Dumb SEO Questions

(Entry was posted by John Pitcher on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 11/19/2013).

Would you put locations into the title and H1 of EACH page?

Would you put locations into the title and H1 of EACH page that you want to rank for?

For example, if I have a home page with a title and h1 focussing on the keywords:

Builders Town1 Town2 County1

then would you also make the title and h1 of *EACH* subsequent page include the location. For example (words could be made more attractive):

New Builds Town1 Town2 County1
Kitchen Fitting Town1 Town2 County1
Bathroom Town1 Town2 County1
Loft Conversions Town1 Town2 County1
Fireplaces Town1 Town2 County1

Also, would you work the location keywords into the content of EACH page either in the first paragraph "We do loft conversions in Town1, Town 2 and County" and "We install fireplaces in Town1 Town2 and County1" (obviously, the text could be written in a more natural way!!) etc and/or in an "Areas Covered" paragraph on each page?

I know that, in the past, this type of optimising each page approach has worked well for our sites but am not sure if this is now seen as spammy or whether it is still good SEO??

PS I hope it`s OK that I`ve asked another question today? A site I`m currently working on has brought both questions to mind and I`m currently rethinking all "old" practices in line with Google`s different algo changes.
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OUR ANSWERS

Answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Panelists.

  • Tim Capper: At what point Google decides it is spammy - over 5, over 10 ? I would say you could get away with 5 but personally if i saw 10 pages structured like this, i would see spammy. Another way to think about this : Why not landing pages for the County New Builds in County1 Give an overview of the County H2 Town 1 in County Describe this town, customers in this town, areas within this town you have worked in. Then add a google map for this town. H2 Town 2 in County Describe this town, customers in this town, areas within this town you have worked in. Then add a google map for this town. Also make sure that this county is included within your Google Places (Google+ local) area that you cover. Nowadays localisation is about more than keywords in the page title. In the past you would need to do this, as that`s how localisation worked. Now it`s more about the website and company as a whole entity, rather than individual pages. I would include locations in only the Homepage page title, make sure that the company G Places page(s) are well optimised, include a G map on the contact page, and link back to your G Places page from the footer of the site. With these things in place you shouldn`t need to target the location on every page, leaving you more title space for other KW`s.
YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

  • John Pitcher: Would you put locations into the title and H1 of EACH page that you want to rank for?

    For example, if I have a home page with a title and h1 focussing on the keywords:

    Builders Town1 Town2 County1

    then would you also make the title and h1 of ;*EACH* subsequent page include the location. For example (words could be made more attractive):

    New Builds Town1 Town2 County1
    Kitchen Fitting Town1 Town2 County1
    Bathroom Town1 Town2 County1
    Loft Conversions Town1 Town2 County1
    Fireplaces Town1 Town2 County1

    Also, would you work the location keywords into the content of EACH page either in the first paragraph "We do loft conversions in Town1, Town 2 and County" and "We install fireplaces in Town1 Town2 and County1" (obviously, the text could be written in a more natural way!!) etc and/or in an "Areas Covered" paragraph on each page?

    I know that, in the past, this type of optimising each page approach has worked well for our sites but am not sure if this is now seen as spammy or whether it is still good SEO??

    PS I hope it's OK that I've asked another question today? A site I'm currently working on has brought both questions to mind and I'm currently rethinking all "old" practices in line with Google's different algo changes.
  • Simon Fryer: Hi again +John Pitcher ;.

    Nowadays localisation is about more than keywords in the page title. In the past you would need to do this, as that's how localisation worked. Now it's more about the website and company as a whole entity, rather than individual pages. ;

    I would include locations in only the Homepage page title, make sure that the company G Places page(s) are well optimised, include a G map on the contact page, and link back to your G Places page from the footer of the site. With these things in place you shouldn't need to target the location on every page, leaving you more title space for other KW's. ;
  • Tim Capper: Hi

    At what point Google decides it is spammy - over 5, over 10 ?

    I would say you could get away with 5 but personally if i saw 10 pages structured like this,  ;i would see spammy.

    Another way to think about this :

    Why not landing pages for the County

    New Builds in County1

    Give an overview of the County

    H2 Town 1 in County

    Describe this town, customers in this town, areas within this town you have worked in.

    Then add a google map for this town.

    H2 Town 2 in County

    Describe this town, customers in this town, areas within this town you have worked in.

    Then add a google map for this town.

    Also make sure that this county is included within your Google Places (Google+ local) area that you cover.
  • Emmanuel Flossie: Simply have one contact page with your geo location. After you have done start submitting your site to local and national directories. These directories will signal Google that you are in a particular location. And eventually you will see better results in your location search ranking.
  • John Pitcher: Many thanks all for useful feedback.

    +Simon Fryer ;Interesting about the Google map on the contact page - I hadn't realised that could help. Have you seen any evidence that it does or is it just best practice?

    +Tim Capper ;Many thanks - I don't think this breakdown is right for this customer, but have filed this info away for future use.

    +Emmanuel Flossie ; ; Obviously, will advise customer to get listed in some local directories - but as seo includes onpage as well as offpage aspects, I was really checking about the onpage stuff. ;
  • Simon Fryer: +John Pitcher ;it's pretty hard to isolate localisation to a single effort. In my experience it's a cumulative effect of implementing best practices as much as possible. Maps on the contact page don't detract from anything, and are helpful for users. If you provide a localized service, or serve customers at your location, it makes sense to help them find it. ;

View original question in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 11/19/2013).

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