Think SEO content marketing, and you may picture blog articles and regular web content. Some specialist industries, like trades and hospitality, may also include service landing pages. However, a third option is often neglected: location pages for SEO.
Whether you're a local business or cater to a wide region, targeting SEO keywords related to your services and locations is critical to search engine success. In fact, it's one of the number 1 ways to boost your company's visibility in local search results.
What do local landing pages look like? What kind of keywords should you target? And how should you write location pages for SEO? We're answering all your questions below.
In this article:
What is Location Page SEO?
A location page, also known as a local SEO city landing page or service area page, is a targeted web page that advertises your services to a specific locale. Such pages optimise for local keywords, e.g., "best hotels in New York" or "SEO content marketing in Manchester."
For local businesses, they should always form a foundational pillar of your SEO strategy. Consider including your business's name, address, and contact details on the page – even better if you could include a contact form.
How small-scale you target is up to you. Usually, businesses target major cities if they cover a large geographic area. But, if you're more local, creating a landing page for each neighbourhood is an excellent idea.
For instance, I've created local landing pages for an appliance repair company in Texas. Working with a technical SEO company, I targeted each major neighbourhood in Dallas-Fort Worth. It worked wonders!
Types of Local SEO Landing Pages
Expanding a little on the fundamental concept, you could try several variations of local SEO landing pages. Consider these:
City-Specific Pages: These are created to target specific cities. For example, a business operating in multiple cities may create a separate landing page for each city to provide tailored content.
Service Area Pages: Service area pages can be created for businesses that cover a wider area, like a county or multiple counties. They are used to target audiences within those specific service areas.
Location Pages: These are landing pages created for businesses with multiple physical locations. Each page will provide location-specific information such as address, hours, and directions.
Event Pages: These pages are specific to local events the business is involved with or sponsoring. They might contain information about the event, where it's held, when it's taking place, and how the business is involved.
Product/Service Specific Pages: These landing pages are tailored for the local audience and the business's specific product or service. The idea is to provide localized information about a product/service that appeals to the local audience.
Localized Blog Posts: These are not landing pages in the traditional sense but can be used as such. They are blog posts written with local SEO in mind, focusing on local keywords and topics of interest to the local community.
Who Can Benefit From Local Landing Pages?
Not sure if SEO location pages are for you? Here are some common businesses that could benefit:
Restaurants and Cafes: With varying menus, specials, and hours between locations, local landing pages can provide accurate information to customers.
Retail Chains: Businesses with multiple store locations can use local landing pages to provide specific information like opening hours, store-specific promotions, or events.
Healthcare Providers: Clinics, hospitals, and individual practitioners can provide specific location-based information like services offered, practitioners' availability, and contact information.
Real Estate Agencies: Local landing pages can highlight properties within specific neighbourhoods or cities and provide relevant local market information.
Home Service Businesses: Businesses such as plumbers, electricians, landscapers, or cleaners can use local landing pages to target service areas and specific services they provide.
Law Firms: Law practices with multiple locations or a wide service area can benefit from local landing pages that outline specific services and legal expertise for each location.
Automotive Dealerships and Services: Dealerships can provide information about available inventory, services, or specials at specific locations.
Fitness Centres and Gyms: These businesses can provide location-specific class schedules, amenities, membership information, and more.
Event Venues: Local landing pages can highlight available facilities, booking information, and upcoming events for each location.
Hotels and BnBs: These businesses can use local landing pages to showcase amenities, available rooms, rates, and location-specific attractions.
How to Create SEO Location Pages
Convinced yet? If so, we will explore step-by-step how to create SEO landing pages. Get your notebooks ready – let's begin.
Step 1. Research Local Keywords
No SEO strategy is complete without your keywords. Depending on how big a location you're targeting, you may be able to identify keywords using a trusted keyword planner.
If you can't, a reliable formula is to combine a service you offer with your target location. For instance, "washing machine repair in St. Ives" or "infrared spa in Edinburgh." These keywords ensure Google understands your service and location – meaning the dozens of people searching for these services annually see your location page at the top of the results.
Step 2. Choose Your Locations
Now, the simple part: list all the locations you want to cover. Remember, there's a sweet spot you want to hit. Think about what your potential customers are likely to search for.
For example, a chain of restaurants should target each city they're in, while a local repair company should take neighbourhoods within a city. If you're a national bank, you could even create a location page for each state – as I did for a major cannabis bank in the US.
Steps 3. Ensure Your Content is Unique
A rookie mistake is to create boilerplate content and swap out the keywords. Don't do this! Google penalises duplicated content. While following the same basic format is okay, ensure each page is engaging and different.
Remember: every sentence should add value. Cut the fluff and get to the point. Include information about your service, the local area, and how your business can help.
Step 4. Include Local Information
No local landing page is complete without key information like the business name, address, and phone number (known as NAP). You could also include other location-specific details about the location.
As we just said, avoid writing the same information again and again and again. Say something about that location.
Step 5. Optimise Meta Data
Your meta title, meta description, and image alt text should all be tailored toward your local area. You'll not only outcompete your competition in terms of SEO, but it's a clear indicator to potential customers of who you are and where you're based.
Step 6. Embed a Google Map
Go one step further and embed a Google Map window in your location page showing where you're located. It's a genius way to skyrocket your local SEO ranking.
HubSpot has a brilliant guide teaching you how to embed Google Maps in HTML. Of course, you can always ask a professional web designer to help you with the task for a one-off.
Step 7. Include Customer Reviews
Social proof, or customer reviews, are like gold dust. Consider: every customer transaction is built on trust. The sooner you can demonstrate competence, the sooner they'll hire your services or buy your product.
Use customer reviews, 5-star ratings, and testimonials to showcase your work. Even better if you can get reviews from prominent local individuals.
Step 8. Build Links
Now, it's time to build your backlinks. Backlinks are links from other sites to your own. They're much harder to generate for location pages. However, because you have very little competition, just one or two (from trusted web pages) can do wonders for your page ranking.
Also, consider adding internal links – for example, link any reference to your service to the specific service pages. This not only helps users navigate your site but it also helps search engine bots find and index your location page.
Step 9. Monitor Your Page Performance
Local SEO landing pages aren't a build-and-ignore task. Rather, you want to check in every few weeks to see how they perform. Look at metrics like bounce rate, time spent on a page, and conversions to see what's working and what isn't.
Continue to optimise your pages over time to maximise their performance – and ensure they're earning you as many leads as possible.
Final Thoughts
SEO location pages are a powerful tool to boost your local presence and visibility. They enable you to target specific regions effectively, and with a well-crafted strategy, you can greatly improve your local SEO performance.
If you need help implementing local SEO landing pages, our team at Impeccable Writing is ready to assist. Let's connect and discuss your needs in a free consultation.
We aim to help you navigate the digital landscape with ease. Book your free consultation today, and let's make your local SEO efforts pay off!
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