Is it important to have a geo modifier for local SEO link building?
-
If anyone here is familiar with local SEO, you may have noticed that there are different local results for:
"city + Keyword" and just the "keyword".
When building links will you end up targeting both with a geo modifier in the link, or is it beneficial to build links without the geo modifer for the keyword?
-
Thank you for clarifying and sharing your knowledge. I think it is easy to get stuck in a link building rut with little variance when working on local, so this will very much help.
-
Absolutely. In my presentation at SMX Advanced this week, I touched on the critical need for inbound links to have a healthy variety of anchor text, as that is the only way to emulate natural links.
Brand variations
domain name
high level keyword phrases
mid level keyword phrases
long tail phrases
generic textThese should all be part of the mix, over time. And this would include, for local sites, anchors with and without various forms of geo.
-
Glad you're willing to Google it Chris. I've no idea where to buy utility kilts And you bring up a very important concept - out of town searchers. There are millions (billions?) of people who travel - for vacation, business, permanent relocation...
-
I agree with you Alan in respect to the need for geo modifiers. I was just thinking of my own individual brick and mortar business. Making me extremely selfish in my questioning.
Do you see any value in linkbuilding for a local brick and mortar business without the geo modifier in the anchor text?
-
-
I like you critical thinking Alan. Too many times people react without thinking through the consequences of those actions.
Don't forget about the geo searches for people who are not in your area but are looking for information on it. I am in Florida but will be doing searches to find out what is going on in Seattle during MOZcon at the end of July. That includes car rental, restaurant, tourist traps (my wife is coming too), maybe even your overnight multi-day pet-sitting service if we bring the dogs as well are heading to Maui for a week to absorb everything the experts can teach me.
By the way. What is that place in Seattle that sells utility kilts? Think I will Google it.
-
Forward thinking is critical to sustainable SEO. However I partially disagree - some geo search will always exist. As in my examples of "bay area" relatd phrases. The "bay area" I live within is hundreds of square miles. there's no way humanly possible leaving that "bay area" out of the query will ever get me info on companies 40 or 50 miles away.
-
While most people currently search with the geo modifier, my belief is that many will no longer use this modifier in the future as they become comfortable with the understanding that searches know where they are located automatically.
I think it is important to be ahead of the curve and work on terms that may not be readily searched for, and that includes simply typing in the "keyword" only into google and looking at the local results.
For that reason I would love to know if backlinking for the "keyword" only will have an effect without the geomodifier to influence the local results.
-
I was under the assumption that it made no difference if the site was set for local under webmaster tools or not, and Google would figure it out.
Is this actually of benefit in local search?
As far as the local search volume goes, I am unsure how that matters, since their are two sets of results with and without the geo modifier. So how can backlinking influence the one without the geo modifier?
-
Including geo modifiers is always a good idea if it's a brick-and-mortar business that wants to ensure reaching the local and semi-local market online. It does not prevent reaching other prospective customers in a significant way if done properly.
Be aware that some local terms don't show as having any traffic in the Google system. This does NOT mean they're not searched, just that keyword suggestion tools are known to not be very helpful for local specific except for major geographic areas.
And given that, also consider including some next-larger geographic area phrases. Here in my area, local could be "keyword + Sausalito" (the town) or "keyword + Marin" (the county), or "keyword + bay area" (the region) or "keyword + North Bay" (a slice of the region).
In some cases none of these show in keyword tools, in other cases, some do, and in some cases they all do.
Another factor to consider from this regard is the specific business. If it's an overnight multi-day pet-sitting service (for vacationers), their customers might be willing to drive a bit more for better service. If it's a car detailing service, not so much.
-
It depends on the keyword you want to target. Check the local search volume in the Google Keyword Tool, and target that term. Make sure the site is set in Webmaster tools to be targeted locally. It is no different from any other keyword.
