Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
How to Do Local Keyword Research
-
I am familiar with how to do regular keyword research, finding opportunity based on competition, search volume, etc.
For local search, do I go to all the trouble of finding hidden gems or just pick higher volume terms that have local intent. For instance: A search for "physical therapy" is a high volume term that Google thinks has local intent.
If i pick a low volume national term, that has 11-50 avg searches per month, I have lower chances...and even less chance that someone is searching locally.
What say ye?
Nails
-
Dont worrie Matt is ok
-
My pleasure, Nails. Good luck!
-
Roman,
You have been very generous with your time and offer to help...I'd prefer not to publish the client website, though.
Miriam,
As always, you're such a great resource!
Thank you both,
Nails
-
Hi Matt,
The problem of longstanding with kw research in Local SEO is that tools are unlikely to give you an accurate geographic search volume. If your client is in a major city, something like the Adwords Keyword Planner may give you some data that can be useful, or if they're next to a major city, you can look up keywords+that city name for an idea of how people search in that part of the country, but I wouldn't say the numbers should be viewed as set in stone.
So, for the most part, yes, you'll do your keyword research without geomodifiers and then just add them back in when you're optimizing the website or outreach for the business.
I also highly, highly recommend that you teach clients to document the EXACT language of the FAQs they receive continuously from consumers. The way those queries are worded really matters. Do customers in New Orleans phone a sandwich shop to ask about a submarine sandwich or a po' boy? Do people at your restaurant order soda or pop? Do you clean gutters or troughs? Regional language difference matter, particularly in Local and particularly in a large country like the US.
I recommend taking a look at Britney Muller's most recent Moz Blog post as her ideas are highly applicable to this subject: https://moz.com/blog/30-minute-keyword-research
Hope this helps!
-
Ok so I as can you know what are you talking about, Is good beacause you know what is wrong or at least you have an idea, and is bad beacuse the obivous solutions can help you.
If you share the URL of the website that you want to optimize I can run an audit and can give some specific advice or even better maybe I change the perspective of the problem
In some cases I get stuck in a problem and suddenly someone suggest some idea (stupid, basic and obvious) that I simple ignored
Regards
-
Roman,
Thanks for your response. I guess i should have explained a little more:
1. My keyword research includes analysis of GSC search data, competitor kw analysis using SEMRush and using Moz's KWE to find the best oportunities.
2. Unfortunately, the website was created by an SEO who spammed keywords and the GSC data is a bit off and unrealitic.
3. Yes, I have found kws with local search modifiers, for instance "Physical therapy California".
Thanks for the other advice and tools...I need to look into them.
-
Start with some good local keyword data
Before you start, make sure you are setup for success by doing some preliminary keyword research in your niche.
This tool can help you
http://www.localmarketingsource.com/local-keyword-research-tool/Check your analytics and see what keywords are already bringing traffic. There may be opportunities to increase your visibility on something that's already preforming.
Make sure that you always focus on converting keywords that provide the searcher with the proper intent.
Anothers keyword tools:
Wordtracker
SEO Book Keyword Tool
Ubersuggest
Keyword Eye
SEMrushOther option is Google Trends for regional interest
Another good tips is use schema markup for local businesses injected into contact pages to give clear indications to search engines of your shop's physical location
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
-
Should I avoid duplicate url keywords?
I'm curious to know Can having a keyword repeat in the URL cause any penalties ? For example xyzroofing.com xyzroofing.com/commercial-roofing xyzroofing.com/roofing-repairs My competitors with the highest rankings seem to be doing it without any trouble but I'm wondering if there is a better way. Also One of the problems I've noticed is that my /commercial-roofing page outranks my homepage for both residential and commercial search inquiries. How can this be straightened out?
