You wish to rank for a bunch of key phrases in a bunch of cities. You don’t have a bodily location in every metropolis – which makes you ineligible for Google My Enterprise pages in all these locations – however you work you may “optimize” as many pages you want. Your rivals do it, so why shouldn’t you? What have you ever received to lose?
Let’s say personal an HVAC firm within the Dallas space. You supply 10 essential providers and wish to attain prospects in 10 cities. You crank out 10 metropolis pages for “heating restore,” with web page names like:
/heating-repair-dallas-tx
/heating-repair-fort-worth-tx
/heating-repair-plano-tx
/heating-repair-arlington-tx
/heating-repair-richardson-tx
/heating-repair-irving-tx
/heating-repair-garland-tx
/heating-repair-mckinney-tx
/heating-repair-denton-tx
/heating-repair-grapevine-tx
Then you definitely want pages on AC restore, so…
/ac-repair-dallas-tx
/ac-repair-fort-worth-tx
/ac-repair-plano-tx
/ac-repair-arlington-tx
/ac-repair-richardson-tx
/ac-repair-irving-tx
/ac-repair-garland-tx
/ac-repair-mckinney-tx
/ac-repair-denton-tx
/ac-repair-grapevine-tx
And so forth.
Earlier than you already know it, you’ve received 100 pages. (Or perhaps you solely supply 5 providers and in 5 totally different cities. That’s nonetheless 25 pages.)
All of the pages are practically an identical, besides you swap out town names and key phrases from web page to web page.
Like the microsite technique, the cities x providers = variety of pages technique is shortsighted and more likely to finish in a single sort of failure or one other.
In a minute I’ll let you know what I counsel you do as a substitute. First, listed below are the issues along with your quickly reproducing pages:
- Even when the 100 “metropolis” pages aren’t too good and also you simply squirt them out, it’s nonetheless a whole lot of work to construct all of them.
- What in the event you make a mistake in your grasp copy and wish to repair it? No matter it’s, do it 100 occasions.
- It’s onerous or unimaginable to include the pages into your navigation – and never annoy guests.
- It’s onerous or unimaginable to include the pages into your inner linking – and never annoy guests.
- Do you at the very least need the choice of writing and constructing the pages in-house – with out spending a lot time on them that you just drop the ball on all the things else?
- Google’s “Doorway Web page” replace – meant to maintain ineffective “metropolis” pages out of the search outcomes. Now, these pages nonetheless pop up too typically, so to me Google hasn’t been too critical about operating them out of city. But when and when that adjustments, you don’t wish to be the one to seek out out first.
- What if the pages don’t rank effectively? Then what? How will you make 100 pages extra informative and in-depth? What in the event you conclude it is advisable to rustle up some good hyperlinks?
- What in the event that they rank effectively however don’t get any visitors? What’s your plan to make extra folks click on by way of to these 100 pages from the search outcomes?
- What in the event that they get visitors, however the visitors doesn’t convert? You’ll have to make 100 pages convert higher. You wished these city-service permutation pages as a result of they had been fast to pump out. Do you’ve gotten time to repair 100 failures?
- What if you wish to rename the pages or rework the URLs later? A number of redirects and/or updating your inner hyperlinks.
- What if some prospects see 5 pages that every one look the identical aside from town? Are they extra seemingly or much less more likely to name you?
- Would you like to have the ability to level prospects and would-be buyer to these pages simply – and verbally, if you wish to?
- Would you like rivals, entrepreneurs, and prospects alike to admire the way you market your self, or conclude that you just’re simply one other hack?
- Your rivals have most likely sunk to that technique already. What makes you suppose you’ll do the identical factor they do however take pleasure in extra success than they’ve had?
- In case your rivals haven’t cranked out 100 metropolis pages but, they usually conclude your pages work nice for you, how will you keep forward of them once they observe your lead?
Sufficient for now about what you shouldn’t do. Right here’s what I do counsel:
- Have an in-depth web page on every particular service you supply. Have some blurbs in your service space, and hyperlink to your pages on every metropolis (see level #2, under), as acceptable.
- Have an in-depth “metropolis” web page on every of the primary cities you serve. Apply my 25 rules. This spreadsheet could assist, too.
The concept is your service pages ought to have loads of “metropolis” data, and your metropolis pages ought to have loads of data in your providers. If you happen to supply 10 providers and serve 10 cities, that’s 20 pages. Way more manageable, and it’s at the very least doable you may make every one good over time.
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Any drawbacks of the “cities x providers = variety of pages” technique that I missed?
Something to say in its protection?
Any examples of nice or hideous metropolis pages?
Go away a remark!