Hi Cassi.

My highest recommendation is one site owner, one content focus = one site. By keeping the blog and the main site on the same URL, you will have the benefit of building up domain authority. Higher DA will allow all of your content from both sites to perform better in search results.

Maintaining one site is usually cheaper and easier then multiple sites. You have one set of software, one host and only one place to look if something goes wrong.

If you attempt to split the blog and main site, Google will recognize they are both owned by the same person and your interlink value will be diminished. It also can cause confusion for visitors, along with the natural loss of link value as sites links pass from site-to-site.

You can establish relevancy for a given area with your content and backlinks without depending on your URL.

Google does not care if you target 1 keyword or 10. The problem you face is, all other factors being equal, a competitor who only targets one word on a page will always beat a page which targets multiple words.

Ranking in search engines is purely a competition. I recommend you go all out and try to rank #1 (or as high as reasonably possibly). Once you have achieved top rankings for your primary keyword, THEN you can try to get greedy and diversify to multiple keywords.

"Does Google know that VT = Vermont?"

Yes. Try this search: https://www.google.com/search?q=vt&gl=us&pws=0

Notice on the right side of the screen Google offers information on two topics: Virginia Tech and Vermont. Google knows your query likely pertains to one of these topics but is unsure which, so it offers both.

"Should State names be abbreviated and/or fully spelled out in title tags, meta descriptions and body content?"

In content, you should use whatever format you feel would best connect with your reader. If I was to mention Los Angeles, I would not typically feel the need to mention California since the city is recognized world-wide.

For Miami, there is both Miami, Ohio and Miami, Florida. If I was writing about Miami Ohio, I would definitely mention the state name. If I was writing about Miami Florida, most readers would automatically make the connection to Florida, especially if I mentioned anything to do with the ocean, a major city, etc.

For meta descriptions, most of the above applies but you are once again focused on connecting with your reader. The main goal is to improve click-through-rate for your search listing.

For Title Tags, this should be decided first. The title should be closely aligned, or perfectly matched, to the keyword focus of the article. Otherwise, it again can depend on the situation. Take a look at the following example:

Miami Dolphins start the season 6-0. It is unlikely you would ever wish to add FL or Florida to that tag.

You can perform keyword research to determine which version has more traffic. Many SEOs will make the decision in that manner.

Consider the following exact match local monthly search volume in Google.com:

homes for rent in orlando  2400

homes for rent in orlando fl 1300

homes for rent in orlando florida 260

Clearly, the preference is not to use state information based if your focus is finding the maximum search volume for this query. But what about....

homes for rent in jacksonville  110

homes for rent in jacksonville fl  3600

homes for rent in jacksonville florida  210

In this instance, adding the abbreviated state name to the query is very important.

As with most SEO related questions, the topic can go a bit deep. Keyword research is a critical component to a successful SEO campaign, and takes time, testing and experience to find the optimal variation of the term.

Best of luck.

You don't really need a ticket to attend.

Show up early dressed in a Pizza Hut uniform. Spend the morning moving some chairs around and standing in the back. When lunch time comes you will need to bring enough pizza for everyone along with plenty of cheese and peppers, but then you can spend the rest of the day without any suspicion.

If you feel the need to ask any question, just substitute pizzahut.com for your site and use a relevant example.

I would like to clarify what you mean by capitalizing each key word.

If you mean representing the entire word in capital letters such as MICROSOFT then, no. I believe Google has measures to prevent that action in AdWords. I would not use the method in title tags either.

If you mean MicroSoft or Microsoft where you capitalize the first letter of each word, then yes I would recommend that action for adwords, titles and even tweets. You are properly calling attention to the keyword which can be helpful for users.

Every page of your site that you wish to be indexed should be included in the sitemap you submit to search engines.

If there are pages on your site that are questionable due to duplicate content or thin content issues, those pages should either be removed or have the noindex meta tag added, then excluded from the sitemap.