Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Hi Chris, Recommend that you read: http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2013/11/08/should-you-accept-a-custom-url-for-your-google-plus-local-page/ https://plus.google.com/+GoogleBusiness/posts/JVAgfxKHQ8u http://blumenthals.com/blog/2013/10/31/google-custom-urls-facts-tidbits-and-concerns/ I'd recommend going with adding your city/state name to the URL only if you feel reasonably certain that the business is permanently located there. If you predict a future move, it wouldn't be a good choice.

Thanks for the answers, EGOL and Andy. Really appreciate the time you both spend in here!

Hi Chris, Definitely no stupid questions here, and your question is an excellent one. I have to start by saying that I have pretty much zero faith in keyword tools these days. Neither Google nor Bing's KW tools work well for local keywords. It's depressing. Moving on, local searches are typically much more refined than what you are describing, in that they center on city names, not state names. Google will return local packs of results for queries that they determine have a city-based intent, whether or not the searcher includes a geo modifier in their query. Of course, there are instances in which someone might be searching for a statewide object (like National Parks in Colorado), but are you certain this is the way people are searching for what your company offers, or could it be that they would be looking by city names instead? This plays into whether you feel you need to compete on a statewide or city level. So, I guess I'm answering your question with another question! Is the business model truly local (city level) or is it a statewide business and perhaps, even, a virtual business?