When it comes to local SEO, having dedicated location landing pages is vital for businesses that want to rank in various geographical areas. Whether you're a small business owner running a one-location shop or you manage franchises across different cities, location pages can be a game-changer in your SEO strategy.

Why Listen to Me?

I'm passionate about local SEO and have been working with businesses of all sizes in diverse industries. From single-location plumbers to multi-location credit unions, I've dealt with complex issues and achieved substantial results. I've also presented on location pages at Moz and at many industry webinars and podcasts.

What Are Location Landing Pages?

Location landing pages serve as individualized platforms that target your primary products or services in each city you operate. For example, if your business is in Houston, Dallas, or Grand Prairie, having dedicated pages for each of these locations can significantly improve your local SEO. Notably, having a dedicated page for each service you offer is the top-ranking factor in local SEO, according to WhiteSpark.

The Impact of Location Landing Pages on Your Business

Local or location pages can affect almost every aspect of your SEO campaign. They improve your topical authority, help your business rank both organically and in Google Maps, facilitate conversions, and allow for increased personalization for local customers. The quality and authority of inbound links to your domain can enhance the impact of your location pages, making them more visible and reputable in the eyes of search engines.

Ranking Factor: The Volume of Quality Content on Service Pages and Volume of Quality Content on Entire Website are crucial for search engine rankings. More quality content means higher topical authority, which can lead to better rankings.

Do You Need a Location Page?

If your business operates in multiple locations that are not in close proximity, dedicated location pages are crucial. They help search engines understand the geographical areas you aim to serve and can set you apart in competitive markets. The distance between your business and the searcher's location is a known factor in both rankings and conversions.

CASE STUDY: Northern Trust saw a 110% increase in traffic from Google

Elements of a Good Location Landing Page

Mostly Unique Content

Your content must be tailored to each specific location, focusing on the needs of local customers. This not only improves user experience but also boosts the volume of quality content on your service pages, a key ranking factor. To influence conversions, incorporate high numerical Google ratings and positive review sentiments on your page.

CASE STUDY: BODYBAR saw a 198% increase in conversions after improving location page content.

Ranking Factor: Having a Dedicated Page for Each Service is the top-ranking factor according to WhiteSpark's study. These location-specific pages allow you to focus on each service and the geographical areas you serve, thereby improving your SEO performance.

Contact Information

Every location page should include essential details like phone number, address, and hours of operation. Making these details easily accessible can positively affect your Google My Business (GMB) completeness score, a notable conversion factor.

Ensuring Mobile-Friendliness for Optimal User Experience

In today's digital age, a significant portion of local searches occur on mobile devices. That's why it's imperative for your location pages to be mobile-friendly. A site that looks exceptional on a desktop but fails to deliver on mobile can result in a loss of potential customers. Tools like Microsoft Clarity offer valuable insights into how users interact with your website on mobile devices, highlighting areas that may need improvement for a more seamless user experience. Ensuring that your website is mobile-responsive will not only serve your audience better but also bolster your rankings, as search engines prioritize mobile-friendly sites. There are great tools available to check mobile responsiveness and mobile speed.

Ranking Factor: A Mobile-friendly/Responsive Website ranks 12th in WhiteSpark's study, reinforcing the importance of this element in your SEO strategy.

Conversion Factor: This is also the 3rd most important factor for conversions, highlighting its dual importance.

Establishing Trust Through Verifiable Signals

Trust plays a pivotal role in the user's decision-making process, and it's a factor that search engines take seriously as well. One way to instill trust is by leveraging reviews from your Google Business Profile. These reviews can be prominently displayed on your site, serving as social proof for your services. Moreover, it's advisable to maintain a presence on major review platforms frequented by your target audience.

According to Google's Quality Rater Guidelines, other trust signals include clearly displayed contact information, robust "About Us" pages, and secure browsing (indicated by HTTPS). These factors contribute to a site's E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), which is a set of criteria that search engines use to assess the quality of a web page.

Conversion Factor: High Numerical Google Ratings (e.g., 4-5) and Positive Sentiment in Review Text are the top two conversion factors. Make sure to feature these prominently on your location landing pages.

Conversion Factor: The Presence of Owner Responses to Most Reviews and the Recency of Reviews are key conversion factors. Consider integrating a section that showcases recent reviews and your responses to them.

The Power of Schema Markup in Local SEO

One of the often overlooked aspects of local SEO is the role of schema markup. While it may not directly influence your search rankings, it plays a vital role in enhancing your website's SEO by providing search engines with additional details about your business. Schema markup for local businesses comes in various forms; you can choose from generic LocalBusiness schema or opt for industry-specific types based on your business.

It's crucial to apply the most relevant LocalBusiness-type schema markup to your location pages to maximize their potential. Remember, this type of schema should be reserved solely for your location and home pages; using it indiscriminately across all your site's pages can dilute its impact.

The Significance of Internal Linking

Internal linking is more than just a good practice; it's essential for directing both users and search engines to your location-specific pages. Poorly executed internal linking can lead to the wrong pages ranking for your key local search terms. To ensure that your location pages rank well, they should be linked from topically or locally relevant content on your website.

The choice of anchor text is critical in this regard. For instance, if one of your location pages focuses on "Atlanta auto repair," then this exact phrase should be used as the anchor text for links pointing to that page. This helps search engines associate the linked page with the term, thus improving its chances of ranking for that specific local search query.

CASE STUDY: Internal linking matters

External Linking: Why It Matters

External linking, or the practice of linking out to other reputable websites, also holds significance in the realm of local SEO. Not only can it improve the trustworthiness of your website in the eyes of search engines, but it can also influence your location page's ranking and visibility. The goal here is to acquire backlinks from locally and topically relevant websites, which helps search engines like Google understand the local importance and relevance of your website. So, don't hesitate to link out to authoritative sources that can provide additional context or value to your audience, and equally, strive to gain quality backlinks to your location pages.

Ranking Factor: The Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain and the Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains can significantly impact your site's credibility and search engine rankings.

Get Started on Creating Better Location Pages

Location landing pages are indispensable tools for local SEO success. By focusing on key ranking and conversion factors like unique content, mobile-friendliness, and trust signals, you can craft location pages that not only rank well but also convert. So, are you ready to make your mark in your city today?