I was doing a keyword search for these two phrases. Maryland web site design-- 1600 queries/month Maryland web designer-- 275 queries/month. It is just me, or does anyone else find it strange that the 1st phrase is searched more than the 2nd? I always thought that if you wanted to hire a designer in your state, you'd search for the 2nd and not the first. What exactly are people looking for when they input the 1st phrase? Any educated guesses? Is it something other than a web designer who lives in the state of Maryland?
This is just a guess, but perhaps people start typing before they think. So they are thinking what they need and type web site, then realise they need to be more specific and add designer. They don't bother to delete site. They might have started out with the area name at the front or they may add it later to refine their search.
so do you think if they search for "state + web site design" , they are looking for a designer or are they looking for something else with those KWs?
Another thing to consider is, unless the search term is put in quotes, the results will display any related sites that include all of the keywords - but not necessarily sequentially, or in order. I'd guess that the number of sites that include all of the keywords in the first search term is much larger than the number of sites that include all of the keywords in the second search term - but many of these sites may have nothing to do with Maryland web design. Sam