GR,

Thanks for a great response. I should have mentioned that I am going to be doing a site redesign/upgrade and the old address will no longer exist. In that case, a 301 is better, right?

Thanks,

Nails

If i want to create a redirect from a page where the slug ends like this "/?i=4839&mid=1000&id=41537" to a static, more SEO friendly slug like "/contact-us/", will a standard 301 redirect suffice?

Thanks,

Nails

Roman,

You have been very generous with your time and offer to help...I'd prefer not to publish the client website, though.

Miriam,

As always, you're such a great resource!

Thank you both,

Nails

Roman,

Thanks for your response. I guess i should have explained a little more:

1. My keyword research includes analysis of GSC search data, competitor kw analysis using SEMRush and using Moz's KWE to find the best oportunities.

2. Unfortunately, the website was created by an SEO who spammed keywords and the GSC data is a bit off and unrealitic.

3. Yes, I have found kws with local search modifiers, for instance "Physical therapy California".

Thanks for the other advice and tools...I need to look into them.

I am familiar with how to do regular keyword research, finding opportunity based on competition, search volume, etc.

For local search, do I go to all the trouble of finding hidden gems or just pick higher volume terms that have local intent. For instance: A search for "physical therapy" is a high volume term that Google thinks has local intent.

If i pick a low volume national term, that has 11-50 avg searches per month, I have lower chances...and even less chance that someone is searching locally.

What say ye?

Nails

Thanks to everyone for the discussion; i really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

Have a great day,

Nails

Hey Mozzers,

Here are some title tag facts as i see them

1. After 50-60 characters Google shortens your title.
2. You want your most compelling info in the title to be readable and not truncated, so it should be written clearly before the character limit.
3. Most important keywords should be used used as close to the start of the title as possible.

My question is: Does Google still index the words after 50-60 chars? Many SEO graders make such a big deal about length and i am wondering if they are wrong.

Thanks,

Nails

Ok, i understand what you are saying, now. You may still wanna try contacting support. I had an issue that they helped me resolve relatively quickly.

Good Luck,

Matt

Nathan,

You will be changing to a "service area business." Here are the directions for setting it up.

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038163?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

Beyond that, you may have to contact support.

Matt

I use the SEO quake chrome plugin to check meta tags...and a lot of other things. I can't say how accurate it is, though.

Matt