In meta keyword tags, in backlink text, and just overall, is it smart to pick keyphrases containing the name of your city? EG: New York Web Design Seems like this would be a great way to get to the top of the search engines for those keywords, since there's a lot less competition. Feedback?
There may be a lot less competition but there may be a reason for it. Have you done any keyword research to see if the phrase is even searched for?
It depends, if your business is web design I would say no, as you dont need to be in the same city as clients. If your business is installing outdoor pools then it would make sense to target "new york pool installations" as "pool installations" on its own wouldnt bring you traffic that was of any value, almost all of it would be out of state and not convertible into sales.
The SEO is actually for a car repair shop. They're local, and 100% of their business is located within the city. I take it from your replies, that it would make sense to optimize using the city name in this case....
Absolutely, as it would take far more money and effort to rank for "car repair shop" than it would for "Dallas car repair shop", which would bring in the targetted traffic that you need.
I disagree with the previous commenters, web design can often be a very local business. Unless you are in a position to do big corporate websites, for companies who have dealt with web designers before, local is a big deal. We do small business web design, and our customers like to meet us in person. They use the internet enough to know they need a website, but they are a long way from being comfortable with a completely virtual business relationship. They often have a crappy website where the designer has stopped returning calls / emails, and they want to know that they can call you and you'll handle things. So I say you should optimize for your city name, if you want to get local business from search. It all depends on your target market.
Well it was just an example - if you need local visitors, target the city in your keywords. If you dont, target the generic search with a lot more searches.
It can be a good way to do geo targeting your keywords. Maybe it's less competitive but it can also have a good traffic since your targeting audience in a specific location.
Dont listen anyone just use a simple logic. Do you think that anyone will search the keyphrase in this way and if yes then how many, so this will bring your website top for a keyword which will bring very few traffic but intially you can use this and get traffic but for standing long you should use this keyword tool and get idea how many visitors are using the keyword which you are targeting and its free. "https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal" Also you can search how many visitors are searching for the keyword you search for particular geographical location and for that pm me. I dont want to disclose it here. Though the tools is free but i will disclose it later.