• Use your City and State in the name of the site/blog title
• Use your City and State in article or posts titles
• List your phone number with area code on a contact or about us page
• Use your business name, address, city, state and full phone number in the footer of every page.

If you are geo targeting a business location using keywords in the proper locations on the site you will rank better as well. You can use the Google AdWords tool to research the exact searches for your city and state.

Here are a few things to keep in mind ;

• The city name usually gets more searches.
• City and full state name (ex. Denver Colorado) will get the second highest volume.
• City and state abbreviated (ex. Denver CO) will usually be used in search a lot less but is highly targeted and has less competition.

So let’s say you are a Ski Shop in Vail Colorado.

Since there is only one city named Vail in the US that is synonymous with skiing, the search term “vail ski shop” would turn out to be a good keyword phrase to use.

But let’s say you are a criminal lawyer in Hamilton, Mississippi. There are other cities named Hamilton in places like Ontario Canada, Montana and Ohio.

In a case like this  “hamilton mississippi criminal lawyer” would probably turn out to be the best keyword phrase  to use in the title of your site/blog articles.

In the case of your local business listing with the search engines including keywords in your business title will help also help you rank better. But remember: if you try to stuff TOO many keywords into your business title, the search engines will find out about it and penalize your business.

All of this is to say:

The potential to attract new customers via Local Search is enormous.

1 (source – David Mihm)
2 (source – Chris Lang – Gwave Mastery)

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

GEO Targeting For Local Search

Localize those PPC efforts

There are various ways of utilizing geographic modifiers for your paid search. It can include using your city, county, etc. as a keyword or targeting your geographic area in your campaign settings. One of Google’s newer features, local ad extensions, can play a huge roll in the success of these localized campaigns. If you’re not all that familiar with it, it’s definitely worth knowing about.

A local ad extension is additional information, typically your address, which Google can show along with your ads. It’s a simple option that you can turn on within your campaign settings. The extensions can show in Google and any of their properties, including Google Maps and search results. So while maintaining your settings, these ads will also have a physical address that pops up when a searcher is close to you geographically. This does not replace regional or other geographic targeting for AdWords, but it’s a great way to target your local business and get more visitors not only to your website, but to your location as well! Having additional information will draw people’s attention to your ad. There is no price difference for using ad extensions with your ads, so feel free to experiment.

We know it’s important to target your landing pages as well, and in the local space, it’s a good idea to include your address on the landing page. Make sure that your landing page is very localized considering that continuity of content is extremely important, particularly for local searches. It helps build trust and reiterates your location while expanding on your offer.

There are many options for success with local PPC. You could try including your city name with your keyword along with geographic targeting in your settings, and then try with and without ad extensions. Then, try the reverse! Experiment with different variables and discover what works best for your business. Achieving successful results doesn’t happen over night, and there’s no fast rule to follow. The best way to get it going is to try all the opportunities at your disposal – you never know what you might find!

Emily Thompson is the Online Marketing Coordinator for Kutenda Internet Marketing Software . Kutenda offers software and services for small businesses to succeed in online marketing and grow their business.

Post from: Denver SEO - Local Search Expert

Google Local Ad Extensions: The Power of Localized PPC