Hello, this is John Locke, and today we're answering a question.
This comes to us from Reddit.
The question goes, "I recently talked with a SEO consultant and they advised me that
I would be able to rank for some of the local search terms in my area if I added 'near me'
to the title tag.
So, in other words, if I was based in Atlanta and I'm trying to rank for veterinarian, if
I put 'veterinarian near me' in the title tag, that would allow me to rank.
So the question is, do you think that that's a solid SEO strategy, yes or no?"
Okay, so here's my opinion on this.
Google has other signals besides the title tag to know where you're at.
For example, if you have a Google My Business profile, then it's going to know what city
you're in.
If you're trying to rank in the three pack map that's at the very top of the search results,
where they list three businesses, a lot of that is going to be dictated by the proximity
of the searcher to your location.
So if there's 18 different veterinarians in the area and they're closer to some other
ones, then you're not going to be in the map.
But if there's only three or four or five in the area, and you're one of those highly
rated ones, then it's probably pretty likely that you're going to be in the map.
So what I see in a lot of the Google search results pages when it comes to local SEO,
usually how the page is laid out is ... Let's say if you're doing any type of local search,
whether it's, we'll just say, "electrician in Plano, Texas," or if you're living in Plano,
Texas and you're searching for, "electrician near me."
Usually how it goes is, the three pack map, there will be a Yelp landing page with the
top people that they rate, whatever business it is, at the top.
Usually up near the top, there's going to be what Google considers to be the most trustworthy,
or the closest to the center of the city, or the biggest branded result for whatever
that search is.
Whether it's electrician, manufacturing plant, veterinarian, pet sitter, iPhone repair, it
wouldn't really matter.
So the map, Yelp, whatever the biggest brand is.
If this is a niche industry and there is another place where things can be listed, for example,
if it's auto repair, it might be on RepairPal, there might be a landing page, or BenzShops
or BimmerShops, something like that.
You might also see on page one, a Thumbtack landing page, a lot of local SEO things end
up there.
But you'll see a bunch of mixed results.
But no, adding, "near me," to the title tag is not going to improve your chances.
I think a lot of people get hung up on this, this is more of a SEO tactic, it's more of
a trick, it's more of a way to trick Google into ranking you higher when you maybe normally
wouldn't deserve to be there.
But no, Google has tons of information.
They have your address from all of your other profiles, like Facebook, Google My Business,
Yelp, your own website.
I'm sure city records, your DBA, anything like that.
So they know where you're at.
I would advise against that.
What I would advise you to do is, put the city and the state abbreviation in the title
tag.
If you're really targeting just people in one city or one metro area, then on the home
page or whatever page it is that you're targeting, put your brand name, what you do, and the
city and the state abbreviation.
That would be a lot more effective than putting, "near me," in the title tag.
Hope that answers your question.
This is John Locke for Lockedown Design & SEO.
We help industrial and manufacturing companies with SEO so they get more RFQs.
If you have a SEO question, leave it in the comments below.
We'll answer it out in a future video.
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Until next time, peace.