Local Website Optimization | Feb 6, 2020, 5:23 PM | Lyontups0 -
Local SEO Over Optimization
We are targeting a bunch of services for our local business that works in and around their location. I'm concerned about over optimization and need some guidance on whether these points should be resolved. The company is based in a city and works mostly in the city but also in the surrounding areas. Currently, the site has 6 services pages (accessible via main nav) targeting the same location i.e. “Made Up Service London”, “Imaginary Service London” (with URLs and H1 tags etc. in place containing this location). However this is soon going to become 9 services pages, I am concerned that the repetition of this one location is starting to look spammy, especially as its where the company is based. Initially, I also wanted pages targeting the same services in other nearby areas. For example “Made Up Service Surrey”, “Imaginary Service Essex”. This has not happened as the info available has been too sporadic. I was going to add links to relevant case studies into these pages to beef up the content and add interest. To that end, we came up with case studies, but after a while, I noticed that these are also largely focused on the primary location. So out of 32 case studies, we have 19 focused on the primary location again with URL’s and H1 tags etc containing the location keyword. So in total, we have 25 pages optimized for the location (soon to be 28 and more if further case studies are added). My initial feeling was that the inclusion of pages targeting services in other locations would legitimize what we have done with the main pages. But obviously we have not got these pages in place and I question whether we ever will. What is my best course of action moving forward?
Local Website Optimization | Jun 12, 2019, 4:47 AM | GrouchyKids1 -
In local SEO, how important is it to include city, state, and state abbreviation in doctitle?
I'm trying to balance local geographic keywords with product keywords. I appreciate the feedback from the group! Michael
Local Website Optimization | Nov 13, 2017, 5:07 PM | BFMichael0 -
Applying NAP Local Schema Markup to a Virtual Location: spamming or not?
I have a client that has multiple virtual locations to show website visitors where they provide delivery services. These are individual pages that include unique phone numbers, zip codes, city & state. However there is no address (this is just a service area). We wanted to apply schematic markup to these landing pages. Our development team successfully applied schema to the phone, state, city, etc. However for just the address property they said VIRTUAL LOCATION. This checked out fine on the Google structured data testing tool. Our question is this; can just having VIRTUAL LOCATION for the address property be construed as spamming? This landing page is providing pertinent information for the end user. However since there is no brick and mortar address I'm trying to determine if having VIRTUAL LOCATION as the value could be frowned upon by Google. Any insight would be very helpful. Thanks
Local Website Optimization | Jul 5, 2016, 7:32 PM | RosemaryB1 -
Local SEO - Adding the location to the URL
Hi there, My client has a product URL: www.company.com/product. They are only serving one state in the US. The existing URL is ranking in a position between 8-15 at the moment for local searches. Would it be interesting to add the location to the URL in order to get a higher position or is it dangerous as we have our rankings at the moment. Is it really giving you an advantage that is worth the risk? Thank you for your opinions!
Local Website Optimization | Jul 31, 2015, 5:43 PM | WeAreDigital_BE
Sander0 -
Should I use pipe in title tags for local seo?
Hi, I've created a bunch of landing pages for local areas, reading, windsor, slough etc for the title tag I have for Windsor Emergency Electrician Windsor - BrandName should I be using a pipe in the tag to further help search engines learn/identify the location? Emergency Electrician | Windsor - BrandName Thank you Kev
Local Website Optimization | Jun 15, 2015, 3:16 AM | otex1 -
Subdomain versus Subfolder for Local SEO
Hello Moz World, I'm wanting to know the best practices for utilizing a subdomain versus a subfolder for multi location businesses, i.e. miami.example.com vs. example.com/miami; I would think that that utilizing the subdomain would make more sense for a national organization with many differing locations, while a subfolder would make more sense for a smaller more nearby locations. I wanted to know if anyone has any a/b examples or when it should go one way or another? Thank you, Kristin Miller
Local Website Optimization | Feb 12, 2015, 1:03 PM | Red_Spot_Interactive0 -
Local Business Schema Markup on every page?
Hello, I have two questions..if someone could shed some light on the topic, I would be so very grateful! 1. I am still making my way through how schema is employed, and as I can tell, it is much more specific (and therefore relevant) in its details than using the data highlighter tool. Is this true? 2. Most of my clients' sites have a footer with the local business info included on every page of their site (address and phone). This said, I have been using the structured data markup helper to add local business schema to home page, and then including the footer markup in the footer file so that every page benefits from the local business markup. Is this incorrect to use it for every page? Also, I noticed that by just using the footer markup for the rest of the pages in the site, I am missing data that was included when I manually went through the index page (i.e. image, url, name of business). Could someone tell me if it is advisable and worth it to manually markup every page for the local business schema or if that should just be used for certain pages such as location, contact us, and/or index? Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks
Local Website Optimization | May 4, 2017, 11:30 AM | lfrazer0