Targeting Local Search Terms
-
I normally advise clients never to optimise around keywords with very low or even zero recorded Google search volumes. However, if the core keyword has decent volumes but the organisation is serviing specific towns/cities/locations would you consider it valid to optimise for :
core keyword + focused location (even if this has zero search volumes).
The Google Places results are obviously highly relevant but depending on the core keyword you sometimes get the 3-box places at the top but sometimes in the middle of the natural results.
-
Google shows keyword volume based on their internal system's evaluation of what phrases are deemed "commercially viable". It's a severely flawed system, mostly designed to force people to spend more money on perceived higher value keyword phrases in AdWords.
As the other answers show, you are wise to include location relevant words in your optimization. Both because people are looking for these things, and because having them in the page Titles is VITAL to helping someone doing a search get the reassurance that "this search result IS for what I'm looking for in "THIS AREA". It's a trust-to-click factor.
If you want proof that people are searching for such things, go to Yelp and see if there are any results on the combination you are considering - and if there are reviews for any of those.
Of course, not ALL phrases are being searched at the local level, yet many are, even if they're not reported in Google's ulterior-motivated system.
Another consideration - here in Marin County, California, many people search for "XYZ + town", yet many more do in fact for "XYZ + bay area" or even "XYZ + San Francisco Bay Area" or "XYZ East Bay" or "XYZ North Bay"... so if there is such a regional factor in the local areas you're dealing with, consider doing research on those as well, and adding those into the mix with the more refined local wording.
-
Sometimes common sense should prevail over the KW search volume tool. I've run in to local search terms I KNOW people are searching but aren't being registered.
-
Short answer, yes. Even more so if your clients are actual brick and mortar businesses that can benefit form walk in traffic. It's important to remember that Google does a TON of scrubbing of the data it presents to the outside world. To see this for yourself, take a site you currently run--or where you have access via analytics--and pull some long tail keyword search data from over the course of a year. Find a few phrases that have brought you 10 or more visits. Plug those in to Google Keyword Tool in a different browser. Do they have any search volumes?
Dedicating an entire page to an extremely long tail phrase is likely still over kill in a lot of cases, but a quick glance at analytics will give you a solid idea of the search patterns that would help create the content of a great page.
Lastly, part of Google's scrubbing is normalization for a globalized audience. Only major cities are going to rank in that segment, but would a customer living in a smaller city or neighborhood see a benefit of doing business locally? Probably. Always a good idea to make the distance from searcher to sale as short as possible.
-
In the town where I live there is almost zero search volume reported in the Adwords Keyword Tool for "TownName Dentists".... however, there are people typing that query into google (my dentist's site gets visitors for it every month) and the lifetime value of a patient is very high.
Also, there are lots of variants.... "dentists in TownName"....etc.... and combined those variants are more significant in number.
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
-
Does Google Image Search also punish duplicated content?
Does duplicated content have an impact on your Google Image ranking?
Image & Video Optimization | | fduo0 -
Confusion About Local SEO
Hi, I hope someone might be able to help me out with this. I am somewhat confused. Basically I have a site that has 2 operating bases in 2 neighboring counties. Say Hampshire and West Sussex. Now I understand the need for schema markup. However, where exactly to put this markup I cant see a definitive answer. even on the official googleblog they seem to shy away from answering this. For the moment I have placed it on the contact us page and obviously there are 2 sets of schema markups for the 2 addresses. Now, the bit I am confused about is that I was reading the Koozai Local SEO white paper and they mention to have the addresses in the footer. This is fine and I can do that, especially as there are a lot of sub pages on the site for different products which we would like to try and rank for. Now, this is the bit I am slightly confused on, should the addresses in the footer be the schema markups? I suspect not but I would like to be sure. Many Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | kirstyseo0 -
Local SEO: Can you add citations too fast?
Should you spread adding citations out over several weeks or can you add them all at once?
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Local SEO NAP issue
Hello, All of my citations addresses have the street address 913 S. Latah Street except there are other businesses in this building with the same address. Should I have included "Room H"? Also, is "S." different than "South"? Is "St." different than Street? Looking for correct consistent citations.
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
For Local SEO on a business with many locations, should the city be included in the business name?
For a franchised business with ~50 locations spread across the US, should the city be included in the business name when building citations? Fictional example: We have a staffing franchise called 'Hamilton Staffing'. They have 50 locations in the US. They are all called 'Hamilton Staffing'. We need to finalize the correct NAP information so we are consistent in building citations. For the name, should we just use 'Hamilton Staffing' for all of them? Or should we use 'Hamilton Staffing - Chicago' and the like for other locations? It looks like InfoUSA and Axciom are just using 'Hamilton Staffing', whereas Google is using 'Hamilton Staffing Chicago' and the like. Thoughts on this?
Image & Video Optimization | | brianspatterson0 -
Old location in Google Places/Google Local
So I started at my company around six months ago. I claimed the company's Google+ page, and have been actively updating it. I also took the step of claiming the company's location in Google Places as well (yes, I know Google is shutting down Google Places in favor of Google+, but I figured it was a logical step to take anyway). Here's my dilemma: the company moved locations 2-3 years ago. That old location is still appearing in Google Places, and it also has its own Google+ page. Is there a recommended way to redirect that old location to our new office in Google Places and Google+?
Image & Video Optimization | | ufmedia0 -
Google local listings question
im working with gutter installation company, and we're ranking for all the top keywords in google. the only thing that we're not ranking for is for the map results, for the keyword "gutter ma" since we're located in Springfield ma, i thing Google considers certain areas from Boston, because its more center of Massachusetts, What can i do to improve my rankings in maps for this keyword, because i know it wont work with PO box since i need to confirm an address? Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | vladraush990 -
Google+ Local/Places isn't displaying my suite #. Should I leave it out of NAP on other directories, too?
HI All, For some reason Google is not displaying the suite # for a client of mine in Google+ / Places. I've entered the suite # in the back-end of Google+ / Places and it shows there when I log in, but the public version of the listing omits it. So the question is, should the NAP in other directories omit it as well? Google knows it exists, but is choosing not to publish it... Thanks! Zack
Image & Video Optimization | | HammerandHand0