The alternating stop-band characteristics of periodic structures have been widely used for narrow band vibration control applications. The objective of this work is to extend this idea for broadband excitations. Toward this end, we seek to synthesize a longitudinal and a flexural periodic structure having the largest fraction of the frequencies falling in the attenuation bands of the structure. Such a periodic structure when subjected to broadband excitation has minimal transmission of the response away from the source of excitation. The unit cell of such a periodic structure is constituted of two distinct regions having different inertial and stiffness properties. We derive guidelines for suitable selection of inertial and stiffness properties of the two regions in the unit cell such that the maximal frequency region corresponds to attenuation bands of the periodic structure. It is found that maximal dissimilarity between the neighboring regions of the unit cell leads to maximal attenuating frequencies. In the extreme case, it is found that more than 98% of the frequencies are blocked. For seismic excitations, it is shown that large, finite periodic structures corresponding to the optimal unit cell derived using the infinite periodic structure theory has significant vibration isolation benefits in comparison to a homogeneous structure or an arbitrarily chosen periodic structure. © 2019 by ASME.