How many suburbs should I target?

Start with the three to five you genuinely service most. A thin page for a suburb you rarely visit helps nobody.

Is keyword stuffing still a problem?

Yes. Repetition makes pages harder to read for people and offers no advantage with either search or answer engines.

Should I use my capital city or my suburb?

Both, in the right places. Suburb in the page title and first paragraph, city where it reads naturally.

Local Keyword Research

Local keyword research means identifying the exact phrases and place names your customers actually type when they're looking for what you sell.

Why it matters

Most local searches combine a service with a place: emergency plumber Richmond, wedding photographer Byron Bay, physio Newtown. If those phrases don't appear naturally on your pages, you're relying on a search engine to make the connection for you.

How to find your phrases

Type your service into Google and read the autocomplete suggestions — those are real queries.
Check the "People also ask" box on the results page.
Open your Google Business Profile performance report. It shows the searches that surfaced your listing.
Ask three recent customers what they typed to find you. The answers are usually blunter than anything you'd write.
Read competitors' page titles. Not to copy — to see which suburbs they've claimed and which they've missed.

How to apply it

Use plain service language. Emergency plumber Richmond, not residential fluid solutions.
Place your main suburb in the page title, the <h1>, the first paragraph, and image alt text. Once each is enough.
Build a dedicated page per major suburb — /plumber-richmond, /plumber-fitzroy — rather than one generic "areas we serve" list. A specific page can answer specifically.
Use the suburb names locals use. Inner West, Northern Beaches, Mornington Peninsula — not just the capital city.

Common mistakes

Industry jargon nobody searches for
One "areas we serve" page listing forty suburbs
Repeating a suburb name so often the page reads badly
Targeting only the capital city when your customers search by suburb

Quick answers

How many suburbs should I target?: Start with the three to five you genuinely service most. A thin page for a suburb you rarely visit helps nobody.
Is keyword stuffing still a problem?: Yes. Repetition makes pages harder to read for people and offers no advantage with either search or answer engines.
Should I use my capital city or my suburb?: Both, in the right places. Suburb in the page title and first paragraph, city where it reads naturally.