On Page Report Card... with or w/o local modifiers?

[nsmcseo2]

Hey all!

So I am curious how you recommend using the "on page report card" (which is really helpful) along with the concept of local modifiers.  IE, here is a term I am going after:

• business forums

but really I care about a specific location:

• business forums | Greensboro NC

So the word I hear is typically to do your keyword research & page optimization FOR the primary term, but then tack on your local modifiers after.  So which do you run reports on? Probably both is the best answer, eh?

Obviously my local sites won't have a shot at ranking nationally/internationally for such a broad term as "business forums", especially with some monster sites out there with some serious clout.  This is more of a best practices question.

Thanks dudes.

[DavidKauzlaric]

It definitely wouldn't hurt to run reports on both, but look at your overall objectives before investing the time and energy.

If you run a website that is 100% local-orientated, no sense trying to rank for a national term as 1) Your site is not relevant to the national term, 2) It splits your efforts trying to rank for a national term.

I would focus on what you think is the most relevant. If it's a true local business forum, worry about dominating that market first! Once you are #1 for everything and anyone in your area types in your keywords and all they see is you, you can venture out at that point for more broad terms that yield higher #'s of traffic.

Hopefully that makes sense? Still tired

[nsmcseo1]

I hear ya.

So focus on the local.  That probably means I need to get the "greensboro" and "nc" terms within the page text on every page on my site.  My report cards are "A"s and a few "B"s w/o it, but much lower as I didn't push too hard on redundancy with local terms in the text.... but once or twice a page won't hurt I don't think. Definitely in titles already.

[AlanMosley]

I find you dont have to optimize for loca +l keyword so much, as long as local is in the page some where. If you optimize for the keyword you will do well with local also

[DavidKauzlaric]

While I definitely agree with you, I find that you can rank easier and faster for local terms by optimizing for local keywords as well. It adds relevancy to your result and can result in better rankings for other local keywords that you are NOT targeting. I've experienced this first hand.

If you are a 100% local business, why not focus on everything local? It's much easier to rank and it should help establish that your website is local so any terms with the local modifier in it, are much easier to rank!

Just my 2 cents.

[DavidKauzlaric]

Something that helps a lot? Get some links with the local modifier in the anchor text. Once you get a few of those, you'll see your rankings increase for local searches.

[nsmcseo1]

Excellent, thanks guys.

Great to hear some experiece that backs up all the stuff you read out there!  I appreciate the confirmation.