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
-
Good Collaboration resources for link building
We have recently come across this site in our work on a website: https://collabosaurus.com We are wondering if there are any other collaborative tools or sites like this that may be effective for partnering or matching with people for link building purposes. If anyone is aware of anything similar, we'd love to hear about it. Thanks in advance!
Link Building | | Gavo1 -
Local seo + phone number ?
I read that if I want successful local SEO campaign, I should use the same phone number in all my citations. But some citations are local for UK and I do not need to write the phone code +44, others require to use the phone code since they are international. Is it bad for my local SEO using 2 different numbers (with and without phone code) and how to avoid it ?
Link Building | | digitalkiddie2 -
SEO Value Of Non-Indexed Links
I have a link built to a site, but it's not showing up in Open Site Explorer and doesn't appear to be indexed currently by Google. Does anyone know of any research done on SEO value if any on non-indexed links? Thanks
Link Building | | EmarketedTeam0 -
Multiple Links from High Ranking Site Vs. Links from Multiple Domains - What's More Important?
I understand it is important to get links from many quality domains. Currently, I do have links from top domains (PR, Trust) and it I can get more from (high rank) pages on these same domains. Would it be better to focus on expanding my reach (find additional domains to link from) or to continue to build links from the current domains I have a connection with? What is weighted more? I realize doing both is important, but trying to figure out how to best use my time. Thanks! David
Link Building | | DWill0 -
Continue Building LInks After You Reach Position
Hi All, Ive been slowly building links to some of my inner pages. Ive finally reached page 1 for a specific keyword search. Should I continue building links to this page so I dont lose position? I have a campaign setup through seomoz to keep track. Thanks!
Link Building | | TP_Marketing0 -
Link Building - Where to start and how long to see results
Been working a lot on on-page seo and it mistifies me to observe that when i get A's constantly for search terms for on page but im not on the first 10 pages of Google compared to a competitor on page 1 with on page reports of C, D and even E! So, a lot of hard work "on page" does not equal to a lot of hard work which is obviously link building. my domain and page authority is only 18 and 27 whereas the main competitors are 50's and 60's. Is "link building" or lack of it my main issue? Here is the site http://www.govisitthelakes.com Very new to link building 😞 Anyone know a good place to start? Ive been working through open site explorer and starting to get some of my competitors links. How long to see results from link building to improve domain and page authority? or is it just "how long is a piece of string" and be patient. Thanks Ouji
Link Building | | oujipickle0 -
Backlinking / Link Building Services
Hello, Our site is struggling organically and one of the key factors (not surprisingly) is a lack of backlinks. We have hired a content writer and are working on a content strategy to generate quality, relevant backlinks. But this is more of a long term project. After reviewing backlinks to our competitors' sites, it seems clear that they are using agencies or services to generate backlinks (most coming from low quality sites). I'm aware that this isn't a good long term strategy (although it seems to be serving them well at the moment). I was hoping the community could provide some insight on products or services out there that provide "safe" backlinking strategies. I don't want to do anything that is going to harm us in the future. I've read a bit on the hoth, and it seems fairly safe and potentially effective, but it's hard find much objective advice on the topic. Any insight is much appreciated - thanks in advance! Jason
Link Building | | ba_seomoz0 -
Outsource Link Building?
Currently we are in the process of creating a new ecommerce website. The site is not live yet, but we have done all of the planning and brainstorming and now are just doing all of the dirty work to get things ready to go live. We are devoting a lot of time on merchandising and developing the site, but currently do not have the resources to put together a good link building campaign in house. Does anyone have any recommendations for outsourcing the link building? The last thing we want is to hire someone that submits to bad neighborhoods and only directories. Is there a good, better, best scenario we should be looking at for pricing, ect? Obviously, like most who are starting a new site, cost is an issue at least until the site gives some sort of sign of life. Also, we are in the Pittsburgh area. We don't need to go local with this, but if there is someone particularly good in the area it would be nice. Thanks in advance.
Link Building | | ClaytonKendall0