Remington Begg
Focusing on localized keywords is crucial for a small business's success in the SEO world. It’s nearly impossible to compete with the big chain stores on short-tail keywords like “shoes” or “cake”, so a long-tail, local-focused set of keywords will yield much more positive results.
But how small is too small of an area to dwell on?
There’s a number of factors that go into exactly how narrow or broad your geo-modifiers should be, and knowing where your brand falls in these can make all the different between a failing or successful SEO strategy.
Ask yourself the following questions if you want to know how to do SEO and search engine marketing well:
Is your immediate area pulling in traffic?
To answer this question, you will need to do a bit of research. People do not always use the officially recognized city in their search process, it depends on the local vernacular of describing the area.
While some parts of the country, like New York, often talk about a place in the context of what county it is in, others do not. You will see that “Suffolk County Park” has a much higher search volume than “Lee County Park.”
Likewise, people search for “Miami area restaurant” much more than “Kendall restaurant.” Only taking your time and doing your research will tell you which tactic will bring you the best results.
Will searchers find what they are looking for on your site when using these keywords?
It’s extremely difficult to trick Google into ranking for something you shouldn’t be, so it’s a wasted effort. Another way to ask this question would be “Will they be happy with what they find?”
Google’s goal is to provide users with the best experience of their search engine and show them websites that are exactly what they are looking to find. It’s never a good idea to try to target keywords, especially geo-related keywords, that are not correct.
In layman’s terms: don’t focus on Miami if you’re actually in Bonita, because you think Miami has more potential customers. People who are tr
uly looking for a Miami-based business will not be pleased if they stumble upon your website and find out it is a two hour drive.
There’s exceptions to every rule though, and your specific industry makes the difference. People will drive out of their immediate area for a good price on a luxury item, like an expensive car, but not something commonplace, like a dozen cupcakes.
It’s just one more reason to build a solid keyword strategy based on data, not your gut feeling.
Have you already conquered the market in your immediate area?
For a number of reasons, you could be ready to expand because you already have the top spot of your city or neighborhood’s keywords. It could be because you’ve been around a long time and have a lot of brand recognition, or it could be as simple as your company’s name includes the geo modifier.
Oftentimes, we see a company like “ Fort Myers Sushi” doesn’t need to focus on Fort Myers related keywords, because the fact that it’s in all of the page titles, URLs, and social media pages is enough to plant it firmly up top of the results.
If you do decide to expand because your name is the geo-modifier or another reason, make sure you don’t write your content in a confusing or dishonest way. There’s a big difference between “Fort Myers Sushi- also serving Cape Coral and Estero” and “Fort Myers Sushi in Cape Coral,” both in the eyes of your readers and Google itself.
SEO and search engine marketing can be tricky, especially to an entrepreneur who’s main focus is the day-to-day running of their business. But you don’t necessarily need to hire an in-house expert to succeed in the digital marketplace.
Download our free eBook Modern SEO to get to-to-date information on how to best optimize your small business’s website.
