SEO for location outside major city

[gcdtechnologies]

Hello,

I'm hoping to get some opinions on optimising a site for a client based 30 minutes outside of Dublin. Obviously there is a higher search volume for "x in Dublin" than "x in small town". What do you think the best strategies are for incorporating the "Dublin" into keywords? For example is it OK to use phrases like "x near Dublin" or "x in Greater Dublin", or do you think this is a bit misleading?

The client in question sells good online, so the customer wouldn't physically have to visit the store.

Thanks!

[Adam.Whittles]

Personally I don't see any problem with you identifying your business as Dublin based. You are clearly close enough to the city to service it so I don't see a problem here.

You often see businesses citing their location as London or as having a London office which is technically not in London but in one of the neighbouring counties such as Surrey, Middlesex, Essex or Kent. As long as you are close enough to the main city then I see no problem in claiming your location as that main city. Others may disagree but that's what I think and in practice, many businesses already do this.

[MiriamEllis]

Hello Alice,

Were you attempting to do Local SEO for this business, then the answer would be 'no, you should not attempt to optimize for Dublin as your main target.' The reason for this is that local results are based on the validity of the physical address and local phone number.

Your case sounds somewhat different, however. If no customers come to the business, then it won't qualify as a local business in the eyes of Google. Because of this, yes, you can certainly optimize for phrases like 'near Dublin' if you feel this will assist the client in some way. But, what you should not expect from the work is that you will be able to outrank true local businesses, locally, who have physical locations in Dublin and are able to take advantage of the different local options like Google+ Local.

Hope this helps!

Miriam

[gcdtechnologies]

Thanks for your replies Adam and Miriam.

You have confirmed what I was thinking already - that I could optimise for phrase like "x near Dublin" but it will be very hard to rank higher than competitors who are physically based within the city limits.

[MiriamEllis]

Glad to be of help, Alice, and good luck!

Miriam