Location and how it affects search results

[donnye]

I'm ranking in the top 3 for a keyword in Google but when I change my location to a state of city I'm at the bottom of the page. Can anyone help?

I made sure that the state I want to rank for is both in my title and body. The page has been up for almost a year and is a PR3. It is not my home page but a sup page under "areas we serve."

I'm looking for someone who can explain how I can optimize for a state or city.

Thanks

[donnye]

What I'm doing is going to google (clearing all pws) and setting my location to the city or state I'm trying rank higher in to find out where I'm ranking. If I set my location to the USA I rank higher but if I set my location to a state like Texas I'm not ranking as high as when I set my location to the USA.

I do have backlinks with both city and state in them. The keyword is "(product) prices."

The Keyword is a very generic.

I have not tried to get links form local or state websites. Have you used this strategy?

Thanks

[elephantseo]

Are you located in the city that you are trying to optimize? If not you should try to get someone to search from that city as a rank check.

Apart from that I would focus on getting links to your site that include the city & state name (not necessarily both in the same link). Also work on getting more citations with the city & state mentioned near your URL; this is a good tool: http://www.whitespark.ca/local-citation-finder/

You might also want to read / watch:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/one-dead-simple-tactic-for-better-rankings-in-google-local

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-basics-of-local-seo-whiteboard-friday

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/ranking-for-keyword-cityname-in-multiple-geographies

David Mihm's blog is a great resourece too: http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/

[krissy-cca]

Hey, I believe your tracking your rank by just typing in the search term?

Have you tried using any ranking software where you could compare the 2 figures your getting?

Also see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqKrRFEjI5Q

DD

[rhutchings]

I assume that you mean when you change your keyword to include a city+cate (city+state+keyword) it changes your ranking.

Without looking at your site and the keyword specifically, then its hard to tell.  In myour case i would focus on getting inbound links with the city+state combo in the anchor text.  Local business directory listings, local sites would be really useful place to start.  Blogs are also still useful for local listings.