How to Create Local SEO Landing Pages That Work (+ Examples)

Local SEO landing pages share key details about your brick-and-mortar business to help turn your neighbors into loyal customers.

Picture it: You’re a San Diego dentist, and you want to be first on local search results when a San Diego local types in “dentist near me.”

Google will give you the privilege, but only if you provide relevant, updated, and engaging local search engine optimization (SEO) landing pages. 

So, how do you create them?

A perfect local landing page includes important business details like hours and contact info, high-quality images, internal links, and localized, unique content.

We chatted with Austin Lewis, HawkSEM’s lead strategist, about how to bake all those ingredients into a satisfying local-traffic-and-conversions pie. 

Your potential customers are ready to shop local. Keep reading to make it on their shopping list. 

What is a local SEO landing page?

A local SEO landing page is a web page that contains your address, contact info, and other location-specific details for your business location or service area (a physical retail store or office space, or the neighborhoods and cities you service, even if you don’t have a physical location). 

(Image: Adobe Stock)

Typically, you’ll see a couple of different types of local SEO landing pages:

• City/state/country page: Outlines all the business locations of a business within the same city, state, or country.
• Individual location page: Displays details specific to one physical location. 
• General location page: Lists all the locations of a business in a broad geographic area, regardless of city or country. 

What if you have two, 20, or 200 business locations?

“You should have a local landing page for every physical address or service area your brand offers,” says Lewis. “A good rule of thumb is that if you can create a Google Business Profile for it without violating Google’s policy, then it should have a corresponding location page on a website.”

But what about service areas that don’t have a physical location? If you’re an ecommerce or SaaS business without a local office, do you still need a local SEO landing page? How about if you’re a freelance plumber or hairstylist? 

“If the business offers a service area, the local landing page can be beneficial to winning local queries,” Lewis adds. “You will follow the same protocol for creating local landing pages with physical addresses.”

This means each page should still have a linked corresponding GBP profile, use localization in copy (more on that later), and list any unique NAP data the location offers.

We’ve covered the basics, now it’s time to bring it to life.

 7 ingredients for a creating effective local SEO landing pages

Got your address and phone number listed? That’s a great start.

This might answer a curious customer’s initial query on Google search, but it’s unlikely to convert. Why? Remember, it’s not just a location page — it’s a landing page, too. That means you need to put a persuasive foot forward and dot all the i’s in Google’s SEO book. 

After crafting thousands of local landing pages for our wide roster of clients across SaaS, retail, finance, and ecommerce niches, we’ve figured out the winning formula for pages that convert. 

1. Craft SERP-salivating headings

Headings are phrases and topics in larger font (like the heading above this sentence) that make content more easy on the eyes while also satisfying search engine crawlers. The more organized and structured the content, the more readable it is. 

On-page SEO experts like Lewis wouldn’t dream of forgetting a strong heading one (H1) title for a local landing page that communicates your local business value:

“This is an incredibly powerful ranking signal, so this likely needs to include our primary keyword target,” he says.

You should also include a subsequent callout heading two (H2) tag that covers an additional keyword with more location-specific copy. Here’s an example from our client Moneta Group:

(Image: Moneta Group)

After that, all you need is your contact details, right? Not so fast—you still have a few more tags to check off. 

2. Meticulously use HTML title tags

HTML title tags clearly display your business offerings combined with your audience’s location in the search engine results pages (SERPs), which is likely what they typed into Google’s search box. But most importantly, they remind your audience about your local business value right on your landing page. 

Lewis recommends a simple tag combination that wins every time:

[City or region name] + [primary keyword for that location] | [brand]

Here’s what it might look like in practice for a San Francisco plastic surgeon: 

Bay Area Plastic Surgeon | Pacific Cosmetic Artistry

Pretty simple, right? Next ingredient?

3. Include relevant product links and internal links

Google’s crawlers vibe with your website faster in the indexing process if you make it easy to navigate. One fuss-free method? Internal links to other relevant pages of your site, like your homepage. Your local SEO landing page should have three types of links:

• Product links: Include links to a couple of products or services that you provide at that specific location.
• Seasonal specials: Refresh links to ensure any beneficial or relevant specials are linked to your location landing page.
• Other location landing page links: Make it easy for your audience to find nearby locations with links to your other location pages. 

