Keyword tracking- Local
-
Silly question about Local ranking monitors.
If I have a local client in Pheonix, AZ and I want to track rankings for keywords. Is it best to monitor city+keyword or just keyword?
I have ran tests with multiple clients and locations, and cannot ascertain the difference- as far as rankings go. I appreciate all input.
-
Hi Tammy,
We now have local ranking tracking! Check out the information over at http://moz.com/blog/local-rankings-in-moz-analytics.
-
Excellent thank you so much!
-
Very nice, thank you!
-
Hi Tammy,
A couple of suggestions.
-
You might want to check out Whitespark's Local Rank Tracker (see: https://www.whitespark.ca/rank-tracker). The creator, Darren Shaw, is extremely Local-aware.
-
If you are in the dental space, you might like to follow Linda Buquet, if you aren't already doing so. Linda used to be a specialist in Local SEO for dentists before she started her forum (see: http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/) and she often shares good tips related to this.
Hope this helps! Dentists are really nice clients, in my experience. It's a nice market in which to specialize!
-
-
Tammy,
As a side note something I am doing in the Chiropractic and horticultural space is doing you tube videos and pictures with good key words. This seems to shoot up in the rankings higher. Especially if you have authorship set up. I would also suggest virtual seminars on Google Air that are saved to Youtube. These are great ways to get top rankings on harder key word sets. Another simple thing is to do a quick presentation in Presenter(powerpoint) with voice overs and export to video. Either of these can be done on a fairly small budget and they get good results.
Ron
-
Excellent answers, thank you everyone.
1. Currently using Myseotool ( and Moz of course) - Myseotool allows you to set the 'city, region' when you have a campaign.
2. Yes, I STRESS to the clients that rankings are essentially eye candy and not much more, that traffic and conversions are the most important. But, as with most clients, they are determined to look at rankings.
3. I understand geo targeting and expect it - as well as personal results based on user intent and previous searches. I have also explained this phenomenon to the clients, but not sure 100% of them get it or recognize the fact.
4. While world domination is on my list, over 70 of the clients are dentists, so local is by far the most important. I do find the longer tail keywords to be easier when combined with a local G+ place optimized - yet have a few that will show up in National rankings, which is what made me ponder.
Thank you again, these are all awesome answers- I heart Mozzers!
-
Tammy,
First of all this is not a silly question, it is very astute. The problem/opportunity is that the search engines are in transition and location is just one consideration on your ranking in any given search. The answer depends on what your ultimate goals are as well as where your client is at now.
What I have observed is that long tailed key words like SEO Phoenix are in relative terms easier than general terms. As you improve your ranking factors in general relative to your local competition you will start showing up higher in the rankings. As these other factors improve more you will start showing up everywhere on more and more general terms.
So if your goal is just local listings just track the long tailed key words. If your goal is to rule the rankings universe on the searches your client wants I would track the general terms as well as the more specific long tail strings for your area.
because of my own megalomania issues I always track both ;).
Ron
-
Hi Tammy,
Your question isn't at all silly. What are you using to track local rankings? What tool? Or are you doing this manually?
Do bear in mind that there is no authoritative, set ranking for any local business. Why? Because Google personalizes the results for all users. So, what you see ranking #1 on your computer in your location may not be what I see ranking #1 for this term. Though you can get a relative idea of rankings, you can't really get an exact idea, making it important to educate clients on the fact that other metrics are a better gauge of marketing results. Traffic and conversions really matter! Rankings matter, too, of course, but not as much as phones ringing.
-
Google has geotargeting enabled for everyone searching on google.
What does Geotargeting mean?
1. Potential customers/clients might search for a "dentist" and not type in "phoenix" however google knows that they are in phoenix so google provides search results as if you typed in "dentist in phoenix."
For local search terms, always use the keyword + city. In some cases, there are multiple cities with the same name in different states. In that instance, monitor keyword + city + state, spell the state out or use initials.
-
I would definitely monitor city+keyword.
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
-
National keyword results v local keyword results
If the keyword contains the location term like "SEO company London" is it better to use the wider results over local? Additionally, some best practice examples of national v local result tracking would be great 🙂 Darren
Keyword Research | | SEODarren0 -
Keyword Analysis
Is there any way I can find out a list of the top keywords for my site automatically without having to type in certain words myself and wait on the results?
Keyword Research | | meteorelectrical0 -
New Keyword Planning Tool
In the past we have used google analytics keyword tool to evaluate a keyword for our campaign. Recently though with the changes to the keyword tool becoming the keyword planning tool we've seen an extreme fluctuation in the metrics provided for avg monthly searches. Specifically the keyword "best fries" used to be reported at 33100 avg global monthly searches, now with the new tool its at less than 200 overall for the month. Additional information has the google trends for the keyword to only be increasing and is roughly near peak search interest. So I guess to simplify the question, should I trust this metric? Is there an alternative source I can use for keyword research? Why would a drop like this happen? Why isn't the google trends data similar to that of the keyword data? Surely 100 representing peak interest doesn't translate to 200 searches a month.
Keyword Research | | JamesBSEO0 -
Ignore keywords that have no data in the Google Keyword Tool?
Hello, There are some keywords that have no monthly search data in the Google Keyword Tool. In many cases, this is because there have been very few searches for the keyword. Would you recommend focusing on other keywords that do have search data in the Google Keyword Tool? Perhaps focusing too far out on the long tail of search results can be less productive than focusing on keywords that have proven that at least some people care about them. What do you think? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | nyc-seo0 -
Is there a way to check what keywords a competitor is ranking for?
Hi Guys I have been working on a site and I'm doing better but I just want to ensure I am covering all the bases. I have a list of competitors and I want to see if I can find out what keywords they are ranking for so I can research and see if there is any merit in me trying to rank for those keywords also? Is there any software or processes that any of you can recommend? Thanks
Keyword Research | | RankStealer0 -
Assesing which keywords to target
Hi Looking for some advice: Situation: Starting and SEO campaign for the French market. We have extensive keyword data from our adwords account as this has been running for a few months. Questions: What should we be looking out for in relations to keywords to target in the seo campaign? How many keywords is it sensible to target or chase? (one person dedicated to the French seo campaign) Thanks for your help, Andrew
Keyword Research | | fleurya0 -
Optimizing for two nearly identical keywords.
Hi Mozzers, So in one of my campaigns I'm trying to optimize for "Personal Trainer Minneapolis" and "Minneapolis Personal Trainer". Would the best tactic be: Develop and optimize two pages. One for each of these similar keywords. (Clearly not the best UX). or Try to optimize a single page for both. Thanks for your thoughts!
Keyword Research | | JesseCWalker0 -
Keyword domain names
My two best key words are "gps tracking" and "vehicle tracking". For the Irish market I have got the two domain names: www.vehicletracking.ie www.gpstracking.ie Have a very poor landing page on www.vehicletracking.ie and just redirecting www.gpstracking.ie to our site. I am wondering what I should do thie these two assets? Should I be running them as micro sites? re directing them? Or something else? Let me know what you think. Andrew
Keyword Research | | fleurya0