If you are running a business and you are utilising the age old strategy of service repetition by micro-location my advice is that if you have lost rank or struggling to get it - abandon the strategy.
Legacy SEO strategies are still commonplace and for some they work (with enough link spam / link manipulation etc.)
BUT, I am seeing shifts - here's a better way of doing it:
YOUR ROOT DOMAIN & COMPANY ADDRESS set your core location association when offering services.
If you have SERVICES you do NOT NEED to repeat the same service offering in different locations - generally a SERVICE is a SERVICE so on that basis - keep your SERVICE PAGES at root domain or in a service subfolder.
You CAN have location pages but the location pages should be based on the OVERALL service offering (category) where the locations all link to the same service pages (non location specific).
You should then leverage UGC behind the SERVICE PAGES.
At LOCATION LEVEL you should keep content short and to the point:
1. Service offering
2. Trust factors (reviews) brand establishment etc.
3. Location based FAQS for top level service category
AT SERVICE LEVEL you should:
1. Describe the service offering in short form content, power statements, what's on offer - make it quick, clear what is on offer
2. Focus on service priorities - what do people care about? cost/pricing? sub-services? what people say? how quickly the service is available i.e. moving
3. Why use xxx company for the service (amazing reviews, UGC, gmb reviews)
4. Case studies/client testimony
5. Video, media embedding
6. FAQs
I see a common strategy now where all FRONT END facing user content that ranks is SHORT FORM, to the point with clear CTAs and bold review/UGC emphasis.
Then - quite often we see UGC at scale BEHIND the landing pages where there's a significant amount of user generated content describing service quality etc.
This is your typical FUNNEL USER BEHAVIOUR where engagement is prolonged and where propensity to convert goes up.
Here's what you SHOULDN'T DO:
❌ Repetition of focal keywords or phrases
❌ Too much service emphasis between service pages i.e. don't put loads of emphasis of all services across each service page - make each service page as unique as possible
❌ You don't need to constantly repeat service + location, Google modelling is far more advanced than the days of legacy keyword presence being required - if anything over emphasis makes the content look unhelpful - it looks like its for SEO and not the end user
❌ Use the RIGHT tone of voice, professional, engaging, clear with clarity
❌ Don't REPEAT things - make your service offering CLEAR and remember to prioritise your offering based on what people care about
❌ Don't inject long strings of locations - it looks spammy
❌ Don't waffle / use a load of fluff in your content - MAKE CONTENT INFORMATION COMPRESSION your friend
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This post was originally shared by Daniel Foley Carter on Linkedin.