How do i target keywords locally

[DianeDP]

I am working for a cosmetic surgeon with clinics in three geographic places. I would like to give him specific keywords that he can go after successfully. When I use the keyword tool with terms like botox cosmetic staten island or breast augmentation tarrytown, I get competitive rankings like 36% or 37%, but it doesnt tell me if there are only a few searchers doing this per month. In Google's Adwords tool, it thinks that the number fo searchers with these same terms is too small to measure, literally giving me back a dash (= insignificant traffic). However, it I use Google Adwords with more general terms, say breast augmentation surgeon, and get a medium/110 global monthly searches, when I come back to SEOmoz tool and assess the same keyword, I find that the traffic picks up doctor sites in Arizona and elsewhere, where clearly no one who wants cosmetic surgery in new York is going to fly to Arizona for it.

So, how do I ensure a balance between targeting too little traffic but including the names of specific towns, and targetting more general terms but not having local prospects.

Has anyone tackled this in a specific medical niche?

[TateR7]

Clicksjim is right, this can be a good strategy for lower hanging fruit (all locations in footer or at the end of the body content).  Start there, then think about creating unique pages for more difficult locations.

[Clicksjim]

I recently tested adding a list of the towns and cities that my client serves at the footer of one of their product pages with copy that went something like this:

[company name] supplies [product name] in the following areas: - I then listed around 35 cities and towns with high populations and was surprised to see that I got a page 1 ranking for about 1/3 of them.

Next step for me is to do something like Eric was recommending  - especially for the more competitive locations like he said. Good luck!

[DianeDP]

Eric your thoughtful answer is really appreciated. I was heading in that direction, but didnt think to have different pages for different keyword combos. Thank you so much!

[coneh34d]

The way I have handled geographic terms with little data is as follows:

1. Find the pivotal seed keywords first. These are the high traffic keywords without any geography attached. In your case I would start with the obvious (e.g. cosmetic surgeon City Name, and so on)
2. Next sort the cities your client does business in by population (i.e. by Google traffic)
3. Then create your long tail keywords using the seed keyword and city name.

If the amount is manageable I recommend creating a targeted landing page dedicated to that keyword (e.g. Breast Augmentation Tarrrytown, NY.

Now here is where it is very important to take heed. You absolutely must have unique pages. Breast Augmentation Tarrytown and Breast Augmentation Staten Island should pass a Copyscape when compared. Otherwise, the page won't get indexed.

I do this type of work quite a bit, and presently am working with a client that services a little over one thousand cities.

Unique content is a must.