Bristol and the South West
PPC for Bristol, Bath and the wider South West
We manage Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising and Meta campaigns for businesses in Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and across the South West, and for clients elsewhere in the UK. We work remotely and do not have a Bristol office; what matters for your ads is that they reach the postcodes you serve, at the hours you can answer.
Targeting the region properly
The map you serve, not the map Google suggests.
The default location setting in Google Ads shows ads to people interested in a place as well as people in it. For a Bristol business that means paying for clicks from people elsewhere who are researching a visit. We set targeting to presence, and build it from the areas you actually cover.
How we set location
Four ways to draw your area.
By postcode district
Bristol's BS districts and Bath's BA districts can be targeted or excluded one by one, which suits trades and services with a firm travel limit.
By council area
Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset can each be targeted, with different bids where results differ.
By radius
A distance around your premises, adjusted where a river, the motorway or a toll changes how far customers will really travel.
By exclusion
Areas you will not serve removed outright, so no budget is spent there even when people search for your service.
Bath, Swindon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.
Each has its own council, its own postcodes and its own reason a Bristol radius gets it wrong. This is how we set targeting for each.
Bath
Bath is a separate city in its own council area, Bath and North East Somerset, on BA postcodes rather than Bristol's BS ones. It is also a World Heritage city with a large visitor trade, so many people searching about Bath are not in it. For a business that serves residents, presence-only targeting on BA1 and BA2 matters more than it does in Bristol. For hotels, restaurants and attractions the visitors are the market, and the setting goes the other way. See local PPC.
Swindon
Swindon is a borough council of its own, separate from Wiltshire, on SN postcodes and about 40 miles east of Bristol along the M4. Someone in Swindon looking for a solicitor or a plumber rarely means Bristol, so a radius wide enough to reach Swindon from Bristol mostly buys clicks in the gap between them. A business serving both gets two campaigns, each with its own ads, budget and call hours. See Google Ads management.
Gloucester and Cheltenham
Both are in the GL postcode area and in Gloucestershire, about nine miles apart, but they are different districts: Gloucester City and Cheltenham Borough. They are close enough to share one campaign, and we report on each town separately before deciding whether they need their own bids or ads.
Taunton and Somerset
Since April 2023 Somerset has had one council, Somerset Council, with Taunton as its county town. The county runs across TA, BA and some BS postcodes (Cheddar and Axbridge are BS), while North Somerset, with Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead, is a separate council. For a trade covering rural Somerset, a list of postcode districts matches the work far better than a circle round one town. See PPC for trades and Local Services Ads.
Wiltshire
Wiltshire Council covers the county outside Swindon, and its towns span three postcode areas: SN in the north (Chippenham, Calne), BA in the west (Trowbridge, Bradford on Avon) and SP in the south (Salisbury). Targeting the council area is simpler than listing districts from three areas, and it leaves Swindon out unless you want it in.
Working with us
Remote, and easy to reach.
The audit, the setup and the monthly work happen over video calls, phone and email, which is how most clients prefer to work during a busy day. You talk to the person who runs your campaigns, and you get a written report every month.
Local businesses
Trades, clinics and services that need calls from specific postcodes. See local PPC and Local Services Ads.
Regional and national businesses
Shops, SaaS and B2B companies based in the South West and selling across the UK, where location is a bid adjustment rather than a boundary.
Questions about the area we cover
Do you have an office in Bristol?
No. We work remotely, by video call, phone and email, and we do not pretend otherwise. Paid search does not need a local office; it needs someone who knows how your customers search and who answers when you call.
Can you target ads to just part of Bristol?
Yes. Google Ads can target by postcode district, by radius around a point, or by council area, and can exclude areas you do not serve. We set the location option to people in or regularly in your area, not people merely interested in it.
Do you work with businesses outside the South West?
Yes. Bristol and the South West are our focus, but the work is the same for a business anywhere in the UK.
Is Bath treated separately from Bristol?
It can be. Bath is its own city with its own searches, so a business serving both often benefits from separate campaigns or bid adjustments rather than one radius covering both.
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