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
-
I have two keywords. If I combine them do I get credit for both keywords?
For example I have a keyword - IPA Beer, and I have a keyword - IPA Beer Kit. If I use the keyword IPA Beer Kit will I get the benefit of the IPA Beer keyword as well as the IPA Beer Kit keyword? Hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance for the help!
Keyword Research | | brewngrow0 -
Tool for wildcard keyword suggestions
Like others, I have also been oblivious to the options which were uncovered in this article, using stars or underscores to uncover more keywords suggestions. However, I am trying to find a way to avoid the manual labour. Did any of you find a successful tool that automatically adds all the possible combinations of these wildcards to give a comprehensive lists of suggestions? I am looking for a tool that also included my country (.nl).
Keyword Research | | Entertainment0 -
The same keyword on multiple pages, but not all (combined with other relevant keywords) for products.
Hi Guys, I want to get an opinion/advice on this. My client has a site that have all their products (I am working on expanding the product descriptions, benefits and how they differ from each other) listed and I just want to know if I can use the term 'gear oil' for example on multiple pages as one of the keywords. The product range (among others like transmission fluid and anti-freeze) is gear oil (with the different types of gear oils available described) and I can't really change what the product is. I do have different variations (such as gear lubricant, automotive gear lubricant, car gear oil etc.) but will it do damage if I use the same keyword (like gear oil) on multiple pages (along with another relevant keyword that does not involve the words gear oil)? Any help on this will be greatly appreciated!
Keyword Research | | annabel.schoeman0 -
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 -
Filler words like "for" in keyword phrase
Hey, I wonder what the effect of filler words like "on" or "for" is when I try to rank for a certain phrase. Here is an example, lets say i try to rank for "best apps iphone" but the grammatically correct usage in the headline or text is "best apps for iphone". Is there any difference or should I use the exact keyword without "for"? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | SebastianKnopp0 -
Google Keyword Tool: What is considered a unique keyword?
I'm trying to research keywords using Google's Keyword Tool. After looking at results, I have the following questions: 1. Does singular/plurals of a word count as two different keywords to Google (ie: photobooth and photobooths)? Would I need to have a unique page targeting each word or will one page on my site be sufficient for targeting both? 2. I've noticed that different variations of keywords have the same global monthly search results. This leads me to believe that Google see's all of them as one keyword. ie: "photo booth props" and "props for a photo booth" and "props with photo booth", all have 22,200 search global monthly search resluts. On the other hand "moustache prop" and "prop moustache" have different global monthly search results (480 and 590). Can anyone explain this?
Keyword Research | | Alchemist230 -
How many keywords/key phrases to use on main page
Hi all! I'm a bit new to the SEO process. My question is about keywords. Now, I realize that in a perfect world you would want to target one keyword/key phrase per page - or so I've heard. How many keywords/key phrases should I target for my main page? I'm working on a Dallas real estate firm website. They focus on luxury real estate in Dallas, high rises, ect.. So I was thinking of focusing on "Dallas luxury real estate" for the main page but wasn't sure if I should focus on 2 or 3 other terms for the main page. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | strategit0 -
What is the ideal keyword difficulty percentage?
I am trying to establish my best keywords using the keyword difficulty tool. So if I want to come up with the best keywords, should I use the ones that come in at 50%??
Keyword Research | | mmookie0