In the digital era, the importance of location-based marketing is on the rise, and location pages play a significant role. Location pages are specific web pages on your website that provide information about your business across different geographical areas you serve. They are packed with relevant information about your business in a particular area, including address, operating hours, contact information, and localized content. This aids in improving your site’s visibility on search engines when potential customers perform localized searches, creating better customer engagement, and ultimately driving more leads and conversions.
At BSPE Legal Marketing, we understand the potential of location pages and how they can be leveraged to boost your online presence. Our digital marketers help create and optimize location pages to help law firms attract and engage with their local clients. Our team conducts thorough competitor research to understand how your competitors are using their own location pages and creates a plan to do it better than the competition. This often means getting more granular, and understanding how Google breaks up a specific location in its algorithm (county, city, or neighborhood level). Partnering with us means utilizing location pages as a powerful tool in your SEO plan, leading to increased visibility and more opportunities for growth. Schedule a free, live, SEO audit today to learn more https://ldmk.io/bsplegalmarketing/30min.
Overview of Location Pages
In search engine optimization (SEO), location pages have emerged as a critical tool for businesses, particularly those providing services across multiple geographic locations. For instance, if an attorney practices in two counties, and they are both competitive, it is important to not only have a physical presence in both counties, but an online presence in both as well. This means establishing two different Google Business Profiles, and a minimum of two separate location pages. The first GBP will link to the first location page, and the second to the second location page. Of course, in very competitive counties you may want far more location pages, to target towns and areas. In some areas, we even have a location page for every single neighborhood!
Location pages essentially serve as a ‘homepage’ for each additional area a business targets. They are tailored to attract local search engine traffic, thereby playing a pivotal role in a business’s Local SEO strategy.
Local SEO for Location Pages
For businesses targeting multiple geographic areas, optimizing location pages for local SEO is essential. These tailored pages should focus on location-specific searches, and implementing several key strategies can enhance their visibility and effectiveness.
- Integrate Local Keywords: Research and use terms that potential customers in the area are searching for. These may include city or neighborhood names combined with your services. Incorporate these keywords naturally within the content, meta descriptions, and titles of the location pages to enhance relevance in local search queries.
- Create Google My Business (GMB) Listings: Setting up a Google My Business (GMB) listing for each location is highly beneficial. These listings provide essential information directly in search results, like business hours, contact information, and directions. A well-maintained GMB listing can improve your site’s visibility and increase the likelihood of appearing in Google’s local “3-pack,” which prominently displays the top three local business listings related to the search.
- Encourage Customer Reviews: Actively encouraging customer reviews can significantly impact your local SEO efforts. Reviews not only build trust among potential customers but also signal to search engines that your business is legitimate and valued by the community. Responding to reviews, whether positive or negative, further engages your audience and demonstrates active customer service.
By focusing on these strategies, businesses can effectively optimize their location pages for local searches, attracting more local traffic and boosting their overall online presence.
Benefits of Using Location Pages
The benefits of employing location pages in a business’s SEO strategy are manifold.
First, these pages enable businesses to capitalize on local search traffic. A user in Manhattan might include “midtown” in their search. Having a location page for midtown Manhattan, not just Manhattan would ensure that the business appears in these localized searches, thereby helping it to attract additional clicks and potential customers.
Second, location pages significantly enhance a business’s local relevance. This advantage is two-fold, impacting both the business’s organic SEO and Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business or GMB) rankings. By incorporating content about local points of interest on their location pages, businesses can make their online presence more locally relevant from Google’s perspective. This increased relevancy can help improve the business’s website and GMB rankings in the targeted area.
Moreover, location pages can potentially extend a business’s reach by making it rank in more local map packs. They can also help drive organic traffic by ranking for location-specific service keywords. By creating a multitude of location pages, businesses can cover a vast array of new locations, thereby attracting a larger volume of location-based searches and service-specific clicks.
Ways of Using Location Pages
There are several strategies businesses can use to harness the power of location pages effectively:
- Single State/City Client Site: If a client’s focus is to target a specific city or state without further expansion, location pages can be created for areas within their service radius. This strategy is particularly relevant for service area businesses, enabling them to target potential customers in smaller geographical areas within their broader service zone.
- Multi-Location Client Site: For clients operating in multiple physical locations, each GMB location can be individually optimized. Furthermore, location pages can be created for nearby areas that present promising ranking opportunities. For example, a service area business might identify a nearby village with a sizable population as a good ranking opportunity, then create a location page to target searches specific to that village.
- Lead Generation Asset: Businesses creating their own lead generation assets can use location pages more aggressively. They can create location pages for a wide array of locations to capture as many service and location-specific keyword clicks as possible. While some lead generation assets might be ‘safer’ and less aggressive, others can push the boundaries by adding a multitude of location pages.
Location pages are a potent tool in a business’s local SEO toolkit. They offer a strategic method for attracting local traffic, improving local relevancy, and expanding a business’s reach. By employing a thoughtful and comprehensive approach, businesses can leverage location pages to enhance their online visibility and drive more traffic, thus boosting their bottom line.
