Using State in Page Titles

[warrenpd]

I guess this could be considered an organic question too but does anyone have an opinion on using the state in your page titles vs just the city?

 

[Linda Buquet]

My answer is... it depends.

1) On space and how much other info you need to fit in that one

2) Location. If it's a city like Portland that's in different states. I would add state for sure. But if it's a huge metro like Chicago I would not bother adding state cuz not very many folks are going to add Il to the query.

I have a title tag formula I share in my Onsite Local SEO Training that does a combo deal. But it's part of my secret sauce plus takes a lot of explaining cuz it's part of a whole strategy, so can't share it here.

 

[Phil Rozek]

@warrenpd

As Linda said, it depends. But I usually suggest including the two-letter abbreviation.

One reason is for the obvious - albeit not huge - SEO benefit.

The other big reason is that you want to don't want to miss out on any brand-name traffic. This is especially a problem when your business has a generic name like "Premium Plumbing Co." or something. There's probably one company with that name in every state. If you're the one in Illinois you'll want any customers in Illinois who search for you by name to be confident they've found the right company.

 

[Linda Buquet]

The other big reason is that you want to don't want to miss out on any brand-name traffic. This is especially a problem when your business has a generic name like "Premium Plumbing Co." or something. There's probably one company with that name in every state. If you're the one in Illinois you'll want any customers in Illinois who search for you by name to be confident they've found the right company.

Super good point Phil!