That last link category is arguably the most important for Google, especially if you have a ton of locations. 

Prime example? Chili’s has thousands of local location pages, each with unique features and specials listed for each one. 

Check out the Features and other nearby locations links on this Inglewood local landing page: 

(Image: Chili’s Inglewood)

4. Pen unique, personalized ad copy

As tempting as it is to use the same copy on all your location landing pages, doing so will result in two major missed opportunities:

1. Seeing high SEO rankings
2. Personalizing content for each location’s unique audience

Maybe you’re thinking: “It’s just a location page. What could I possibly write beyond the address and contact details?”

The answer is location-specific content, especially localized ad copy.

So, what does localized, unique ad copy look like? Lewis says it’s a great idea to signal nearby landmarks and streets. For example:

“Our office is located near the Museum of Natural History…” or “…in the office building, [building name], on the north side of [street name], across from [another building name].”

See how helpful that is for your local customers?

Another proven tactic? Paying homage to local organizations. You might mention non-profits, clients, or other local partners that your business supports via external links. Ideally, these will also be businesses that offer backlinks to your site as well.

What’s more, localized copy is a benefit for branding. “Using localization not only improves local rankings, but it also helps local users to feel like the organization is part of the community, which can obviously be great for branding,” explains Lewis.

Speaking of branding, let’s focus our lens on the visuals.

5. Feature local images

Every location has a unique feel, even those under the same brand. Highlight the atmosphere and vibe with local images.

“Make sure the image(s) is instantly recognizable to locals and resonates well with the general community,” says Lewis.

You could showcase your building or each branch’s team members.

You might do this on your general location page for each link, like Moneta does:

(Image: Moneta Group)

But for individual location pages, aim for unique images. Consider hiring a photographer to capture original content since those images will give you the most E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness) in Google’s eyes. 

Here’s a great example on Salesforce’s San Francisco local office page:

(Image: Salesforce)

Once you have your high-quality photos, Lewis says to add these final touches: 

• Localization copy in the alt text
• Alt attributes with primary target keyword
• Geo-tagging

6. Don’t sleep on NAP

Name, address, and phone number — easy enough, right? But a small oversight here can cost you in rankings and audience perception. 

Don’t you hate calling a local business, only to find the number is for the wrong location or out of service? 

That’s why you need to get your NAP details right the first time, and update them as needed. 

Here’s Lewis’ trusty NAP checklist, (make sure each of these are clearly listed):

• Location name
• Hours of operation 
• Physical address 
• Unique location phone number
• Other applicable phone numbers, if you have multiple departments, for example
• Google map embed (a snapshot of your location on Google Maps)

So, you’ve got a hot lead ready to bite. Great! But how do you get them to navigate from your location page into your physical store? 

7. Use a location-specific call to action (CTA)

A landing page’s CTA is its ace in the hole. It entices someone to stop reading, click a button, and interact with (ideally purchase from) your brand.

The trick with CTAs? Keep them short, sweet, but relevant. What kind of action should your potential customers take after checking out your local pages?

“Get Directions,” with a link to Google Maps, is one option. 

(Image: Adobe Stock)

Or, you could lead customers to your product or service pages that a particular location offers with “Browse our in-store products.” 

But remember: Even the most compelling CTA won’t convert unless your local pages are optimized using all of the important steps we listed above.

 How to optimize local SEO landing pages and rank for “near me” queries

Now that you’ve created tons of landing pages to accompany multiple locations, the hard work’s done, right? Not quite.

Launching and optimizing your landing pages is step one. Step two is fine-tuning and monitoring them so they go the distance.

With a few tweaks, they’ll compound over time, bringing in more and more local traffic until your site is as poppin’ as your storefront or inbox.

1. Highlight your local talent

What fosters community more than anything? People. Your people (staff, volunteers, colleagues) should shine in the spotlight of your location pages if you really want to connect with a local audience. They boost your niche authority and give you extra credit on Google.

“If your business model offers subject-matter experts that could be beneficial to your E-E-A-T components, make sure to showcase their bio, credentials, and professional experiences to take full advantage of the authority they can bring to your SEO,” Lewis advises.

