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.
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
-
Question about reciprocal link building. I'm not an SEO professional, just a local service business owner.
I did a link page on my website 13 years ago and never took it down. Should we scratch that page all together? Is it ok with Google to do a page on Recommended local service providers. Maybe I can keep some of those reciprocal links if that's the case...
Link Building | | FVLMS0 -
Reputable High Quality Link Building Company
Hi We are looking for a reputable high quality link building company. Can anyone recommend any and how much would we expect to pay? Thanks Andrew
Link Building | | Studio330 -
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 -
Winning Link Building Strategies for 2013
I was just looking at a forum post written on SEOmoz back in Jan 2012 about the best strategies for 2012 and the first recommendation I saw was blog networks - OUCH! What are your thoughts on which link building strategies you think will work well in 2013 in order of effectiveness?
Link Building | | Clicksjim0 -
Link Building
I noticed another SEO builds backlinks (tons) on a social media profile that then has a link to his client's site. Another site he builds backlinks are a bitly account that 301's to the clients account. Why would you do this? Is it that you can build links indiscriminately to build a page up in PR to 3-4-5 PR, then pass that higher PR to your site (safe). Is that PR building method better than placing 100's of smaller PR links on your site? It seems logical that if you passed in a tremendous amount of juice to juice a site up to PR4, you won't make your main site PR4 by JUST that link. You would need to build a lot of PR4 sites to make your site PR4. Why not just put all the backlinks on the main page instead of building up secondary social profiles etc... Please reveal this secret. I know a lot of SEOs are using this method. Help 🙂
Link Building | | JML11790 -
Link Building for a Newbie!
Hi Guys & Girls. Following my previous question, I seem to really be getting to grips with SEOmoz and all its features which seem fantastic. As mentioned before, I am quite new to this SEO game and learning all the time!! Through all my reading and learning over the last week I have learnt that Link Building is one of the most powerful ways of increasing your SEO game. I'm really trying to get my head around it all. I have come across things like "Link Farming" which seems to be a big no no in terms of Google. Submitting to Link directories etc etc. Now for somebody new, this all comes across quite confusing. Can anybody out there provide me with a really simple but informative way to effectively Link Build? Best practices etc etc! I really want to learn and "up" my game! The website that I am working with is http://www.advanced-incar.co.uk Many thanks, Tim
Link Building | | timborrill0 -
Link Building by Phone?
Is it worth going to the trouble to contact webmasters in person by phone rather than just using email? If so, what has been your approach to link building by phone?
Link Building | | eli.boda0 -
LINK BUILDING - Does it really matter if the link is not relevant?
Hi guys, I have just done a lot of link buillding and I thought I am just going to link build and I am not going to go after RELVANT links. I have property/real esate website and I have been any kind of link builidng and I have noteced some good increases in rankings.. So my questions is; Does it really matter if the link is relvant to property or real estate if I have got ranking increases? Or will it later harm my site?? Thanks Gareth
Link Building | | GAZ091