What is the relationship/difference between categories and keywords in terms of google local seo?
-
I know that they are very similar as search signals, but I would like to understand the exact relationship. My company is in the process of adding local seo services to our seo offerings, and we are trying to hammer out a process for determining optimal categories for businesses based on keywords we are already using for optimizing their sites. Any insights or suggestions on how best to do this would be much appreciated.
-
Hi Rahul,
I am assuming that you are talking about Google Place Page categories. Hopefully, I'm correct and my response will be pertinent.
A first step is to look at the top ranking competitors of your clients to see what Place Page categories they have chosen.
I consider it critical to choose at least 3 of Google's pre-set categories, and I use Mike Blumenthal's awesome local categories tool to see what my choices are:
http://blumenthals.com/index.php?Google_LBC_Categories
If it's necessary to choose custom categories, make sure they describe what the business is rather than what it does. So, 'plumber' vs. 'plumbing'.
Never include location information in the categories (no city names, no zip codes).
In addition to looking at competitors' Place Pages and using keyword research tools to turn up potential categories for your client, never skip the step of asking the client which categories HE thinks are most important. Very often, you will find yourself working with a client such as an attorney who may fit 8 or 9 different potential categories. He needs to help you narrow this down to his 5 most important categories (typically, the ones in which he does the most work).
Keywords you are using to optimize your clients' websites differ in that they can describe what the client does (plumbing) instead of just what he is (plumber) and they will certainly incorporate geo data (cities, counties, neighborhoods, zip codes, etc.). You have a wider latitude to work with on the website, whereas in Places, you must fit yourself neatly into a 5 phrase box without violating the guidelines.
Additional notes:
I found this article to be pretty good:
Don't miss the comments on that post, too.
There is strong evidence that picking categories well is one of the most important steps in creating a Google Place Page. Hopefully, my feedback and the information in the article I've linked to will get you off on the right foot with this. Good luck!
Miriam
-
Categories are higher up the "relevance heirarchy" than keywords because local seo is in its infancy. So for example if you have a plumber that works on heating systems, sprinklers and air conditioning systems, the plumber would be the category and could provide instant local seo value as a plumber and for all of the other the associated keywords that I showed. Whereas if you put all your focus on air conditioning, it is too far down the heirarchy to provide any plumbing value for a keyword search, and obviously wouldn't be relevant to heating and sprinklers....
To determine the optimal keywords you need to do the kleyword research and work with your clients. But with local seo, make sure you start at the top of the heirarchy.
Hope this make sense....
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
-
How to use long tail keyword?
Hi I read in most of the SEO blogs that using longtail keywords can help us in our search rankings. But how can we actually get a traffic from longtail keyword if that particular longtail keyword is not having any search volume. For example, if I wanted to rank for the keyword "SEO" which has a huge search volume of 5,500 per month and if I wanted to concentrate on one of its longtail keyword "SEO basics for beginners" which has average search volume of only 40 per month, how can it help me?
Keyword Research | | sandeep.clickdesk0 -
The same keyword on multiple pages, but not all (combined with other relevant keywords) for products.
Hi Guys, I want to get an opinion/advice on this. My client has a site that have all their products (I am working on expanding the product descriptions, benefits and how they differ from each other) listed and I just want to know if I can use the term 'gear oil' for example on multiple pages as one of the keywords. The product range (among others like transmission fluid and anti-freeze) is gear oil (with the different types of gear oils available described) and I can't really change what the product is. I do have different variations (such as gear lubricant, automotive gear lubricant, car gear oil etc.) but will it do damage if I use the same keyword (like gear oil) on multiple pages (along with another relevant keyword that does not involve the words gear oil)? Any help on this will be greatly appreciated!
Keyword Research | | annabel.schoeman0 -
Why does this keyword have much greater volume in Bing Keyword Research Tool than Google AdWords Keyword Planner?
I'm using the Google AdWords keyword planner and Bing Webmaster Keyword Research tool. For both, I'm trying to get accurate search volume for the exact term "advertising sales". Over the last thirty days, Bing reports a volume of 5,988. Google's average monthly search volume is 880. Given the market share Google has, I would expect a much higher volume, especially when compared to Bing. Can you offer some ideas of why this might be happening?
Keyword Research | | Kevin_P0 -
Keyword Research Help
Hi all, My website is www.bruadair.com which is a luxury 7 bedroom villa in Barbados primary suited for large groups and weddings , using googles adword keyword tool i have been trying to establish some long tail keywords that i could include in my website. However i am finding it extremely difficult to find any long tail keywords (such as: Luxury 7 bedroom Villa Barbados ) that are receiving any local or global searches, it seems that there are only extremely competitive keywords receiving traffic. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how i can find effective keywords? With this type of website is it really as likely to be able to rank high due to the pure amount of keyword competition? I would really appreciate any help given as i am really struggling with my keyword research 😞 Thank you very much!!
Keyword Research | | Tmgale0 -
Tool for Local Keyword Research by US State
I want to find out keyword research about a specific US State but Google's tool only gives me data by Country. Is there something else I can use?
Keyword Research | | theLotter1 -
Is there anyway to view the Keyword Ranking Report with the Google traffic estimator stats?
The Keyword Ranking Report currently shows site traffic and Google SERP. Is there anyway to also show google traffic estimator next to these numbers?
Keyword Research | | brianmeert0 -
Do you use broad match or exact match on Adwords Keyword Tool when doing keyword research?
I wasn't sure whether to classify this as a discussion or a question. I'd love "the right answer" but I'm not sure if we're going to get one... Let's try. When you use the Adwords Keyword Tool for doing keyword research, do you use the numbers from "broad match" or "exact match" when comparing relative search volume of keywords? (And yes, I know the numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt, but when it comes down to it, you're using the numbers to compare and come to conclusions regarding the best keyword to use - so which match type gives you the data you're looking for?) To be a little more specific - when you select "exact match" for, let's say the keyword "baking supplies", is that telling you how many people searched for that phrase within quotes <"baking supplies">, or how many people searched for only <baking supplies="">, as opposed to that word within a phrase <baking supplies="" stores="">or with the words reversed <supplies baking="">?</supplies></baking></baking> Based on some keyword research we had done a year ago where any phrase reversals like <water bottles="">and <bottles water="">were coming out with the exact same numbers, even when it wasn't so intuitive that there would be the same search volume, we came to the conclusion - with the tentative suggestion of the SEOMoz staff on the old Q & A - that broad match would include all instances of the keywords in reverse order, so if you wanted to know how many people were searching for <water bottles="">only, you needed to use exact match. </water></bottles></water> That's what we did for about a year (I also think I saw Rand mention that somewhere in a presentation slide recently, although I could be mistaken and I don't recall exactly where it was to check it up) and then based on a recent forum discussion I had where someone was questioning that premise, I did another check with two KW reversals and while <water bottles="">and <bottles water="">still give the same number, <baking supplies="">and <supplies baking="">do not. </supplies></baking></bottles></water> So I'm left with a big question here as to what the best policy is. Google Adwords Help is very vague on what the match type means in the tool (it seems to be talking about only your settings for your campaigns). So - any input after this long saga? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | debi_zyx0 -
Run a batch of keywords 1 by 1 through Adwords Keyword tool
Hi, I'm looking for a tool that will be able to run a list of keywords 1 by 1 through the Google Adwords keyword tool and place them together in a list, in order to get as much long tail keywords as possible. Thanks for any suggestion!
Keyword Research | | DeptAgency0