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Okay, got it. That's what I figured, but SEO tools are limited to not take this variation into account, so I wasn't sure.

Well, even the Moz staff/associates don't seem to be agreeing on this one - it's definitely an unusual situation. There were some calls to try a .ca domain, but since you see so many .com's ranking, we're not sure that's going to have much of an impact. Part of the problem is that real estate is a really competitive market for SEO, and many of the agents targeting Phoenix-related properties will also be local. My guts says that, if your client can only take on Canadian customers, then push the Canadian "local" signals hard, and don't worry about the Phoenix signals as much (except for content and keyword targeting).

We were discussing him getting a temporary office in whatever city he wants to be found for, so then this would work with Google places, etc? If it was a real physical address and local phone number, then yes it would work with Google Places. I would suggest using Google for whatever address you plan to obtain and examine the results. I like to obtain addresses zoned for business which appear as businesses on Google. Also, how could he also be ranked for a city in Phoenix, like Scottsdale? Would we have to do the same thing as say Tucson or LA? The website would need to be relevant for the area for which he wishes to rank. Relevance can be established in numerous ways: physical address as suggested above mentions of the locations on the site testimonials from clients in the area links from the areas involved anchor text using the area names There are other means but the above area the major ideas. each page needs to rank for it's own city right? You can't have the home page targeting both one or more cities without taking a hit in the SEs on each city? Actually a single page can rank for multiple areas. It's up to you how you wish to present the site. For major areas which are far away such as Chicago and LA, you may want a specific page for those areas. For other Arizona areas, you may wish to continue using the home page. It really depends on your competitiveness and resources.

Hi there, I think I have responded to an older inquiry of yours a few months ago, so I thought I'd chime in here. The other 2 responses (thanks guys) mention the on-page SEO - but you will also need to start attracting some .ca links to help gain some visibility in the area. It's tough because this is a U.S.-based site, with a U.S. TLD and address, so getting international visibility is tough - it's pretty hard to geographically target organic searches without the physical presence. Links will definitely help. But if it were me - I would strongly consider PPC as well.