01 · Who
The location option
Google's default, 'Presence or interest', can show your ad to people who have only shown interest in your area, as well as people in it. 'Presence' sticks to people in or regularly in your area. Pick one on purpose.
Google Ads Central Coast
Google Ads,
Central Coast.
Google Ads on the Coast mostly comes down to who sees the ad. Locals and holiday visitors search the same towns for different things, and a radius drawn round the shop can spill across the Hawkesbury or up to Lake Macquarie. Get the location settings right and a modest budget goes a long way here.
Written by Dan Picken, based on the Central Coast. Last checked 1 November 2026.Two markets in one
Seventeen visits
for every local.
- 5.9mVisitors to the Central Coast in the year to June 2026
- 348,375People living in the council area (2021)
- $2.0bSpent by those visitors in the same year
Visitor numbers count every trip, so many are the same people coming back. Even so, a café in Terrigal, a kayak hire at The Entrance or a holiday rental in Avoca is selling to a different crowd from a mechanic in Wyong. Those businesses need two plans. Most others need to make sure they're not paying for visitors at all.
Three settings decide who sees you
Before keywords,
locations.
02 · Where
The circle or the list
A radius, a list of towns and postcodes, or both. Google needs a radius of at least 1 km, and says its location matching isn't always accurate. Excluding places matters as much as including them.
03 · Check
Where the ads actually showed
The Matched locations view in the Locations report shows where your ads appeared. Run it after a few weeks. It's usually where the surprises are.
Ad radius checker
Where does your
circle really go?
Most local accounts start with a circle drawn round the shop. Pick where you're based and a radius to see which parts of the Coast it covers, how many people live there, and where it spills over. Then answer three questions for the location setting.
Straight-line distance from the rough centre of each area, the way a Google Ads radius works. Populations are ABS estimates for 2021.
People inside your circle on the Coast
0
Covered
Left out
Spills over to
Location option to test
Locals and visitors
Same town,
different searcher.
The local
'mechanic wyong'
Here all year. Wants someone close, open when they need them, with good reviews. Usually calls. Your ads should run all year, with 'Presence' and a tight area.
The visitor
'breakfast terrigal'
Here for a weekend, or planning one from Sydney. Searches on a phone, often the same day. For these businesses a separate campaign, with its own budget for the school holidays and long weekends, is easier to judge than one campaign trying to do both.
If you sell to both, split them by campaign rather than mixing them. Then a quiet July for visitors doesn't hide a good month with locals. The 2027 NSW school holiday dates are on the NSW Department of Education site.
What I see most often
Where Coast ad budgets
leak.
- 1
'Presence or interest' left on by default
It's the setting new campaigns start with. For a plumber in Wyong, a click from someone in Parramatta who once looked up The Entrance is money gone.
- 2
One circle, drawn from the shop
Twenty kilometres from Woy Woy reaches across the Hawkesbury. Twenty from Gorokan reaches Lake Macquarie. The circle doesn't know where you'll actually drive.
- 3
January ads in July
The same ads and budget all year, when the people searching in the school holidays are a different crowd from the ones searching in winter.
- 4
Broad searches in a small market
Most local services don't get many searches on the Coast, so loose keyword matching soon finds other searches to spend on. Check the search terms report every week at the start.
The honest bit. The Coast is a small market. Past a point, more budget doesn't find more customers, it just pays more for the same ones. Sometimes the best change I can suggest is spending less, and putting the difference into the page people land on.
Questions
people ask.
Is AdWords the same as Google Ads?
Yes. Google renamed AdWords to Google Ads in 2018. Same platform, same auction. If an agency still calls it AdWords, it's worth asking what else hasn't been updated.
Why are my ads showing in Sydney or Newcastle?
Usually the location option. 'Presence or interest' can reach people outside your area who've shown interest in it. Check the Matched locations view, then decide: switch to 'Presence', or exclude the places that spend without bringing work.
Should a Coast business target people in Sydney?
Only if Sydney people buy from you before they arrive: holiday stays, weddings, people moving up. For a tradie or a dentist, almost never. The radius checker on this page suggests a setting from three questions.
How much should a Central Coast business spend on Google Ads?
Enough to get a fair test in your area, and no more until you know which searches bring work. In a small market more budget often buys the same handful of searches at a higher price. The Google Ads cost guide has a calculator to set a starting budget.
What do I get in the free Google Ads audit?
Read-only access is all I need. I check your locations, search terms, conversion tracking and where the budget goes, then send the 3 changes that would save or make the most. A 20-minute call follows, no pitch.
Related
Keep
going.
- ServiceGoogle AdsThe full service, anywhere in Australia.
- RegionSEO, Central CoastArea pages, Google Maps and reviews for Coast businesses.
- RegionSocial media, Central CoastFacebook and Instagram ads for a small local audience.
- RegionCentral CoastThe Coast by the numbers, and how Coasties search.
- MethodSpend CurveFind the point where more budget stops paying.
- IndustryHospitality marketingFor businesses that live on visitors.
- LabHow much does Google Ads cost?Set a starting budget with real numbers.
Get a free
Google Ads audit.
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.