Target Cities in Google Search
Getting a business to show up on the first page of Google in the main town the business is located in is rather straightforward and easy process. What isn’t so clear, is how to get ranked in other cities if the business is not located there, or in other words target cities Google search. It certainly can be desirable to have listings in neighboring towns that are serviced, but unfortunately Google only looks at the address and shows results accordingly.
Of course, one could go out and get addresses in these different towns and have the business set up there, but that might not always be practical for everyone. It is necessary to have an address there to be able to be picked up by Google, and there are places where addresses can be rented. This is a good strategy to approach if it can be accomplished. Aim for an address on a busy commercial street with it’s own distinct number or suite designation.
There are some other things that can be done to rank in these towns and cities that the business is not located in. One of the best ways to get the attention of Google is to offer some content in relation to the city that you want to show up in search for. It’s important to remember that without the keyword phrase of the particular city you want to rank for there’s no way google bots can pick up your site and put it there.
The technique that works best is to create new pages that have the name of the service or product in the city together in the name. On that page you want to describe what it is like in that town or city, i.e. the population, climate, when it was established and other information about it. Adding info on the service provided and how it might be done in that city is a good idea.
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Next, it’s important to link to this new page from the footer of the website. This ensures a good access point from all pages of the website to this new page and reference to the city and services provided. Now Google has something to anchor onto and grab in a good route to follow to get to it.
One of the final goals to accomplish will be to get some back links from businesses in those local areas of the cities desired to rank in. If you can’t get links from businesses in those particular areas, at least aim to get new links with the keyword text of the service and the city in it. Getting 5, 10, 15, 20 or even 50 links will make a huge difference in how the website rings in those local cities. Ultimately the way to get ranked is to flesh out in words and pages the whole presence of the business in the desired area. Heavy disclaimer: without a local address, competing against locally ranked businesses is going to be very very challenging. It’s highly recommended to seek local address if possible.
