ROI regions to save costs.
Seasonal Patterns	“Searches for ‘AC repair’ peak in July in Florida.”	Adjust budgets for peak demand times.

What are the types of Google Ads location targeting?

Not all businesses are created equal, and neither are their audiences. That’s where Google Ads location targeting comes in — helping you show your ads to the right people, in the right places, at the right time. Here’s how:

1. Target by country

Reach people across entire countries with your ads. This is great for businesses that sell nationally or internationally.

🎯 Best for: Global e-commerce, SaaS companies, or anyone thinking, “Let’s take over the world!”
🏆 Example: A skincare brand delivering products across the US and Europe.

2. Target by area within a country

Focus your ads on specific regions, like states, cities, or even zip codes.

🎯 Best for: Regional campaigns or businesses with local branches.
🏆 Example: A pizza chain promoting its “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” deal in New York City.

3. Radius targeting (proximity targeting)

Show ads to people within a certain distance from your location. Think of it as a virtual “you’re invited” sign for nearby customers.

🎯 Best for: Local businesses trying to get customers nearby.
🏆 Example: A yoga studio attracting people within a 5-mile radius.

How to set up Google Ads location targeting

Google Ads location targeting is like putting your ads on a map — but only in the spots where your ideal customers are.

When creating a new campaign, there are some definite pit-falls to avoid in the settings.

But don’t worry – our guide will break it down step by step so you can do it easily and confidently.

Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Create a campaign

First things first, head to your Google Ads dashboard and find the campaign you want to work on.

Fo the sake of keeping this article ‘location targeting’ focused, we’ll breeze past all the usual campaign set up stuff (naming your campaign, choosing your bidding strategy, creating your responsive ads etc)

• Creating a new campaign: Pick your campaign goal (like sales or traffic) and campaign type.
• Editing an existing campaign: Click on its name, then go to Settings.

Step 2: Choose your locations

Scroll down to the Locations section.

In the New Campaign builder, you’ll see a Locations section with a few different options

• All countries and territories
• United Kingdom (this is default because our account is UK based)
• Enter another location

In the Location options drop down, there’s a section on Include:

• Presence or interest: People in, regularly in or who’ve shown interest in your included locations (recommended)
• Presence: People in or regularly in your included locations

💡 Note: Here’s the first pit-fall: For 99% of cases, we’d recommend selecting just Presence, which Google doesn’t highlight as ‘recommended’.

More on this later..

Now to select where to target your ads. Unless your Amazon and want to target the entire planet, you’ll need to deselect ‘All countries and territories‘ and choose ‘Enter another location‘.

In our example we’ll be targeting London, UK.

In the Search bar, type in a location — like a country, city, state, or postal/zip code.

There are 3 targeting options available to use when selecting London:

• Location
• Radius
• Bulk

Location targeting

The location is based on Google’s understanding of the cities boundaries.

Once you add London, you’ll see 3 choices:

• Target: Show ads to people in this location.
• Exclude: Block your ads from appearing there.
• Nearby: See suggestions for surrounding areas.

You can also see the ‘reach’ in terms of population in that area.

Radius targeting

Want to focus on a specific area around your business? Use Radius Targeting:

• Enter the name of a place or its coordinates.
• Set a distance (e.g 5 miles or 10 km).

Bulk targeting

Have lots of locations to add or exclude? Save time with Bulk locations.

In our example we’ve added Hackney and Whitechapel.

Things to note on adding in Bulk:

• You can copy and paste up to 1,000 locations at once.
• Make sure all the locations that Google finds/matches are in the same country and not somewhere else in the world.
• If your area is small, Google might say ‘limited reach’, like in the case for Whitechapel.

Once your happy with the location targeting settings, proceed with the rest of the campaign creation.

…But make sure pay close attention to the Exclude part of the settings too – if there’s anywhere you don’t want to show ads to, make sure those are added as exclusions.

There you have it — a simple way to set up location targeting in Google Ads.

By focusing your ads on the right places, you’ll attract more relevant customers and get better results for your budgets.

8 Best Practices to sharpen your location-based targeting

Effective location-based targeting in Google Ads isn’t just about picking a spot on the map — it’s about strategically focusing your efforts to reach the right audience while minimising wasted spend.

