"service city,state" vs "service"

Greetings BHW -

Need to clear up some confusion on a type of 'locale' based SEO. I have a new client opening up a restaurant soon and just started researching their SEO efforts.

My question is which is better "mexican restaurant" vs "mexican restaurant chicago" in regards to Google?

Will they still rank the site if it is targeted for just the "service" or will the site perform better as "service city state"?

Our local SEO guy says Google will apply the "locale" themselves and that it is better to target the broader niche "service"? I wanted to some other opinions on that strategy.

Appreciate your input.

it's probably easier to go to for the local search, unless you think your main keyword has no competition. I don't think Google discriminates between keywords since, in this case, there's different intent. Whereas one is specifically asking for Mexican restaurants in Chicago, the other is more general (could be searching for one or learning about them). My advice? Focus on local then build out to the broader term. You already would have the keyword in your local phrase so that should help.

Thanks for the reply Clin407. I agree with your approach and that has always been my normal strategy.

I was thrown off by our new SEO guy telling me that Google appends the 'locale' based on where the user is searching from. So if I'm searching in the Chicago vicinityfor "mexican restuarant" I will get served sites optimized for "mexican restaurants" and reach a larger base than just "mexican restaurants chicago".

I think we might set up some A/B testing on this theory to get a definitive answer. I'll post back on our findings.

i have been targeting city names too. but i have heard its not needed if you have your address on your site.