Using several localized keyword research techniques can help any business better track performance in search engine results pages (SERPs). This article describes a simple keyword localization template used to generate keywords to improve position tracking for any business.
Highlights
- Tracking certain keyword variations is important for local SEO
- Location modifiers include things like “near me” or city and State names
- A simple template can be used to generate localized keywords
- Keyword research is required for a complete list of localized keywords
- The Google Keyword Planning Tool can help discover localized keywords
Introduction
In the context of SEO, keywords are the words people type into search engines like Google. For example; the term latest news would be a keyword of interest for a news website. So would terms like political news, tech news, and maybe even terms like latest college football scores, depending on the website.
Keywords are how people find websites when using search engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website to appear more prominently in search engine results for certain keywords.
Local businesses need to take extra measures to optimize their websites. These most basic of these measures include a process called localization or geo modification. This involves adding a few extra words to primary keywords and will dramatically improve the accuracy of keyword data for any local business.
What is Localization & Geo-Modification?
Both of these terms can be used to describe keyword modification to provide more accurate tracking for local businesses. Let’s consider an example.
Business Name: Rochelle’s Pizza
Location: Austin, Texas
Keywords: Pizza Restaurant, Pizza Delivery, and Pizza
In this example, Rochelle’s Pizza is a local restaurant that serves and delivers pizza. It has a dining room as well as a delivery service. The keywords listed above are the three most related to the type of customers it wishes to track in local search.
These keywords are seed keywords that describe core interests related to Rochelle’s Pizza’s business. Tracking common variations of any keyword can help local businesses better understand their target market.
Example of Localized Keywords
Check out the suggestions offered by Google Ads’ Keyword Planner Tool (free) for the keywords pizza, pizza delivery, and pizza restaurant limited to the Austin, Texas area.
I’ve highlighted several keywords that express localized intent. These keywords contain localization modifiers that express intent towards local products and services.
Localized and/or geo-modified keywords are essential parts of any local SEO tracking campaign. The good news is there incredibly easy to get set up!
Localized Keyword Formula
Each city will have some unique geo-modifiers but there are some common to any location. Here’s a simple formula to generate localized keywords for any local business:
- [service] near me
- [service] [location]
- [location] [service]
Inserting primary location and service keywords into this simple template will help any local business better track their website’s performance among local searchers. Really, it’s that easy! Let’s consider some examples of what the keywords this template can generate:
Keyword: Pizza
Location: Austin, Texas
Localized Keywords:
- Pizza near me
- pizza austin texas
- austin texas pizza
Breaking down the [location] modifier into [city][state] can generate even more relevant keywords. This template should be applied to any local business’ primary keyword tracking data. The keywords generated using this approach will help improve reporting data completeness for a business’ presence in search engine results pages.
Review
Local SEO has a lot of overlap with national SEO but also several key differences. One of the most polarizing differences is the relevance (and importance) of localized and geo-modified keywords to local business SEO. The template mentioned in this article can help improve keyword tracking for any local business. It does not offer a complete account however, and location-specific keyword research should always be used to ensure the most accurate tracking data is being recorded.
