ODP Question - How Important is the ODP Geo relationship?

I have just added the NOODP Meta

[kidder]

One of our ODP listings is about 6 years old but the title is dated and no longer matches the updated site and we have expanded so the location no longer applies. I wanted to know if adding the NOODP meta tag will have any effect (one way or the other) on GEO targeted searches? Or will it just knock out the ODP title in Google and let it run with what is current to the site? Does anyone know of any side effects with all this buzz about local searches etc I thought it might be worth asking the question.

[Robert Charlton]

I wanted to know if adding the NOODP meta tag will have any effect (one way or the other) on GEO targeted searches? Or will it just knock out the ODP title in Google and let it run with what is current to the site?

kidder - It's not likely to have any effect at all. The NOODP meta tag just changes the title and description returned if Google can't find the information on your site. It doesn't affect inbound link context, which is where a link from a local area of ODP, or a title link from ODP, would have an effect.

What's most likely to affect the snippet returned is...

- first, your meta description
- and then, your onpage content.

If you do want to rank on the local term as well as on more general searches, it's a good idea to have some location references on your page.

[kidder]

Thanks Robert - We should see the impact of the change if any in week or so. I've always been curious about the "weight" of the ODP backlink and it's effect on rankings. The problem is now trying to determine the effect of any changes considering how mixed the Google search results have been of late.

[Robert Charlton]

I've always been curious about the "weight" of the ODP backlink and it's effect on rankings.

kidder - If I'm understanding you correctly, this should not be affecting the weight of the ODP backlink at all. It's just affecting what title is being displayed for a specific query that your current title doesn't match as well as Google feels the ODP title does.