How can we geo-target our website optimization for cities besides our physical location?

[DenisL]

We have a client that is a solar energy installation & leasing company in Austin, TX that wants to target the Houston and Dallas markets.  We can do a Place Page for their physical offices in Austin and San Antonio to drive traffic for those cities.  But we’re not sure the best way to help them rank for Houston and Dallas, where they don't have a physical address.  We’re considering a separate landing page for each city, optimized for the geo-term.  Will that help them to rank in the 7Pack in Houston and Dallas, if there’s no Place Page?   Will it help them rank in the organic listings for that region?  Can you offer any other suggestions for how to help them rank in 2 cities where they don’t have physical offices?

[Thos003]

"Do not create listings at locations where the business does not physically exist. P.O. Boxes are not considered accurate physical locations. Listings submitted with P.O. Box addresses will be removed."

http://www.google.com/support/places/bin/answer.py?answer=107528

Yes.. I believe you recalled that correctly.

[Thos003]

It could be possible to rank in the 7 pack with an address outside of the target city, but it's very very difficult to do. You would need the local signals like local landing pages, and you would need a very non competitive term. I believe you would have better luck getting a small office in the Houston or Dallas and manning it with some staff.

Outside the 7 pack you can easily rank for cities that you are not located in by traditional SEO methods. Creating a landing page for the GEO area and then creating local links and anchor text links will get you to the front page.

[RyanKent]

Thanks for the info about UPS stores. I didn't know they offered this service.

[malachiii]

good point on the PO Box.  UPS store offers address with suite numbers as opposed to PO boxes, but as I said it isn't necessarily "Best practices"

[RyanKent]

If I recall correctly, Google Places only accepts physical addresses, not PO boxes.

If you wanted to move in that direction, then a virtual office would be the preferred method. You can have a physical address, mail forwarding, and even a local phone number with an answering service if desired. Prices usually range from around $100 - $150 depending on your needs and location.

You can achieve the desired result with a strong landing page and links with proper anchor text from the target area. I would only go to the extreme of using a virtual office if there was a lot of money involved and there was an urgent need to improve your rank after you are already on the 1st page of SERP.

[malachiii]

Landing pages are always effective - especially for localized geo marketing.  If you want to do a physical address, you could always do a PO box or a UPS store box that will provide an "Address" location.  I am not sure if that is necessarily "ethical" but if you are offering the products in those cities, I don't think you'll encounter too much grief.  I wouldnt add the PO box or UPS Store address to google places, but you could create a landing page that would have a little more content on it.