Local/Geo-Targeted SEO Keywords
-
Hey everyone,
I work for a local jeweler who only has one store and wants to rank for geo-targeted and local results. We want to rank for "jewelry Minneapolis", "Minnesota engagement rings" and terms like that, since we're not an e-tailer we don't need to rank nationally... just in the MSP metro.
I've been trying to find a service that has accurate search volume information for local search. I want to see how many searches are being conducted for various terms so I know where to focus our time and effort to rank for these terms.
Does such a service exist? Or something that is more geared toward a strictly local strategy such as ours?
Thanks in advance for all of your assistance!
Jayme
-
Hi Jayme,
Unfortunately, there is no tool that offers reliable local keyword information. This is due, to my understanding, to the different location of data centers. Even if you are in a major metro location like Los Angeles, the numbers cannot be relied upon.
So, here is the method that I and other Local SEOs I know follow:
- Do your keyword research without any type of local modifiers. Create a document with a list of your findings. This might look like:
jeweler
jewelry store
diamond engagement rings
fine jewelry
costume jewelry
etc.
-
Now, create a list of your geographic terms. These might include city names, county names, regional names, neighborhood names and zip codes. An interesting tool that can help you turn up geo keywords is here: http://www.localmarketingsource.com/local-keyword-research-tool/ This is solely for looking up the different geo terms - not geo/service/product combinations.
-
Once you've got your 2 lists, combine them. So now, your keyword sheet will look like:
jeweler minneapolis
jeweler minneapolis, mn
jeweler twin cities
jeweler 85342
jewelry store minneapolis
etc.
What you've accomplished by the end of this is a very big list of keywords that you can use. These can be reflected in your title tags, meta description tags, headers, alt tags, link title and anchor text and on-page copy. Off-site, you will, of course, want to know about these kw terms in any linkbuilding you may do.
Some of the terms may be reflected on the core pages of your site, whereas others may be set aside for userful blog posts the jeweler plans to write. I do a ton of professional copywriting for local businesses, and I am always interested in seeing keyword research that turns up terms that can easily be worked up into a Q&A-type blog post. For example, let's say we see a term come up like:
'judging diamond quality'
We can turn this into a blog post entitled:
Judging Diamond Quality 101
or
Judging Diamond Quality While Visiting A Local Jewelry Store
The post will then give tips for beginners who want to be able to tell the quality of the diamonds being offered by jewelers. And, of course, it can contain information like:
At Village Jewelers in Minneapolis, MN, every diamond we sell comes with a a legal certificate certifying its quality...etc.
So, the point is, you will want to find places for all of your keywords over time. Building a strong, beautifully, locally-optimized website is the cornerstone of any Local SEO campaign. This work includes the optimization of various elements of the website and the crafting of exceptional copy for every page. And, it can include the development of an on-site blog, enabling the business owner or hired copywriter to create great copy on an on-going basis.
Offsite, there will be more work ahead, of course, in your pursuit of high rankings. This will include getting your local business profiles created and claimed, beings sure you don't violate any guidelines, building citations and earning reviews at a steady, but not hurried, pace. Lots to consider!
Jewelry stores are fun clients because their products is so easy to write about and their clientele is generally pretty happy! Good luck!
-
Well, you can check KWs that include a location term in the Google AdWords KW tool. That suggests that, for example, [engagement rings minneapolis] has an approx. search volume of 140/month. Insert usual caveats about relying on the AdWords tool. You can also use Google Insights to drill down by location, so you can see a search like "engagement rings" in Minneapolis.
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
-
Cant find any keyword for my site
I searched for keyword rank for shoreloop.com but couldn't find any. What could be the problem?
Competitive Research | | killerseo20200 -
SEO's done, 301s in place, old site STILL outranks new site. What to do?
Since Sep 2010 I have had a site up with minimal SEO optimization (www.chrisbrushmusic.com). Oct 29, 2012, I launched a new site on a new domain (www.chrisbrushdrums.com) with more content and tons of SEO work behind it. The content of the new site is significantly different from the old site, and I wish to keep the old site around. I have 301's in place for specific URLs on the old site that point to the new site. I have submitted xml sitemaps for the new site. As of now, the old site still outranks the new site (i.e. Google search for "nashville session drummer" and my old site is #9 - my new site is nowhere). What should I do? Thanks.
Competitive Research | | cbrush0 -
How to track seo campaign success fully?
Hi All, What are the best ways to track a seo campaign successfully, other or including Google Analytic?
Competitive Research | | ITRIX0 -
What Pa and Da to Target ?
Hi, So when building links what PA and DA do you like to follow. I was thinking of building links with anything more then a PA of 10 and da of 30 should be fine. Cheers, Vishal
Competitive Research | | vishalkhialani0 -
Best methodology for creating local keywords when Google has no data?
Generally I'll look at data for specific geographical searches and incorporate the data from the other keywords, then track the metrics. I think there is likely a more efficient system but I'm not sure where to start.
Competitive Research | | DoriC0 -
SEO Strategy Questions on an International Domain
I'm going to try not to get too wordy with my question. Any help that could be provided would be much appreciated! We recently purchased a Germany-based company. They were using two domains (possibly more) for their website. Domain1 and Domain2. I'm sure for duplicate content reasons, only Domain1 ranked well. We in the US wanted to use Domain2, as it contains the brand name and would add legitimacy to our website in the US. Problem is that they also wanted to use it in Germany. So we split it using GeoDNS. Any international traffic goes to their server. Any US/Canada traffic goes to ours. From what I've read, we in the US should have the advantage here in terms of getting our pages indexed on Google, because Google will crawl from the US. So to Google, it should be as if we've changed all of our URLs. The problem is that Google has not recognized these changes for our homepage and it has been about a month since I submitted a sitemap and changed our geo-targeting to the US in Webmaster tools. They've picked up other pages of ours, but the Title and Meta descriptions for the homepage are in German still. We also rank about 23rd for our own brand name. Bing and Yahoo have picked up the changes without issue and we rank 2nd for our brand name. My other issue is that the old distributor in the US (whom we have replaced) is ranking first for our brand name. I'm working on increasing our inbound links, but is there anything else I could be doing to jump ahead of them in the rankings? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!
Competitive Research | | KathleenLTG0 -
Why do some websites that have hardly any backlinks, poorly optimised get placed above sites that are doing all they can with SEO?
For example take these two websites. www.rfasecurity.co.uk is a site that Iam working on and have had some success with yet snifferdogs.org.uk seems to be poorly optimised with little backlinks and still gets place higher. is it due to the key word in the domian name? The key search word is sniffer dogs New at this so any help would be appreciated regards Dave
Competitive Research | | ThePod0 -
How to select appropriate keywords to optimize for SEO?
I have an e-learning website called www.graduatetestprep.com and we provide university students preparation for the GRE examination. This is an entrance exam required for admittance to graduate school across the US. I was wondering what is the best way to find the best keywords focus on to optimize on google and the other search engines. I feel I can't use "on-page" on pro-dashboard properly unless I have the right keywords to focus on. Thanks
Competitive Research | | anuraag0