Here’s how Goldman Sachs introduces a team member on their Austin location page: 

(Image: Goldman Sachs Austin page)

If you click on Sullivan’s profile, you’ll navigate to a new web page with his bio. We also love the site architecture clearly displayed at the top, which supports the user experience: 

(Image: Goldman Sachs, Bio for Shane Sullivan)

Give experts their own bio page

Lewis applauds the separate web page for employee bios and shares a few more requirements to appeal to Google:

“These pages should include Person Schema Markup (the HTML code to help search engines understand information about each  person) so that additional information can be communicated to search engines, such as alma mater, birthplace, certifications, etc.” 

Goldman Sachs is a well-known national financial service business, so it’s not lacking authority. But how did it get authority in the first place? By building a business around finance experts. So it only makes sense for them to flex their staff’s credibility, because, in turn, it flexes theirs.

And by featuring their team individually, it boosts authority on Google, too, winning more local queries.

The internal linking, person pages, person schema, and local SEO features contribute to more rankings for those coveted “near me” queries.

Lewis says this example also works well for other multi-location businesses like medical offices or law firms: 

“For example, if one attorney for the firm has exceptional bankruptcy experience, it would boost visibility for “bankruptcy attorney near me” queries in all cities where the firm holds an office, if the SEO is done correctly.”

Pro tip: Want to rack up some local SEO W’s? HawkSEM’s expert SEO strategists, combined with real-time data and metrics from our proprietary tech, ConversionIQ, have your SEO bases covered. Reach out to chat about SEO strategy and conversions. 

Flesh out your website with topical authority

Topical authority and local business listings will get you to top SERP status for near-me queries. How? By proving you’re the best person to answer the search query that brought people to your site. Lewis elaborates: 

“If you’re a roofer, for example, you will greatly improve ‘roofer near me’ queries if you have a full website, with pillar pages for all services offered, and a blogroll full of supporting articles that dive deeper into the benefits of your services.”

Publishing authority content will boost the relevance of your local SEO landing pages. It tells Google you’re serving up helpful information your potential customers are actively seeking.

All this gives you the topical authority needed to stand out from other roofer companies who have the basic 5-page website. 

2. Track user journeys and web page interactions

How does your audience interact with your local SEO landing page? Imagine if you could see exactly where they move their cursor, the links they click, or the moment they bounce from your page. 

Lewis says you can do this with heatmaps.

“Heatmap your user interaction and track user journeys from the location page. This type of analysis can provide insight as to which links local users are clicking first, which can help you create on-page menus that are most relevant to the location.”

3. Build backlinks

You can’t be the talk of the town unless, well, the town talks about you. That’s what backlinks do for you in the online SEO world. These are links on external sites to your business webpage, and they’re excellent at boosting local rankings. 

To score backlinks, Lewis recommends getting involved with the local community as much as you can to gain local citations, social media shoutouts, and mentions on directories and business sites. You could:

• Sponsor youth sports teams
• Donate food or money to local food banks
• Donate your products or services to local small- to medium-business workshops
• Invite customers to write testimonials and customer reviews on sites like Yelp or Google

We’ve seen backlink-building as a successful franchise digital marketing strategy with big fast-food chains. Peep this stellar plug and social proof that McDonald’s achieved in a local newspaper with an $85,000 donation: 

(Image: Union Times)

Of course, you don’t need anywhere near that amount of investment to see ROI on local SEO. You can paint the town red with a strategic approach and support from your friends at HawkSEM.

 The takeaway

Local SEO landing pages give you a whole new target audience to tap into and local search queries to rank for. They’re a surefire way to boost your street cred for local customers and Google’s crawlers. 

But we won’t lie—local SEO isn’t a task for the unprepared. It takes serious knowledge and experience with Google’s changing algorithms to make every location page rank well. That’s where subject matter experts like HawkSEM’s SEO strategists and marketing experts come in. 

We’ll give your online presence an in-depth SEO audit and optimize your local SEO web pages for SERP success. 

Ready for a local SEO strategy that turns you into the neighborhood hero? Let’s talk!