Local seo landing pages and proper keywords to optimize and showing up for generic keyword localized results

[Spartan22]

looking for advice. I have my site built into landing pages for each city I service. Would it effect my seo in a negative way if I built other landing pages with "keyword + zip code" as well as the city ones I already have or do you think it would make my city rankings worst?

Also how do you get a seo city landing page to show up for the "keyword" or "keyword near me" in the city of interest? Is making landing pages with "keyword + city" sufficient way to accomplish this or is there a trick I am unaware of?

[Ray-pp]

I do think you would be working against yourself, given the scenario you've outlined. You may find more success if you include zip code content into the landing page of each city you've created. I.e. We service the following zip codes - and provide a table of zip codes your business area services.

You'll want to make sure that each location your business has/services, also has its related local information in the local directories (Google business, Moz Local, ect). Also, be sure to include a proper, consistent NAP (name, address, phone number) on your websites.

Get creative with your content to satisfy all related keyword terms. For example, if you know people will search 'plumbers near me' then you may want to include a headline and content section about Plumbers near Dallas, Texas and talk about all the plumbing related services you provide near the Dallas city (Dallas and plumbing are only used for examples).

[Ron_McCabe]

I do not believe adding a second landing page with zip plus city is a good idea.  i think you might even run the risk of a Google penalty. I think a better place to focus your efforts would be long tail key word sets related to the cities you are targeting.  I would include references to local landmarks as well as any video or photo content you have that support the desired key word set.

[Spartan22]

The pages will focus on the zip code instead of the city only difference. I will not focus on "keyword + city + zip" it would only be "keyword + zip". I already have dedicated landing pages with "keyword + city". I see a competitor doing this and he is ranking 1 for pretty much every zip code in the state.  I know I probably drive a lot more sales n traffic with this method because I feel like alot of people look up services with "keyword + zip" as well. Most people look up with city but I am sure a good amount percentage use the zips and this competitor is probably getting tons more calls because of it. Keep in mind I do not copy and paste the city or zip and have duplicate content. I create unique content per page and I would do this with the "keyword + zip" as well. I am not sure how I would get a google penalty or hurt my existing "keyword + city" landing pages by doing this. What makes you guys think this would happen? Also I appreciate the feedback greatly by the way.

[Spartan22]

so would it be a good idea to write a small 2-300 word zip code optimized paragraph to put beneath the other text and maybe throw it in some head tags or will this screw up anything?

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Spartan,

Good topic! I agree with the advice of mentioning your zip codes within the content of the existing landing pages, but, I would specifically warn against putting a big block of zip codes or city names on any page of the website. Google's webmaster guidelines cite this as a suspicious practice, see: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66358?hl=en

I would prefer to take a more creative approach to covering the zip codes in a given city. Let's say you are a house painter, servicing 3 zip codes in Davenport Iowa. Why not do three project features on the landing page, including the zip code of the house you painted in the project description? Something along the lines of, "Look at this fabulous turn-of-the-century charmer in the 52081 zip code area of old town. We chose a pearl grey and mustard palette to stately effect!" Or something like that. This would be my preferred approach to ever just putting blocks of zips, given Google's warning about this.

Regarding your more general question ... yes, developing a landing page for each city serviced by an SAB is a standard practice, but it is not a guarantee that you will rank for these cities. How well these pages do will depend on:

1. The competitiveness of the industry/geography

2. The quality of the pages

3. Overall strength of the brand/site

Unfortunately, in nearly all cases, competitors with a physical location will outrank your business for their own cities ... just as you are likely to have an edge over competitors who lack a physical location in your own city. But, if strong enough, and if the competition isn't too stiff, these types of pages can gain you some extra visibility and generate valuable leads.

[Spartan22]

I appreciate the help. I do build quality pages. for the most part. I would not include a wall of zip codes or other spam text. I would write a 2-300 page paragraph outing the services a little more and just using 1-3% keyword density and maybe throw in some h3 tags with it.