Can local SEO harm national rankings?

[KevinBloom]

Today I met with a firm called Localeze that provides local directory submissions.  I understand the importance of this service if your site is competing locally, however I'm not sure the effects of local SEO for a national brand.

Our firm gets most of our traffic from across the country, not just one location, and our business is scattered (which is a good thing).  We rank for service related keywords that are not tied to a location.

We do not show up for local results so our business in our immediate location is weak.  We would like to increase our local presence in search engines but I want to make sure that this will not take away from our national presence.

Will optimizing a site for local search negatively affect general rankings?

Thanks

[Damien-Anderson]

I would take advantage of local optimisation if you have the potential to do so. I don't believe it would harm your national rankings as the locally focused result and inclusion in the local search results 10 pack would surely be better targeted to your audience than a nationally focused SERP. So what you lose on national placement when you have a local result which is suitable for the SERP, you will make up with improved context.

[Thos003]

I don't believe local optimization will hurt your national rankings. I do a lot of local search and still rank fairly well for some of my keywords on a national level. I actually believe that additional listings will help your brand name. Which will most likely help your national ranking. And who doesn't want a few more links?

I would advise against over optimizing your current site with local keywords. Don't change what you currently have going. Just add to it. Add your physical address to your contact page and perhaps create an additional local optimized page.

P.S. Google already knows you have a location and they do check your domain registration.

[Trupanion]

I would have to agree with Damien and Thomas.  Local SEO is an excellent integration with your national SEO campaigns.  And as Thomas said, don't change your site to focus on local.

[maldiniii]

With directories it's all about getting links and anchor text. Will links harm a site? Never, if they have some quality. If you like the quality of directories i think you should go for it.