Optimizing a location the business doesn't actually reside in

[ptdodge]

I am optimizing a site for a general contractor in a small market -- Chittenden County, Vermont -- and I'm struggling with how to label his local identity on-page. His registered place of business is in a town about 12 miles outside of Burlington, which is the largest city in the county and state. Nearly 80% of geo modified keywords go to Burlington, and most people consider Chittenden County to be "greater Burlington."

I am wondering whether it will help or hurt SEO to use "Burlington" in the titles, headers, etc, even though their actual location is a few miles away. They don't get customer visits -- business operations are located in a residence and all inquiries come in over the phone or email -- so I'm not worried so much about confusing visitors. Also, their official location will be available in the footer and contact page.

If I go with "Burlington," how will this impact search rankings and G+ Places when I start focusing on citations in various directories. Will this slight geo discrepancy cause problems with organic and local SEO?

I've been wrestling with this for a while. Your input is REALLY appreciated. Thanks, guys!

[MiriamEllis]

Thanks, Patrick! Best wishes for an excellent 2015 to you, too!

[WhiteboardCreations]

Great tips as well, Miriam! Enjoy seeing you chime in when it comes to localized SEO

Happy 2015! - Patrick

[WhiteboardCreations]

Great question and something I bet a lot of other SEO's deal with, but don't always know what to do, nor ask the appropriate people for their take. Kudos to you for looking out for your client's best interests.

That being said, I agree with Ryan. Hit on your Google tools and G+ page to mention those geo-specific keywords. Also, there is nothing wrong with working to optimize a business which resides/operates out of one location while focusing their marketing in another location.

Two examples of this...

• 1st, our company is located in Cary NC, a smaller, but fast growing town outside of Raleigh, which is the major metropolis around here. However, we target a lot of SEO and keyword research at Raleigh. We've got a great presence for lots of terms relating to Cary, so Raleigh was our next goal and some of the smaller towns around us. It is possible, when done correctly, even for a highly competitive service like "SEO" and "Web Design" and "WordPress" in any major city. Burlington for you, would be nothing less.
• 2nd, we're about to work with another small carpet cleaning business who operates outside of his home yet travels to about 25 mile radius to service customers. Yes, his address on his website and G+ pages and his listings will be in Wake Forest NC, but that doesn't mean we can't go after organic searches/results in Cary, Durham, Raleigh, and the like. He is actually pretty exited to potentially get traffic and customers from all over the area.

Take 1 well written and optimized blog article targeting a specific keyword and going for a smaller market, we'll say Youngsville NC with little to no competition for my client, we see we could gain him a few customers a month potentially when that blog article ranks.

Incorporate a blog and article writing into your campaign and I'm sure you'll see success for your client.

Hope Ryan's, Miriam's and my responses were good and helpful! - Patrick

[MiriamEllis]

Hi PTDodge!

You'll want to go with your city of location in the following places:

• Your contact page and footer on your website

• Website copy that speaks to your physical location

• All of your citation building

You must be absolutely clear and correct on all of the above. I know it's a shame when you don't operate out of your major target city, but it's really important to tell it like it is - which is that you are physically located in a small town but serve in other towns, including a major city. Places you can mention your major city include:

• A local landing page on the website, devoted to that city (see: http://moz.com/blog/local-landing-pages-guide)

• Descriptions you write on some of your citations, "Voted Burlington's #1 Contractor' or what have you

• Testimonials and project summaries from/for clients you've served in Burlington

• A mention on the homepage that your service area includes Burlington

• PPC campaigns

• Blog posts

Unfortunately, none of this is likely to enable you to edge out competitors physically located in Burlington, but unless your company can get a physical location in this city, this is the reality of your situation. Telling it like it is will hamper you in some ways but is the right thing to do for your customers, representing the business honestly as it is.

Hope this helps!

[ptdodge]

Thanks, Ryan! Yeah, I'm not going crazy with geo references in the copy. I just don't want to miss out on searches for "general contractor burlington vt" when the difference is negligible. Good advice. Thanks again!

[RyanPurkey]

When you're localizing a business within Google's own tool, they allow for this kind of feature either by selecting area codes the business serves or by applying a radius in which business will make service calls. I'd do a mix and match of phrases like, "One of Burlington's most trusted..." "serving the greater Burlington area" "calls Chittenden county home".  You don't need to go over board with it though. Other local search factors are going to play a larger role.