Hi TechWyse,

You're very welcome, and I'm sorry you experienced a glitch in the reporting system. If it happens again, please comment on that fact on the thread in question.

Hi Anaid,

Wow, that sounds like you have a ton on your plate with this project. I think you are taking the right steps in minimizing danger, but honestly, if you've got to write 30 awesome pages of content about the export/import business, you may need to insist on getting some help from a dedicated copywriter on that. With all the other work you are doing, time has to be found to research exciting topics to make these pages great, and if you're already maxed out in your time, you may need an extra pair of hands and eyes.

Hi CWseo,

Yes, the 'in' search has always done that. Odd, isn't it? I've never understood why Google does that in that way, but it's been like that since 2010.

Hi CWSEO,

Just want to pop in to address the local side of this. Google has not shown local results for website design companies since early 2010, so no matter what efforts you make in that direction, you will not get true local results for your business. Everything, therefore, must be approached organically. If you do a search for 'Web Design Leicester', you'll see that there are only organic results..not local ones. I'll let others approach this from an organic perspective, because of this phenomenon specific to design and SEO firms.

Hi Anaid,

Google's definition of a local business is one that has a physical location and unique local phone number within a given city. So, the goal of ranking locally for cities where you don't have these things is not one I would set. Rather, you should strive for true local rankings for the cities where you do have that real office and dedicated local phone number, and hope for organic rankings in those cities where you serve, rather than where you are.

You are right to be concerned about duplicate content. Chris has given some good suggestions. I would further suggest that you consider blogging. Get your service people in on the action to write up their projects in different service cities. Take photos and videos. Develop a body of unique content this way, rather than going with the thin/duplicate content approach.

The decision to target every major city in the USA may not really be ideal. I don't know what your business is, of course, but I would say that nearly any business taking this approach would be tempted to put up tons of duplicate content, because the effort of writing thousands of pages would be so intensive. Better to have 50 awesome pages rather than 900 poor ones. If you're a B2C company, perhaps some of those efforts to reach out can be Social rather than via creating landing pages, but landing pages can certainly be an important part of your effort, so long as they are great content.

Just remember, your local goals need to revolve around your brick-and-mortar businesses. Everything else needs to be viewed as an organic effort.

My pleasure, Abi. Good luck with the work ahead!

Hi Abi,

We're glad to have you here! I want to be sure I'm understanding your question. Yes, that rule is still true about Google only counting the first link to a given document. I believe you are concerned that if your menu doesn't say Auto Locksmith Boston, you will somehow be losing out. While it's good to have optimized items in your menu, you don't want to look spammy. This would look spammy to me in a menu, and I bet it might to Google to:

Auto Locksmith Boston

Auto Locksmith Portsmouth

Auto Locksmith Truro

Auto Locksmith Plymouth

It's just too repetitive. So, what can you do? You can create a main page for your locksmith services in your city of location. The goal of this page will typically be to attain high LOCAL rankings. You can then create city landing pages for your service radius cities, but don't stamp them out cookie-cutter fashion. Find something unique to write about your involvement in those other cities, and don't just list them in the menu like I've shown above. Write something interesting, helpful and cool. The goal of these pages will typically be ORGANIC rankings, because you're unlikely to locally outrank competitors in neighboring cities who have their physical shops there.

So, you are a single entity offering this single service...Auto Locksmithing. That deserves one page. But you can write up your service cities, too, so long as what you're doing is unique and useful.

In sum, I recommend that you menu contains a link for Auto Locksmith Services, and then you have a separate area of the menu showcasing your work in different cities. I do not recommend making a menu like the one above.

Hope this helps!