Local customers make up the largest portion of many businesses’ revenue. They’ll send new leads your way, leave excellent reviews, and share their experience with family and friends. Local SEO can send the right audience to your pages at the perfect time.
Internet Live Stats reports approximately 1.9 billion websites in 2022, but not all are active simultaneously. Even if you reach a broader audience than just those in the same location as your headquarters, you’ll want location pages so people can track your news by their area.
For example, if you have several restaurants in the state, you can create a location page for each with a map, store hours and other details. Location pages help your site rank for keywords, such as Indianapolis, Indiana, or New York City.
How can you ensure your location pages rank high in search engines and attract local traffic? Here is the ultimate guide to making sure you speak to browsers in the language they understand.
1. List Hours of Operation
One key reason people look for a particular location is to learn when it’s open. If you have multiple locations, you can list them on a single page along with an address and store hours. If you’re experiencing any interruptions in opening, include details so people don’t drive out of their way to get to your business only to find it closed.
Source: https://roosterswings.com/locations/view-all-locations
Roosters has multiple restaurant locations listed on its page. Each boc includes details such as location, address, store hours and directions to the dining establishment. Currently, there is a note on most listings about online ordering. You can add any details that might pertain to local changes and availability as it applies to your business.
2. Place NAP Details First
NAP stands for name, address and phone number. Ideally, you’ll include this information at the top of your page, so it’s the first thing people see. Search engines often utilize NAP details to understand where best to place your site in search results. If you’re located in a specific county and users search there for a service such as yours, they’ll raise your rank significantly.
Some experts advise building a separate page for each location. You can test both ways and see how it impacts search engine results pages (SERPs). If you choose to list all sites on one page, you should separate them in some way like Roosters did, such as in grid-style boxes.
3. Tell a Story
Who doesn’t love a good tale? You can easily place one on your location page while including information to help customers decide if you’re the right choice for them. A story might explain what you do, how the company started or why you serve specific locations. It must also include local factors and utilize keywords and phrases that make sense for ranking.
Source: https://www.chardonlabs.com/locations/kentucky
Chardon Laboratories offers water services in 13 different states. It provides location pages for each state and shares a little about the traditions in the area. Each page includes the popular industries for each state and some of the more significant manufacturers.
4. Choose the Right Keywords
Each location has specific keywords that trigger geolocation results. In Des Moines, Iowa, you might use phrases like “restaurants in Des Moines.” A car repair shop in Indianapolis might use “car repair Indianapolis,” “car repair circle city” and so on.
Make sure you include target keywords such as restaurant, dining and food in addition to being location-specific. The key is to grab traffic and bring it to your pages.
5. Get Location-Specific With Content
Adding content to your site gets you noticed and gives you something to share on social media platforms. Rather than writing about how to plan a wedding, you might share venues in your town, for example.
Other businesses might cater to activities in the area or services only people in a certain climate or terrain would need.
Source: https://aceraft.com/blog
Ace Adventure Resort offers different activities in the New River Gorge area in Fayette County, West Virginia. People looking for activities in the area will often search for terms used on its blog. All articles are about local events, so users may stumble on the page and find other details that interest them.
6. Add Reviews
Google and many other browser algorithms favor newer content. Reviews give you some user-generated content and offer a way to frequently update your location page with fresh material so the page pulls up in SERPs more often.
You might add a review or two under the NAP. You could also write something like “Have you been to this location? Give us a quick review” to encourage additional feedback and material for local SEO.
Ask Your Customers What They Want
The internet changes rapidly, so what works for location pages this year may not in the next. Be open to trying new things and testing your pages to see how ranking changes and what your users respond best to. Ask your customers what they want and what is most helpful for a location page. Over time, you’ll refine your offers and come up with a site that works with local SEO and is user-friendly.
