Is it better to have URLs of internal pages that are geo-targeted or point geo-targeted links to the homepage?

[Cyclone]

For example...

Having links that are geo-targeted and pointing to this URL

www.test.com/state-service/

or

Not having any geo-targeted internal pages and just having links that are geo-targeted and pointing to this URL

www.test.com

Eventually the site will be a national campaign, so I am concerned about having so many geo-targeted internal pages.

Thanks in advance!

[Cyclone]

Actually I created a separate thread for this question.  I figured I would keep it organized.

here...

[KaneJamison]

I'm not sure what you mean - are you asking about keyword variations for ecommerce?

[Cyclone]

Great, thanks for detailed explanation!  Just one last scenario is what if it is an e-commerce site and you can't have location dedicated pages, only product pages?

[KaneJamison]

Duplicate content: If you're doing each location page correctly, you'll be minimizing the duplicate content by creating unique content on each page. If it's all duplicate content, that's a strike against how you implemented it, not the strategy of having multiple location pages.

Dedicated Page vs. Homepage: If you're trying to target "nyc real estate" you're going to absolutely need a page dedicated to that keyword. Your homepage will only suffice if you're only targeting NYC. If you're targeting beyond that, you'll need a dedicated page, bottom line. It's simply to competitive of a term to try and do it any other way.

Anchor Text: Don't worry about anchor text so much. Build branded links to your homepage, and get whatever links you can to those subpages, both with optimized anchor text and without. Subpages are great for getting exact and partial match anchor text because it's often the best way to describe that page, which isn't the case with the homepage.

Basic Keyword Variations: Regarding variations such as "nyc real estate", "real estate nyc", and "real estate new york city", Google is pretty good at filtering through simple variations like that. Pick the one that gets the most exact traffic in the adwords keyword tool, and then include the other variations on the page in a non-keyword-stuffing manner.

[Cyclone]

Hey Kane,

Thanks for the response!  This question is very much related to this other question I posted, and the response I left to another member there directly affects what you are referring to here.  If you can please check out my response there and give me your thoughts on it I would greatly appreciate it.

here...

[KaneJamison]

If you're targeting one location, you can probably work with the homepage.

More than one location? I'd use specific pages for each location.

Regarding too many pages - I'd argue that you only have too many if they have duplicate content. If each geo-targeted page has content that is unique to that city or area, I think you're in the clear. That said, if it's implemented in a way that looks spammy, then you have too many...

[benjaminspak]

Why not both? If you are creating a valuable resource that is.