Search engine optimization is all about getting the right persons to your website at the right time. To do SEO properly, you of course need to “optimize” your website for the keywords that matter most.

In addition to the industry niche/business focus/specialty that your website is all about, another layer of targeted content that you may want to consider adding is that of the geographical layer.

In the days of the Internet and the cyberspace that it enables, many of us feel that it is less and less important to target local people – those who live and work nearby. And, depending upon the type of business, this may be true.

Targeting prospects in a particular city, region, province or state is called geo-targeting, which is short for geographical targeting.

The question is: should you geo-target? To answer in a word: it depends. Now, clearly, if you run a local service business such as an HVAC company, a plumbing company, or a pest control firm, geo-targeting is a no-brainer: you have a limited radius from your offices from which you can make house calls. But, what about printing companies, OSHA consulting firms, or online booksellers? These businesses may not necessarily want to geo-target, since theoretically their customers could exist almost anywhere in the country or even world.

Still, even for these non-geography-dependent businesses, geo-targeting can be a wise move: especially if you are just launching your efforts. Why? Two resaons:

a. even in the 21st century, being local does still matter to some people; why not attract those clients who are looking specifically for a local provider who does what you do?

b. geo-targeting can make it easier to compete in the search rankings, since there is less competition for “printer austin” or “osha consultant los angeles” than for “printer” or “osha consultant” alone.

If you’re still not sure what to do, consider geo-targeting some of your internal site pages. Then, if your business grows fast enough and you feel like showing geo-specific content on your site makes you seem like small potatoes or just “too local,” at that point you can always remove the geo-specific terms. In the meantime, why not try to get the best of both worlds, if you can?