Location Page Strategy | Description |
---|---|
Single State/City Client Site | Targeting a specific city or state by creating location pages for areas within the service radius. Ideal for service area businesses focusing on smaller geographical areas. |
Multi-Location Client Site | Optimizing each Google My Business (GMB) location individually for businesses with multiple physical locations. Creating additional location pages for nearby areas with ranking potential. |
Lead Generation Asset | Aggressively using location pages for lead generation assets. Creating pages for various locations to capture service and location-specific keyword clicks, expanding reach. |
Structuring Location Pages
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not just for your homepage or service pages; it extends to your location pages as well. These pages are crucial for businesses that operate in multiple locations or want to target customers in various regions. Each location page should be structured meticulously, with a focus on Location Service (SL) keywords to optimize search engine rankings.
In-depth Competitor Analysis
The first step in structuring a location page is to conduct a detailed competitor analysis. Look for businesses that are also using a multi-location strategy for their SEO. If necessary, extend your search beyond your immediate target area. This exercise helps you understand the trends and strategies that successful competitors employ.
This analysis will guide you in deciding the amount of unique content required on your location page. Some businesses opt for a 70%-30% split between unique and duplicate content, while others may choose to duplicate content entirely. This decision depends on your business, the competition, and the SEO strategy you’ve adopted.
Content Creation
Create your location page content as if it is a homepage. Visitors to your location page, lured by SL keywords, will want an overview of your services. Thus, your content needs to outline the services you provide, the unique value propositions you offer, and why they should choose you over competitors.
In the case of a duplicate content approach, ensure your images are not optimized for a specific location. Instead, they should be relevant to your niche. This approach helps to avoid any potential SEO issues related to duplicate content and guarantees your visuals are appropriate across all location pages.
Utilizing Location Maps
Incorporate a location map on each location page as it aids in local SEO. If the new location page is within your Google My Business (GMB) service radius, use the same map embed as on your homepage. However, if the location page is outside your GMB service radius, add a specific map embed for that location.
For example, if you are a business based in Manchester, but have added a Leeds location page where you don’t have a GMB presence, you should include a map embed for Leeds. This gives potential customers a geographical context and helps communicate your presence in that area.
Implementing Location-Specific Keywords and Unique Landing Pages
Your location page should be optimized with the keywords relevant to the new location. By replacing the previous location keyword with your new location keyword throughout the page, you enhance your page’s chances of ranking in the SERPs for the new location.
If you are creating unique or partially unique landing pages, consider incorporating specific data points relevant to that location. This could include information about local trends, statistics, customer testimonials, or any other localized data that could help potential customers understand your presence and relevance in that location.
Writing and Optimizing Location Pages
Location pages play a crucial role in local SEO strategy, especially for businesses that operate in multiple locations or serve a broad geographic area. While the general ranking principles apply to these pages, there are some additional considerations to keep in mind.
Content Duplication and Google Ranking
While Google’s algorithms can tolerate a certain degree of content duplication, it is important to remember that unique content is always favored. In a hypothetical scenario where all other factors are kept constant, the ranking of three websites with varying degrees of content duplication would likely be as follows:
- A website with completely unique content would rank highest.
- A website with 30% unique and 70% duplicate content would rank a close second.
- A website with 100% duplicate content would rank third.
This ranking trend underscores the importance of generating unique content whenever possible. However, it also suggests that a strategic mix of unique and duplicate content can still result in a competitive ranking.
Tailoring Strategies for Single and Multi-location Clients
When creating content for single location clients, it is beneficial to write unique main location pages, particularly those near to them or where they actually have Google My Business accounts. For locations slightly farther from their base or with smaller populations, a strategic mix of unique and duplicate content can be considered.
For multi-location clients, each location should be treated as a unique entity. The location page should be centered around their physical address (and therefore their Google My Business location). Additional locations in the area that could benefit from location pages should be identified, and the proportion of unique/duplicate content for each page should be carefully determined.
Lead Generation Assets and Content Duplication
For your own lead generation assets, a more aggressive approach can be adopted. This includes targeting a wider range of locations and using a higher amount of duplicate content. If any of these duplicate pages perform well, they can be updated with unique content to further improve their ranking and longevity.
Identifying More Local Location Pages
Google Maps can be a useful tool in identifying more local location pages. Simply find your state/city/location, zoom out, and observe which areas remain on the map. These areas are likely to have more searches than those which disappear when zoomed out and could be potential targets for location pages.
While local SEO might seem to limit your reach, it’s important to remember that “local” is primarily about the customer’s perspective. Despite operating locally, businesses can still adopt a broad approach and cover extensive parts of a country through a well-planned location page strategy.
Enhance Your Online Presence by Working with BSPE Legal Marketing
Location pages are a crucial tool in the digital marketing toolkit that can significantly enhance your law firm’s online visibility, particularly for local searches. They serve as a bridge connecting your firm with potential clients in specific geographic areas, promoting a sense of locality, trust, and accessibility.
At BSPE Legal Marketing, we are committed to helping you harness the power of location pages. Our knowledge in local SEO and tailored marketing strategies can help your firm not only increase its digital footprint but also convert potential leads into loyal clients. With our experience and your vision, we can work together to position your firm as a top choice for legal services in the areas you serve. Let us help you make the most of location pages and take your local online presence to new heights. The world is going digital, and it’s time your firm does too. Schedule an appointment today https://ldmk.io/bsplegalmarketing/30min to learn more about how to make location pages work for you.