Dominate Local Search: How to Rank in Every City You Operate In

As a service-based business, expanding your reach into multiple cities can be a game-changer for growth and revenue. However, establishing a physical presence in each city may not be feasible. The good news is that with the right local SEO tactics, you can increase visibility, leads, and revenue without needing multiple physical locations. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to rank in multiple cities and connect with potential clients in neighbouring areas.

Create a Foundation with Keyword Research

To start, you need to conduct in-depth keyword research to find city-specific terms that potential customers are using. Focus on “service + city” combinations, such as “roof repair Brampton” or “plumbing services in Oakville.” Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or Semrush can help you identify high-intent keywords with substantial search volume for each targeted city.

Long-tail keywords are also crucial for driving high-quality, local traffic. For example, “emergency plumbing services in Markham” or “residential roofing contractors in Mississauga” can help you rank for specific services or unique client needs, even in highly competitive niches.

Create Dedicated City Pages for Your Services

In the world of local SEO, having dedicated city pages is essential for service-based businesses looking to expand their reach into multiple cities. These pages are specifically designed to target local traffic in each area, even if your business doesn’t have a physical address there. By creating a unique page for each city, you’re signaling to search engines like Google that your business is relevant to that specific geographic location.

Dedicated city pages increase your chances of appearing in search results for location-based searches, allowing you to speak directly to potential customers and showcase your expertise and services in their area. This helps build trust with potential customers and establishes your business as a local authority, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates and a competitive advantage in the market.

By creating dedicated city pages, you’re demonstrating your understanding of local needs and challenges, and showing that you’re invested in serving each local market. This is especially important for service-based businesses, as it allows you to provide tailored solutions to customers in each area, even if you don’t have a physical presence there.

Elements to Include When Crafting City Pages

When creating your city pages, it’s essential to include a combination of elements that showcase your expertise, services, and local relevance. Building on the keyword research you conducted earlier, incorporate local keywords naturally throughout your city pages to boost relevance and attract local search traffic.

Start by including local keywords in your title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and content. This will help search engines understand the geographic location and services offered on each page. For example, if you’re a plumbing service provider in Oakville, your title tag could be “Plumbing Services in Oakville | Emergency Repairs and Maintenance.” Your meta description could be “Get expert plumbing services in Oakville, including emergency repairs, drain cleaning, and water heater installation. Call us today for a free estimate!”

In addition to local keywords, include a clear and concise description of the services you offer in each city. This could include information about your team, certifications, and licenses, as well as any specialized services or equipment you have. For instance, you might mention that you offer 24/7 emergency plumbing services in Oakville, or that your team is certified to work on high-rise buildings in Toronto.

To further establish your local credibility, include customer testimonials and reviews from clients in each city. This social proof can help build trust and credibility with potential customers and demonstrate your ability to deliver high-quality services. You could also include case studies or examples of successful projects you’ve completed in each city, highlighting your expertise and attention to detail.

Finally, don’t forget to include a clear call-to-action (CTA) on each city page, encouraging visitors to get in touch with you for a free estimate, consultation, or to schedule a service appointment. Geo-targeted CTAs, such as “Call for Oakville Plumbing Services” or “Schedule a Consultation with Our Toronto Roofing Experts,” can help localize the page and connect with local audiences.

By incorporating these essential elements into your city pages, you’ll be able to showcase your expertise, services, and local relevance, attracting more local search traffic and driving conversions.

When it comes to local search campaigns, city pages are high priority. They don’t take a lot of work and will get a big return on investment.

Joe Troyer, Digital Triggers

Structured Data Markup for Local SEO

Structured data markup, also known as schema markup, is a way to provide search engines like Google with additional context about your business and services. By implementing local business schema and service area schema, you can help Google better understand your business’s location and services, which can lead to improved local search visibility, increased click-through rates, and enhanced credibility.

Local business schema provides information about your business, such as its name, address, phone number, hours of operation, and services offered, in a format that search engines can easily understand. This information can help you appear in local search results, enhance your search snippets, and increase click-through rates. Structured data markup can also help you establish credibility and trust with potential customers by providing accurate and consistent information about your business.

To implement local business schema, you can use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper, a free tool that can help you create the necessary code for your website. You can also use a plugin or module if you’re using a content management system like WordPress or Drupal. Once you’ve generated the code, you can add it to the HTML of your website, either by adding it to the <head> section or by using a plugin or module to add it for you.

Boosting Your Local SEO with Link Building

Linking is a crucial aspect of local SEO, as it helps to establish your website’s authority and relevance in the eyes of search engines. While many local directories require a physical address, there are other ways to build high-quality backlinks that can help you rank in multiple cities.

One effective way to build backlinks is to guest post or be featured on local websites that are relevant to your business. This could include websites for local news outlets, community organizations, or industry-specific publications. By providing valuable content and insights to these websites, you can earn backlinks to your website and establish yourself as an authority in your field.

Internal linking is also an important aspect of local SEO. By linking to relevant service pages or service area listings in your website’s footer, you can help search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your website. For example, if you have a service page for plumbing services in Oakville, you could link to it from your homepage or from a blog post about plumbing tips.

Blogging can also provide opportunities to naturally link to your city pages. For example, if you write a blog post about the benefits of regular roof maintenance, you could link to your roofing services page for Toronto or Mississauga. Similarly, if you write a post about the importance of hiring a local plumber, you could link to your plumbing services page for Brampton or Vaughan.

By incorporating these linking strategies into your local SEO plan, you can help to establish your website’s authority and relevance, and improve your chances of ranking in multiple cities. Remember to always focus on quality over quantity, and to seek out opportunities to link to high-quality, relevant websites that can help to boost your website’s credibility.

Tracking and Analyzing Your Local SEO Efforts

To measure the success of your local SEO strategy, start by using Google Analytics to track visits, conversion rates, and user engagement for each city-specific page. This will give you insights into how well each page resonates with your target audience in different locations. Google Search Console can also be instrumental, as it helps you track impressions, clicks, and average position for local keywords in each city, providing a clear picture of how your pages are performing in search results.

In addition to Google’s tools, consider using Moz and SEMrush to monitor your website’s overall authority. These tools provide metrics to measure website authority, which can indicate your site’s trustworthiness and relevance—two important factors in local SEO. Tracking your website authority over time allows you to see the impact of your SEO efforts across various cities, helping you to maintain a competitive edge in multiple locations.

These tools also offer backlink tracking, which is essential for local SEO. By analyzing your backlinks, you can identify valuable local sites linking to your pages and uncover opportunities for building more quality links. Regularly reviewing your backlink profile ensures your site is associated with reputable sources, which enhances authority and can lead to better rankings in local search results.

Ranking in multiple cities without a physical presence is achievable with the right local SEO strategy from an SEO expert. By following these steps, service-based businesses can expand their reach, increase visibility, and generate more leads. Remember to track and analyze your efforts to continually improve your local SEO approach and drive business growth.