What happens when a service business with one location wants their website to rank for the other locations it serves? An example of this might be a Plumber in Marple who wants to reach new customers in Romiley and Bredbury.
One solution is to use service location pages on your website. This is where you set up separate pages, usually based on the homepage, for every location you want to rank for. You then add location specific content to each page.
Be careful if you go down this route. It’s important that each of your service location pages contain some unique content and not just a different page title.
If your location pages are all pretty much the same Google might see them as doorway pages and penalise you.
With a bit of creativity you can find smarter ways of doing this while keeping Google happy.
A few years ago I made a website for a kitchen refinishing company. Luckily they had photographs and a description of every project they’d carried out in the local area. With that unique content I was able to create a project page for each location with its own unique URL.
Because the content was location specific and unique Google seemed perfectly happy with me using this approach. The pages went on to rank at the top of local searches and the business flourished.
So if you’re going to use service location pages consider what unique content you’ll use on each page. Then step back and ask yourself if the pages are a useful addition to the website and if they really do help your visitors.
I love to work with businesses who have a positive impact on the world and see the value of great design. If you need some help with a web design or branding project I’d love to hear from you.
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