Here’s a question I get asked a lot: if you’re a local business, do you really need location‑specific content on your website? Can’t you just mention your town once or twice and call it a day?
The short answer is no — not if you want to rank well in local searches. Google needs to understand where you operate and what you do there, and the best way to tell Google that is through proper location‑specific content.
But here’s the thing: a lot of businesses get this wrong. They create pages that are basically just “We serve [Town Name]” repeated over and over with slightly different wording. That doesn’t work. Google’s too smart for that — and more importantly, it’s useless for your actual customers.
Good location‑specific content serves two purposes: it helps you rank for local searches, and it actually provides value to people reading it. Let me show you how to do both.
What Location‑Specific Content Actually Means
When I say location‑specific content, I don’t just mean mentioning your town name a few times. I mean creating content that’s genuinely about that location and relevant to people there.
If you’re a plumber covering three different towns, you shouldn’t have three identical pages that just swap out the town name. That’s lazy, and Google will see right through it.
Instead, each page should talk about that specific area. What’s unique about providing your service there? What local landmarks or areas do you cover? What specific problems do people in that area face?
For example, if you’re a plumber working in an area with lots of old Victorian houses, you might mention that you specialise in dealing with older plumbing systems. If you cover a new housing estate, you might talk about your experience with modern installations. See the difference?
The Basic Structure of a Location Page
A good location page needs a few key elements. You need to make it clear what service you provide and where you provide it — that’s the basics.
But you also need to go deeper. Talk about the specific area you cover. Mention local landmarks, neighbourhoods, or streets. This helps Google understand your geographic relevance and also shows potential customers that you really know the area.
Include information about how you serve that area. Do you have an office there? Do you visit regularly? How quickly can you get there? This is practical information that customers actually want to know.
Then add some content that’s genuinely useful. It could be local tips, common issues in that area, or examples of work you’ve done there — something that makes the page worth reading, not just a placeholder for keywords.
The Local Landmark Trick
One of the easiest ways to make your content genuinely local is to mention specific landmarks, streets, or areas — not just the town name, but actual places within that town.
If you’re a restaurant in Birmingham, don’t just say “We’re a restaurant in Birmingham.” Say “We’re located just off New Street, near the Bullring.” That’s more specific and much more useful.
If you’re a tradesperson covering a town, mention the specific areas or neighbourhoods you serve. “We cover Moseley, Kings Heath, and Stirchley” is a lot better than just saying “We cover South Birmingham.”
This serves two purposes: it helps with SEO because you’re using location‑specific terms people actually search for, and it helps customers understand exactly where you operate.
Just make sure you’re mentioning real places relevant to your business. Don’t just list every street in the town for the sake of it — that looks spammy and doesn’t help anyone.
Writing About Local Issues or Characteristics
Every area has its quirks — old buildings with unique problems, new developments with different needs, local regulations or weather conditions that affect your work. Whatever it is, write about it.
If you’re a roofer in an area that gets a lot of wind, talk about wind damage and how you deal with it. If you’re a gardener working with heavy clay soil, mention that and how you handle it.
This kind of content is genuinely useful to local customers. It shows you understand the area and its challenges. And it’s naturally full of local keywords without you having to force them in.
The key is to be specific and genuine. Don’t make things up — write about what you actually know from working in that area.
The “About Our [Location] Service” Approach
A good structure for a location page is to frame it as “About Our [Service] in [Location]”, rather than just “[Service] [Location]”.
So instead of a page titled “Plumbing Kinver” with generic text, you’d have “Our Plumbing Services in Kinver”, with content that actually talks about providing plumbing services in that area.
This gives you a natural framework for creating useful content. You can talk about your experience in the area, the types of properties you work on, common issues you see, and how quickly you can respond.
It’s still optimised for the keywords you want to rank for, but it’s written in a way that’s readable and engaging.
How Many Location Pages Do You Need?
That depends on how many areas you serve and how distinct they are. If you’re a small business covering one town, you probably just need one good location page (which might even be your homepage).
If you cover multiple towns or a large city with distinct neighbourhoods, you may want separate pages for each. But only if you can write genuinely different content for each one.
Don’t create ten near‑identical pages that just swap out town names — that’s worse than having none at all. Google will see that as duplicate content, and it won’t help you rank.
It’s better to have three really strong, unique location pages than ten generic ones.
What About Service Area Businesses?
If you’re a service‑area business (you go to customers rather than them coming to you), location pages are even more important. You need to make it clear where you operate.
Create pages for each main area you serve. Talk about your coverage in that area, your response times, and examples of work you’ve done there. Make it clear that you actually serve that location, not just that you want to rank for it.
Make sure your Google Business Profile is set up correctly as a service‑area business. You can hide your business address and specify the areas you serve, then create web pages that match those areas.
Keeping It Natural
The biggest mistake people make with location content is keyword stuffing. They mention the town name fifty times in a 500‑word page because they think that’s what Google wants.
It’s not. Google wants content that’s useful and natural. Mention the location where it makes sense, but don’t force it.
If you’re writing naturally about your service in a specific place, location keywords will appear on their own. You don’t need to shoehorn them into every sentence.
Read your content out loud. If it sounds robotic, you’ve probably overdone it.
Adding Local Schema Markup
This bit’s a little more technical, but worth mentioning. Schema markup is code you add to your website that helps Google understand your content better.
For location pages, you can add local business schema that specifies your service area, address, phone number, and other information.
You don’t need to know how to code this yourself — there are plenty of plugins and tools that can do it for you. But it’s worth adding because it gives Google clear, structured details about your business.
Updating Your Location Content
Location pages aren’t “set and forget”. You should update them periodically with new information, recent work, or local references.
If you complete a major project in an area, add it to that page. If there’s news or changes relevant to your industry locally, mention it. Keeping content fresh shows Google the page is active and gives readers more reasons to trust you.
Does This Actually Work?
Yes. I’ve seen businesses go from invisible in local search results to first‑page rankings simply by creating proper location‑specific content.
It’s not instant, and it’s not the only factor, but it’s an important one. And unlike some SEO tactics, it’s genuinely helpful for your customers.
When someone searches for a service in their area, they want to know you actually operate there and understand the local context. Good location content does exactly that — for both Google and your customers.
The key is to be genuine, specific, and useful. Don’t create location pages just for the sake of it — create ones that actually help people understand what you do and where you do it. The SEO benefits will follow.