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Nicole
Posts: 2830
Joined: 9/15/2004
From: Nambucca / Kempsey, Australia
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Very, Very quick question.... - 4/11/2006 5:50:18
For SEO purposes, is it better for an address in the footer of a site to have a state abbreviation or the full state name?
I know the accepted way is like Boston, MA but I'm wondering whether Boston, Massachusetts might be better as I'm using:
<meta name="keywords" content="business type, business terms | Boston, Massachusetts" />
...in the keywords yet the words Boston and Massachusetts don't appear at all in the content. only in the footer which says....
Business address, Boston, MA
Thanks in advance.
Nicole
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Reflect
Posts: 4769
From: USA
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RE: Very, Very quick question.... - 4/11/2006 10:12:10
I have seen people search on both. I just went through this with a person I am helping. He realized when we reviewed log files and search engine placement. I had mentioned it several times when setting the site up but he said it just didn't sink in.
I would target both. Maybe make two footers. Then alternate using each from page to page.
If not then target MA.
Go a step further and on the Bio page or company statement page list on page the term. Without much supporting on page content it could be rough to rank for.
Take care,
Brian
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Mojo
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From: Chicago
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RE: Very, Very quick question.... - 4/11/2006 11:54:50
What are more people likely to do - type in Boston, Massachusetts or Boston, MA?
I am confident that the search engines know the 50 2 letter state codes.
I agree with Brian in I would use MA and then maybe spell out the state on an about us page or something. At least, that's what works for me.
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jeepless
Posts: 213
Joined: 12/20/2003
From: Smack in the middle of USA
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RE: Very, Very quick question.... - 4/11/2006 13:46:22
I was curious about this so I did a quick test with Google. How close your search results will get using a 2-letter state abbreviation seems to depend upon the state itself. For instance, searching on just "KS" for Kansas, "MA" for Massachusetts, or "TX" for Texas yields results that are almost exclusively related to those states. However, searching on "LA" for Louisiana or "OK" for Oklahoma pulls up a lot of sites having nothing to do with those states. "LA" grabs a bunch of sites related to Los Angeles, and "OK" is even worse.
So I would tend to agree with Mojo and use a 2-state abbreviation in the footer, and also spell it out in the text somewhere.
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Mojo
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From: Chicago
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RE: Very, Very quick question.... - 4/11/2006 16:45:52
Also look to get links from the right geocentric sites - local Internet Yellow Pages, sites or forums dedicated to the location etc...
Ask yourself, what would a site do that is being natural - and focused on a location? Think Link. They would almost certainly link to other location specific sites. Colleges, Chamber of Commerce, School Boards...
Outgoing links say a lot about your site - done right, they will say a lot of *good* things.
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Nicole
Posts: 2830
Joined: 9/15/2004
From: Nambucca / Kempsey, Australia
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RE: Very, Very quick question.... - 4/11/2006 17:25:04
Thanks guys,
Was beginning to think it was a silly question for a while, so I'm sort of glad that others had been wondering also. The place name and state are actually mentioned several times on one or two pages, just not all throughout the site though except for the footer.
On another similar note, In all the time my site has been online I've only ever picked up one visitor who's typed in "Allawah web design". That's probably because of 2 reasons, 1) Allawah is such an obscure suburb in Sydney, and also 2) that "web design" and it's similarities are very hard to rank well in. The problems I have with my site in this regard are:
1. Sydney has about 5 million people, so it's still too difficult to use that.
2. The local area is known as "St George" and is often combined with a neighbouring area "St George & Sutherland Shire" both seem too complicated to be typed into search engines
3. Nobody seems to type in or refer to areas here like "Southern Sydney" so that seems out of the question.
Obviously I'm not targeting local businesses only, so I don't want to make any link or connection with a local area too specific anyway. I'm slowly redesigning my site and would like the content to be meaningful but would also like to include some localised key phrases and heading titles, just wondering how others accomplish this when they're part of an obscure suburb in a large city?
Nicole
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Mojo
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From: Chicago
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RE: Very, Very quick question.... - 4/11/2006 17:40:13
quote:
"web design" and it's similarities are very hard to rank well in
If you marketing/SEO plan is to make a few pages of good content and hope for the best I would say it's going to be impossible. If you make efforts to have quality backlinks and spread it over the next 6 to 12 months I think you could crack the top 10.
quote:
just wondering how others accomplish this when they're part of an obscure suburb in a large city?
I live in Chicago and compete well with the techniques I have been advising over the last few years.
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Mojo
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RE: Very, Very quick question.... - 4/11/2006 18:40:40
quote:
it's just that nobody is searching those terms
Right. It's a non-competitive term. I think if your going to rank for 'Sydney Web Design' you'll need professional SEO help, advice or find a Leprechaun.
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