Can you rank outside of your city?

by grey38
15 replies
I've got a roofer who based his company in a city of 2000 people... We're already ranking in G+ local but I'm not holding our breath for phone calls. Can we still rank in surrounding cities? or is that unlikely? They ask if we service other cities and areas, why would they ask that if we wouldn't rank in them? Also the more cities I say we service, does that make us weaker to rank in surrounding cities if we are able to rank in surrounding cities?
#city #rank
  • Profile picture of the author grey38
    Well I'm just trying to rank for goole+ local. Are you saying I cannot show up in other cities in + local? If that's the case wouldnt it be easier to rank videos rather than entire websites? I'm not opposing you, I'm just brainstorming
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  • Profile picture of the author grey38
    Well because ranking them organically, I feel will be a waste of time if +local is there. People won't scroll below that for an organic search. I guess video is my only other option here.

    It could be that +local asks you who you service just so if people go to your places, you're able to tell them all the areas you service. Seems kind of contradicting for them to do that, and then they won't even rank you in those other cities.
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    • Profile picture of the author ryadams
      I disagree that Google users won't scroll past the +local results. While Google local results are important, most users still don't understand/trust them just yet. Most will still scroll to get to the actual SERP results they are use to seeing. I am not saying Google Places results aren't being used, but with my clients we have never focused on this as standalone strategy

      I would not try to get multiple local places listings as your account will most likely get stopped out pretty quick by Google. You need actual physical addresses in each location you are targeting anyway for Google Places, and its just not worth it.

      My suggestion is to build out multiple sub domains or city targeted pages within the site you are trying to market. Depending on the quality of the content and geo-targeting you do with it, you should be able to rank quickly for phrases that are not too competitive. We have built out massive locally targeted sites this way and as long as you provide content/service that is of value, you should never have a problem ranking and staying there. A little back linking to move up the listings may be necessary.
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      Ry Adams
      Internet Marketing Entrepreneur

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  • Profile picture of the author lint631
    Just wondering if anyone has any other input on this? If I have a client outside of Atlanta can I rank them in Google local for "keyword atlanta"?
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  • Profile picture of the author grey38
    This was an old post, and I'll be able to answer this for you now. If you're referring to organic SEO, it can be done. If you're referring to Google Local, it's extremely unlikely unless there are 0 companies in the other city.
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    • Profile picture of the author lint631
      Originally Posted by grey38 View Post

      This was an old post, and I'll be able to answer this for you now. If you're referring to organic SEO, it can be done. If you're referring to Google Local, it's extremely unlikely unless there are 0 companies in the other city.
      Thanks for the response! I thought this thread would be dead.

      So if I wanted to rank a plumber from Sandy Springs GA (not far outside of Atlanta) in Atlanta's Google local listing for "atlanta plumber" then it would be difficult? Even if the listings there aren't optimized at all (no reviews, unclaimed listing, ect...) and you can tell the websites listed don't have any SEO going on.

      If the answer is no then what would be a good keyword strategy for a Sandy Springs Plumber? Thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author betterwtveter
    I am with ry adams on getting sub domains with city names linked to it to make it easier. Other than that, I ran a construction company myself and blogging helped a ton as well. I know I mention this a lot because I am a blog guy. But if you make articles about jobs that you have done, place keywords of targeted cities that you would like to target and place those words in your blog. Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author grey38
    No it won't rank. The only way it would if there weren't any companies in the spots in that city. You could find one decently good keyword and try to rank a couple posts and a video on that page. Too bad they're not in Atlanta, cause there's 430k people there. That would be amazing to rank them on Google Local there, for them and you.

    I recommend also, find an atlanta plumber and do Google Local with them.
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    • Profile picture of the author lint631
      Originally Posted by grey38 View Post

      No it won't rank. The only way it would if there weren't any companies in the spots in that city. You could find one decently good keyword and try to rank a couple posts and a video on that page. Too bad they're not in Atlanta, cause there's 430k people there. That would be amazing to rank them on Google Local there, for them and you.

      I recommend also, find an atlanta plumber and do Google Local with them.
      Thanks. So doing local SEO for small cities/towns might not be the best way to go at it. I more populated area with competition that isn't tough seems to be the perfect formula. I guess finding an atlanta plumber that isn't on the first page is the best way to attack it.

      Just starting local SEO and I have a few potential clients right outside of major areas. It sucks that I can't get them ranked there but I guess that's the point of local results. Even though they are only 15 miles or so outside of the city! I like the idea of ranking them on that page with a video because I'll be incorporating video into their campaign.
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  • Profile picture of the author grey38
    You can still rank them organically. "atlanta plumber" gets 880 searches per month.

    So go ahead and rank a video, or rank for keywords where Google Local listings don't show up.

    It's not as many searches as you'd get from Google Local, but it's still 880 people.
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  • Profile picture of the author lint631
    That is true. So you're using exact matches? I often use broad matches for local searches. I've heard opinions about both for local searches. I guess with experience I will learn.
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  • Profile picture of the author grey38
    You don't want to use broad. Broad means that any part of the keyword is in a related keyword, so it's very inaccurate.

    Exact had 880, so you can expect to rank for more than that if there's not much competition like you said. You can even use phrase sometimes, but if you want absolute bottom answers, exact will give you the minimum.
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  • Profile picture of the author stone2010
    Typically depending on the competition you shouldn't target cities with more than a 1-5 mile radius for Google + Local, before you could've target up to 10-15 miles but seems like that gap is closing in.
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