Whether you’re a local shop or a global brand, these tips will help you take full advantage of location targeting and ensure your campaigns hit the mark.

1. Don’t get caught by Presence vs. Interest targeting

Here’s a sneaky setting in Google Ads that trips up more advertisers than you’d expect: Presence vs. Presence or Interest targeting.

You might think your ads are only showing to users in your target area, but that’s not always the case.

With the default “Presence or Interest” setting, your ads might be showing to someone the other side of the world who has an interest in your target location, but aren’t actually located there…

…Great for their curiosity — not so great for your budget and ROI.

💡 Remember:

• Presence means your ads will only show to people who are physically in your target area or regularly spend time there. Perfect for local businesses or when precision matters.
• Presence or Interest reaches users interested in your area, even if they’re not physically there — useful for tourism or global services.

We see this mistake in our Google Ads audits all the time: well-meaning campaigns bleeding ad spend on clicks from people who couldn’t even use the service.

🏆 Best Practice: Double-check your location settings. If your goal is to target a local audience (whether regionally or nationally), switch to “Presence” and avoid irrelevant clicks. If you need a broader net, go for “Presence or Interest” – just be prepared for a more global audience.

It’s a small setting, but it can make a big difference in your results (and sanity).

2. Think beyond your business address

Just because your business is located in a certain place doesn’t mean that’s where your audience is.

If you’re an e-commerce business shipping nationwide or internationally, target the regions you serve rather than just your physical location.

Similarly, even local businesses should consider areas where their potential customers live, work, or travel.

3. Use regional terms in ad copy

Including the name of your target location in your ad copy helps establish immediate relevance.

Phrases like “Free Delivery in London” or “Great Deals for Londoners” catch attention and reassure users that your services cater to their needs.

4. Use the Location Asset (extension)

Make it as easy as possible for customers to find and contact you by enabling location assets and call extensions.

These features display information from your Google Business Profile in your ads – business address, phone number, or directions – bridging the gap between interest and action.

5. Exclude irrelevant locations

Avoid wasting ad spend by excluding areas where your services aren’t offered or where ads are unlikely to convert.

This focus helps you direct your budget toward high-potential regions.

6. Fine-tune with location-based negatives

Not all locations perform equally.

Check if certain locations in in your target location are performing badly, and add them as location-based negatives.

This ensures your ads appear only to qualified audiences, saving money and improving campaign performance.

You can see location performance data at the campaign level by going to:

• Insights and reports > When and where ads showed > Matched locations > then clicking into the match location and ‘narrowing’ to province/county/city/post codes etc

In the screenshot at the ‘Cities’ level, you can see that Edinburgh and Glasgow are performing below the ROAS target in this campaign, and requires an action.

7. Adjust bids for higher ROI

Some locations might have higher importance than others, or different performance.

If you’re using a manual bidding strategy, you can use bid adjustments to increase bids for high-converting areas and decrease them for lower-performing ones.

This helps balance cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and drive better returns.

8. Monitor and optimise metrics

Keep an eye on location-specific metrics in your campaign dashboard. Are certain regions outperforming others? Are some locations driving clicks but not conversions?

Regularly review and tweak your targeting to stay aligned with your goals.

Frequently asked questions about Google Ads Location Targeting

Can I exclude certain locations from seeing my ads?

Yes, you can. Google Ads lets you block specific areas where your ads shouldn’t appear. This helps you avoid wasting money on places that don’t matter to your business.

Can I target multiple locations at the same time?

Absolutely! You can pick several countries, cities, or even set a custom radius to show your ads.

How does location targeting affect my ad performance?

Effective location targeting will improve ad performance by reaching a more relevant audience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

It also helps in optimising ad spend by focusing on high-performing regions.

Are there common mistakes to avoid in location targeting?

Common pitfalls include:

• Over-relying on broad location settings.
• Neglecting to exclude irrelevant areas.
• Failing to regularly review and adjust location settings based on performance data.

Final Thoughts

Google Ads location targeting is a smart way to connect with your audience where it matters most.

It helps you focus on the areas that bring the best results without wasting your budget.

Keep it simple: test different locations, track what works, and tweak your settings to get better results. These steps will help you run more efficient campaigns and achieve more with every dollar spent.

If you need help with Google Ads location targeting, schedule a call now and a growth expert from our team will get back to you ASAP.