Local SEO issue

[lfrazer]

Hello,

I have a client that is located just outside of Baltimore, MD. Their zip code is 21236, which is seen as sometimes Nottingham and sometimes Overlea. Their competitors come up for Baltimore with the same zip. This client seems to be having some problems, and I think it is because of this geo confusion? Is this so, and if so, how can I make location more clear to Google?

Thanks

[MarketingFox]

Can you be more specific with what the problems are? Are they wanting to come up as a "Baltimore" location when searched,  instead of Overlea or Nottingham? Or is it displaying incorrectly on their Google Places Page?

[RobertFisher]

Denise

First, with Local, there are many factors that must be considered and it helps to give us as much info as possible. When I search zip code 21236 in Google non personalized, I get "Nottingham" when I look at a zip map, parts of White Marsh fall into this zip as well.

As to confusion vs geo confusion, it is likely more that the local is not clean and that is causing the problem. I urge you to not look at competitors, but look at your citation sites, Bing, Yahoo, G+, etc. Make sure all are consistent. When we take on clients who were DIY prior they always try to throw in extra areas and they try to throw in plenty of categories - and they shoot themselves in the foot. What is your on page like - url structure, etc.?

To think you can plug in Baltimore and then get listed there is faulty. If my address were Nottingham, that is exactly what I would put. You can still have other pages that optimize for that geographic area you want to work your way into like Baltimore.

I hope that helps a bit.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Denise,

Robert has made some important points. Most importantly, it's vital to understand that Google considers any business as being most relevant to its city of location - not to neighboring cities, even if the company resides right on the border.

This is a frequent cause for frustration for business owners who are located just outside the borders of major cities, especially when many clients come to them from the major city, or when the business owner travels to the major city to serve.

Nevertheless, except in cases of low competition or a lack of data, most businesses should only expect to rank locally for their city of location. Additional rankings for nearby cities will typically have to be pursued with organic, rather than local, SEO.