Any time I get a project that involves SEO copywriting using local keyphrases I always ask one question of the person who conducted the keyword research.
“Did your research return the exact phrase ‘plastic surgery Wyoming’ or did you add a geo-modifier to the end?”
Most of the time, keyword researchers will find a list of terms they suggest such as ‘plastic surgery’ for instance. Then, to make it a local phrase, they add what’s referred to as a geo-modifier (the name of a town, city, state, country, etc.). Here’s what I’ve found from experience.
You have more freedom if geo-modifiers were added. That’s because you don’t have to keep the location with the keyphrase. You can use “plastic surgery” in some sentences and use “Wyoming” in others. But you do not need to use the entire term “plastic surgery Wyoming.”
However, if the research showed that people are actually typing in the exact phrase “plastic surgery Wyoming” you’ll need to do your best to keep the phrase precisely as it is.
This happens a good deal with real estate terms. They almost always actually include the names of cities. “Homes for sale Boston, MA” or “Charlotte, NC real estate” or whatnot. Those would need to stay as-is.
The next time you’re handed local phrases to use in your copy, ask the researcher whether s/he has added geo-modifiers. If they have, you’ll have a little more wiggle room.
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Karon, I’ve read much of your work and perhaps you’ve covered this in the rare article I might have missed. But with geo-modifiers that are abbreviated, how do you work this naturally into the text. For example, I have a clients whose major keywords seem to incorporate MA. Especially locals who seem more comfortable with using abbreviations for their state. Could you sometime touch on this topic with your blog. Or provide a link if you already have in an article or entry.
Do you mean the actual researched keyphrase includes “MA” or that you’re adding a geo-modifier and the client prefers “MA” to “Massachusetts”?
Yes, the keywords that people use include MA. For example a homebuilder I’m working with hopes to rank for “anytown, MA homebuilder.” And the analytics show that people do indeed type in this phrase. It’s also very competitive on Google adwords.
Well, for a couple of the instances where you insert the phrase, using it just as it is would be fine. I’m from South Carolina and I write using both SC and South Carolina so it would be perfectly natural to use MA. However, in other instances you’ll want to get more creative. See this article (http://www.marketingwords.com/articles/101306_longkeyphrases.html) for one tip on how to break up geo phrases.