Location Pages

Location Pages

If you have a physical location in certain cities, you can create a page for each one of these. If you have multiple location try as hard as you can to use unique copy on each location page. Why do I recommend this? Because we don’t want Google and other search engines to consider these “doorway pages” or “low-quality pages”. Otherwise, they may not rank well at all.

Are Location Pages Considered Doorway Pages?

Here’s what Google has to say about Doorway Pages:

Doorways are sites or pages created to rank highly for specific search queries. They are bad for users because they can lead to multiple similar pages in user search results, where each result ends up taking the user to essentially the same destination. They can also lead users to intermediate pages that are not as useful as the final destination.

Here are some examples of doorways:

  • Having multiple domain names or pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page
  • Pages generated to funnel visitors into the actual usable or relevant portion of your site(s)
  • Substantially similar pages that are closer to search results than a clearly defined, browseable hierarchy

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2721311?hl=en

A Google employee has also publicly warned that location pages could be considered doorway pages.
Reference: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-city-landing-pages-doorway-pages-28670.html

Personally, I believe they are ok to have as long as they are not basically copies of each other with the city name swapped out.

What Content to Include on Location Pages

Each location page can include:

  • Business name, address and phone number
  • An embedded Google My Business listing of the business name (not just the address). Driving directions might be a Google Maps ranking factor. Make sure to embed the correct Google Map on your site.
  • Partners or your favorite businesses in this area
  • Your favorite places in the city
  • Type out old school driving directions
  • Reviews from customers in this city
  • Photos from employees or jobs in this city
  • Use this awesome questionnaire to come up with ideas for city-specific topics you can write about on each location page

References:
http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2016/09/30/template-for-creating-knockout-city-page-content-for-local-seo/

http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2015/04/06/25-principles-of-building-effective-city-pages-for-local-seo/

Examples of Great Location Pages

Dick’s Sporting Goods URL structure and breadcrumbs are perfect.
https://stores.dickssportinggoods.com/fl/tampa/288/

Best Buy’s local reviews are spot-on.
https://stores.bestbuy.com/fl/saint-petersburg/6600-22nd-avenue-n-565.html#CustomerReviews

West Marine’s Google Map embeds are done correctly.
https://www.westmarine.com/stores/st.-petersburg-fl-1289

Other Examples

https://www.target.com/sl/university-plaza/656
https://www.rei.com/stores/winter-park.html
https://www.starbucks.com/store-locator/store/1017781/us-19-22nd-ave-2190-34th-st-n-st-petersburg-fl-337133610-us