Question about keyword analysis
-
I am working on a keyword analysis for a range of keywords. I want to target these keywords in the Denver market. I know if you search google for something like "IT Support" and you are located in Denver it knows where you are and caters the results to be more Denver IT Support oriented. I did notice that those results are different than if you search for "Denver IT Support"
My pages are optimized for the Denver market and the keyword like "IT Support" but I am a bit confused on how I should be doing my research into keywords.
Should I be putting Denver into all my keyword analysis research even though I still want to rank for just the keyword when they are searching from the Denver area.
I hope this all makes sense. I guess I just need some guidance on how to deal with the location specifics of my keywords.
Thanks in advance for any help.
-
Great, Steve. So glad you found the explanations helpful. Good luck with your campaign!
-
Ben & Miriam thanks for the help. Very useful information.
I have a better understanding now. I will continue to optimize on Denver and the keywords. I will also runs some geo-targeted PPC.
Thanks again!
-
Hi Steve,
The important thing to understand is that there is not currently a KW research tool that gives accurate data on geographic terms. Maybe someday, but for now, the KW research process involves mainly searching for your product/service/informational terms and then adding in the geo phrases. Because you are in Denver (a major city) you will get some KW data with 'denver' included, but I wouldn't consider it totally accurate.
That out of the way, yes, the results are typically slightly different for people searching from a Denver IP address vs. people using 'Denver' in the search phrase. They are not usually wildly different, but there is definitely some variation.
If your clients are in Denver, you need not be overly concerned about this, because Google will typically identify them as Denver based and show them Denver results regardless of whether they use a geo-modifier or not. In optimizing your website, follow the basic example Ben has given. Include 'Denver' in the titles, headers, copy, etc. of your core pages and city landing pages and you will be doing what is customary. You are not attempting to compete for IT Support nationally; you are trying to compete locally, so those geo terms are critical for you.
Hope this clarifies things, but if my answer brings up more questions on your part, don't hesitate to ask.
-
Hi Steve,
I think it's possible for you to do both. Conduct your research as if you want to rank for both [IT support] and [Denver IT support] and group those terms onto the same page.
Then optimize the page to put emphasis on the generic term. So in this example your title tag would be something like "It Support in Denver - Steve Sequenzia". That way you're hitting both possible avenues.
My only concern with this would be CTR from the SERPs and whether people who type in [IT support] really want a local firm or a local branch of a national firm. I'd probably run a couple of short tests using geo-targeted PPC to see which types of ads get the most interest.
Hope that helps.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Paid vs Organic Keyword Optimisation
Hi Im wondering whether I should optimise my site with Organic search terms that drive traffic to the site or the paid terms i use in Google search ads?
Keyword Research | | aplnzmarch180 -
Why is my Google search bringing me other keywords than what I typed in?
When searching Condor Voucher on Google US where our business operates the SERP results show results on the first page that do not contain the keyword Voucher at all but instead Condor Coupons and Condor Promo Codes. Is this due to relevance of the other sites(higher search volume keyword), their domain authority, page authority, better authoritative content? Or does Google recognize that voucher is not often used in US and uses more common keywords such as Coupon and Promo Code? Therefore we cant rank for a term with such a low search volume?
Keyword Research | | MyVoucherCodes0 -
Keywords moving up, except...
The keywords on my page are moving up, except for one. I have routinely ranked between 13-15 for one particular keyword. I am aware that it is a broad term, however, at one point, I showed up on page one at #6, and then dropped right back down to where I was. The website it "sexaddict.com" and, don't worry, it's for addicts so you won't find anything but help and resources there. The keyword is "sex addiction." Thanks, Ryan
Keyword Research | | drdougweiss0 -
Keyword research tool - for off site results
New to Moz, and after playing with keyword research, it seems very comprehensive for analysing keywords based on my site content, and showing me how many people are visiting based on those keywords. However what I'm really looking for is 'alternative' keywords that are 'not' on my site, but still relevant to my sector, and how many searchers are using those. basic example My site is optimised for 'soccer for kids' which Moz shows me getting 50 hits for. Google KW tool reports that every month there are over 2000 searches for 'football for kids' Because my site has no mention of 'Football', Moz doesn't show this as an alternative KW Admittedly my site is new in Moz, so do I just wait a bit longer? or do I continue to use Google KW tool? I'm sure I'm missing the obvious. Thanks!
Keyword Research | | petenorris0 -
Ignore keywords that have no data in the Google Keyword Tool?
Hello, There are some keywords that have no monthly search data in the Google Keyword Tool. In many cases, this is because there have been very few searches for the keyword. Would you recommend focusing on other keywords that do have search data in the Google Keyword Tool? Perhaps focusing too far out on the long tail of search results can be less productive than focusing on keywords that have proven that at least some people care about them. What do you think? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | nyc-seo0 -
Narrowing keywords or build more pages - Startup
I provide local services to a number of small cities and am trying to decide the best way to attack local keywords. I need to decide if I should target all 4 cities or narrow it down to 1 or 2. I used the google keyword tool and none of my keywords have enough results to show data so I am left guessing by using the nearest major city and population sizes. Anyway, I have read over and over about how keywords in the title / description are imperative. Well, thats tough to accomplish without being spammy when you offer two services for four cities. I don't think lakeville snow removal, apple valley snow removal, eagan snow removal makes for a good title of a page. Also, it's not an easy task to get any kind of keyword density in the content as well. So how do you recommend I attack this? I have seen sites that create a page for each keyword with basically the same content excpet replacing city x with city y and they do well. I find this spammy and hope that eventually they get penalized for it. I guess I would be willing to do it, but would prefer a more natural solution. One more question, if I do keyword a single city, say Lakeville, what is the prefered way to keyword the home page compared to the service pages. Example, I have a snow removal page that the keywords would be lakeville snow removal and a lawn care page with the same.. So what is the target for the home page? Here is the results of my keyword research. ** Monthy Google Searches** Minneapolis lawn care - 880 Minneapolis lawn service - 590 Minneapolis lawn mowing - 260 Minneapolis Snow Removal - 590 Minneapolis Snow Plowing - 320 Minneapolis Snow Removal services - 58 Service Area Data (Minni has Pop of 385K) Lakeville - Pop;56K Income;86K Apple Valley - Pop;49K Income;74K Burnsville - Pop;60K Income;60K Eagan - Pop;64K Income;74K Northfield - Pop;20K Income;62K
Keyword Research | | dwallner0 -
Different pages with same keyword phrase.
I have my home page and an interior page targeting the same keyword phrase. Is this ok or would they be competing with each other?
Keyword Research | | WillWatrous0 -
Adding qualifiers to keywords?
I know that it's worth adding qualifiers to high value keywords to create long-tail variations which will later have the potential to rank well for the main keyword as well... My questions is, how important is it that the newly-formed keyword/phrase also be evaluated for search volume? E.g. "tips for job interviews" has a high search volume, but scores 72 in the Keyword Difficulty tool - quite high. I would therefore be tempted to create a "10 tips for job interviews" articles or something similar, yet THIS particular phrase is searched for <10 times per month... If there are not any easy-to-find qualifiers that also create a well-searched for keyword/phrase, is it still worth adding them?
Keyword Research | | staingurus0