9 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
9 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

City name in h1 tag. What is your experience?

by tzilla
8 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I'm curious about whether others use keyword + city name in h1 tags when optimizing pages for local search. For example, if you sell Blue Widgets only in Portland, do you do:

<h1>Blue Widgets Portland</h1>

I know that the h1 tag is only one small aspect of on-page ranking factors but it all adds up and am wondering if others still do it. Sometimes it seems awkward if you read it out loud.

Thanks.
#city #city name headings #city name in h1 #experience #local optimization #tag
  • Profile picture of the author EvcRo
    That's pretty basic knowledge. Everybody puts city name in H1 tags if they target city searches.
    Signature
    Looking for business partners or clients ? try https://businessconnect.directory/ , a business directory actively adding moderated content. Submit your business / website / service today !
    SEO Marketplace - SEO & Internet Marketing Products and Services for 10+ Years
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9016199].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author tzilla
      [QUOTE=EvcRo;9016199]That's pretty basic knowledge.[ /QUOTE]

      Thanks. Fair enough. I'm guaging others' experience. Sometimes I find it sounds a bit spammy to do it.

      Actually, when doing searches for companies who sell widgets in whatever city, I frequently see no city name in h1 for ranking pages. Many. So I'm wondering if people are doing it less because of fears of being Google slapped for over optimization. Google does have other ways to assess the business location and area served. That's why I'm asking.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9016211].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author anoopsparx
    Not only add in H1 but focus in content and sub heading. Create the local listing in Google and Other local listing sites. you will easily gain the ranking.
    Signature
    We Make your Business Better, Let's Connect and Share your Requirements
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9017766].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
    A client of mine is doing a similar thing, but listing their resellers. Reseller list might be actually providing a better value for a potential visitor so it's easy to see why it might rank high.

    Page titles are "city + type of business". If you search for "capital city + type of business" they're surpassed only by the most well-known local yellow pages web directory. They're ranking high for other major cities too. This is highly competitive sector of B2B business, although I must say that the search traffic is relatively weak for any query.
    Signature
    Links in signature will not help your SEO. Not on this site, and not on any other forum.
    Who told me this? An ex Google web spam engineer.

    What's your excuse?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9017857].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Hplglobal
    Including city name in between the h tags is very common. You may also have experience that many used even within their domain names. So there is no worries to include your city name by using the highlight tags. Secondly use your city name within your contents too to optimize the specific region you are required to focus on.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9017934].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
    Why not? it can't hurt you at all, do that and after that promote your content, most people will use your title as anchor text, furthermore this will help you to rank for your local keyuwoprd without overoptimizing the content
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9018539].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
      Originally Posted by patadeperro View Post

      Why not? it can't hurt you at all
      Of course it can. If you're trying to rank for place names that have nothing to do with your site or start stuffing them Google might just call BS on that. However, my gut feeling is that you need to go seriously on the spam side to get slapped for just city name.
      Signature
      Links in signature will not help your SEO. Not on this site, and not on any other forum.
      Who told me this? An ex Google web spam engineer.

      What's your excuse?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9020401].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author KristinaRoy
    I think placing the following code in header section may be helpful for you, if you want to target Portland visitors.

    <meta name="distribution" content="Portland" />
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9020461].message }}

Trending Topics