Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Best practice for targeting 'unnatural' location based keyword phrases
-
When optimising for a local based service, lets say a painter in texas, you will have various keyword phrases which are relevant e.g
Texas painter
Painter in Texas
Painter Texas
I have found that often the phrase which has the most searches is:
[Service] [Location] = ('Painter Texas' in this example)
But unlike the other phrases this is very hard to work into a natural sounding sentence or heading.
Is the best practice to try and target the unnatural sounding phrase anyway due to the higher search volume, or target the next one down to stay natural sounding in your copy?
thanks
d
-
I'm very much interested in this question as well.
Someone told me that small words such as 'in' are stop words and as such ignored by Google and that [painters texas] would be the same as [painters in texas].
But in that case, why does Google's keyword tool give such different exact results for these 2 phrases?
Anyone else got any input on this?
Thanks
-
Definitely go with natural syntax. Google can figure out what the page is about without having to sacrifice readability. In fact don't overdo it with the frequency - just having the phrases in the title tag and a couple of times on the page is plenty.
-
Thanks for your answers guys, but you have all focused on the anchor text of inbound links, whereas what I am really enquiring about is the on-page optimisation.
Specifically, optimising for a phrase like 'Painter Texas' which is hard to work into headings or body copy in a way that doesnt sound strange to humans reading it.
e.g:
Texas painter = "If you are looking for a texas painter, you have come to the right place!" - Fine
Painter in Texas = "People often call us the best painter in texas" - Fine
Painter Texas = ?????
The problem is that this final phrase has the highest search volume. So do I go with this and sacrifice 'naturalness' (e.g. If you are looking for a painter texas, then you are in the right place), or sacrifice search volume and go for more natural copy ?
-
I agree with David in that variety is the key. I also think that Google is doing a much better job at determining local intent in queries. I would make sure to build links without the geographic modifier as well. In fact, I would think that too many links with geo-modifiers may be a spam signal if it isn't already. Additionally, be sure to include lots of "stop" words in your anchor text along with verbs, adjectives, etc. Things like "a painter in Texas" or "recognized as a top painter" are phrases that real people would use to link to a real site rather than "painter Texas."
You definitely want to build links with the company or personal name and include the keywords next to it as Google can definitely discern the proximity of the keyword and score it accordingly.
For example: Joe Bob is a Texas-based painter...
Hope that helps!
-
It's always better to target a page with a single phrase. However it doesn't mean you can't use your alternate phrases at all. Just don't try to make it compete with your primary phrases.
"So remember Tom's Painting next time you need a Texas Painter."
I'm going to resist any urge to refer to Tom's Texas sized paint brush"
-
I run into this all the time as a local heating contractor. IMHO, the best practise is to target all the top three phrase combinations. This avoids the penalty of having too many identical anchor phrases, and, at the same time, helps you to rank well for all the different combinations of your keywords. Gewgle is smart enough to give you credit for "Painter in Texas" as a close match to "Painter Texas" and to see that Texas Painter is likely the same as Painter Texas. Anchor text variety is the key.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
German Keywords
Hi I wanted to check the volume of a keyword in German but unfortunately, it shows no data available.?
Keyword Research | | Raymonda
Is this actually possible to research German keywords with your tool?0 -
How many keywords do you recommend tracking?
I am working through thousands of organic keywords and would like to create a list of core keywords. I want the list to be small enough that we can really go after these keywords and track progress. I work for a B2B software company. I am thinking between 20-30 but I would love to hear any tips, opinions and recommendations! Thank you!
Keyword Research | | NikCall0 -
Can I use my keyword in brackets '( )'
I need to sort my product keywords in the countries: (UK) (USA) (Global) etc. What does putting my keyword into brackets do - does it negatively affect my SEO?
Keyword Research | | crocman0 -
What is the best tool for finding what people are using as search phrases for my product
what is the best tool for finding what people are using as search phrases for my product? i used to use the google adwords keyword suggestion tool but that tool is gone now. Is the google keyword planner now the best tool to use? Thanks, Ron
Keyword Research | | Ron101 -
How do I find out what low-volume keywords are best to target?
Since many of our products and services are purpose-built for a niche community, I find that many of the keywords I am researching are all low-volume. Data on the Keyword Difficulty Tool show '0' under Bing Search Volume (exact match). I know what my competitors are targeting based on their title tags and web content, but I'm not sure if they did their keyword research homework, so I don't want to assume. Is there any other way to determine which keywords I should be targeting?
Keyword Research | | ULCRobotics0 -
Accuracy of search volume for keyword planner v old keyword tool?
Hi there, I'm (logged into Google Adwords) and researching search volume for keywords but I'm seeing weird results. I know that the term "outage notification" had between 1000 and 5000 monthly global searches when I last looked (I know this because I add a search volume tag to the keywords I track ranking of via Moz). Yet, now when I check global search volume via keyword planner I'm seeing only 70 global searches per month (AND low competition which I know is not true). Is this perhaps because only the exact match is reported or is something else going on? Very frustrated as I have now lost faith in the keyword research process via Google keyword planner....not sure where to go from here!! Thanks very much
Keyword Research | | SnapComms1 -
Best tool to check keyword ranks in bulk
What is the most accurate tool to check the current ranking of keywords in bulk and download the report via CSV/Excel? Any input would be appreciated.
Keyword Research | | inhouseseo0 -
Keyword Difficulty Score Assesment
What is a good keyword difficulty score to pursue when deciding which keywords to try and rank on? I'm in a very competitive field and I am currently in the process of doing keyword research to look for the low hanging fruit.
Keyword Research | | 13375auc30