Onsite Optimization for 2 Locations on One Site
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Hello,
We have multiple client who have 2 office locations n the same state in varying counties and would like to have their site rank for two counties. Is this plausible ?
For instance they would like their header tags to read "Lawyer in Middlesex & Monmouth County NJ" Rather than "Middlesex County NJ Lawyer"
Would this be an effective strategy or be seen as stuffing by Google?
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Hello,
This was exactly my approach to this, and I feared it would be over optimization, however my top ranking competitor seems to be using both counties in their H1s as seen here:http://www.leifertlaw.com/
They also have a resources section linking to arguably pretty useful external links in their footer to links with nearly entirely duplicate content for each relevant town in their service areas: http://www.leifertlaw.com/delray-beach-criminal-lawyer-traffic-attorney.html
This website's optimization should literally be illegal, and seems to be using tactics that are frowned upon...yet it is ranking on the first page for both our target counties.
Should we still avoid using these methodologies?
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Hi there
I would be careful because sometimes this can lead to over optimization. If they have two locations, make sure you list that on a Contact or Locations page to help users know that there are two locations.
Beyond that, I would look into Schema markup for those locations, as well as citations/listings for each - you can do this through Moz Local, Whitespark, or Yext. I would also do a local SEO audit so that you can make sure listings/citations are consistent. Make sure this is also reflected in your social media channels, especially in each locations verified Google My Business pages.
Be careful with content directed at locations - websites have the tendency to use the same content for multiple locations, switching out only the location. This is a big duplicate content issue and can backfire.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
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