6 Types Of Duplicate Content In Local SEO: Do They Help Or Hurt?

Local SEO can be a winner for many types of businesses.

Whether you have an actual or service-based business, you know that many of your potential clients will begin their journey with research.

And if you want their business, you have to show up.

To get started, you’ll (hopefully) conduct a local SEO audit of your site that will help you create your local strategy.

This will be your roadmap for making sure you tick all the boxes and are on your way to getting those customers close to you.

During this process, one of the things you may realize is that there are specific types of content that are targeted to increase your visibility to those users who are looking for your product or service in their area.

It also means to really appear in the right place at the right time, you’ll need a great deal of content.

This can lead to questions like:

• How can I create a lot of unique content On the exact same topic?
• I can just copy and paste Same info and city name change?
• What is the best way to target my clients and Duplicate content is not penalized?

Well, let’s take a look at six different types of content you might be tempted to copy and whether you should make them unique or just rinse and reuse them.

1. Service Area Pages

Service area pages are prime real estate for local keywords including city, state, area, and metro.

As a service-based company, these pages tell your customers the specific area in which you conduct business.

If you are a brick-and-mortar person, Site Pages may be a suitable alternative.

As a business that serves a large area or if you have multiple sites, it can be very tempting to use the same template for every page.

Do not do it.

This is your chance to speak directly to the customer’s needs and tell the search engines exactly where you want to live in the map results.

Take advantage of this excellent opportunity to differentiate yourself. By having the same information on every page, you are sending mixed signals to search engines on which page is really important.

Make it very clear that if a user is searching for a specific term in that field, you are the best website to help them fulfill that need or answer a specific question.

Unique content tips:

• Talk about how the service will be provided Each specific service area is unique for this customer.
• Think The problem you solve for your customer who lives in that area.
• If you have service mix changes based on location, This is the place to Highlight those changes. Getting your services on this page also adds keywords or short-tail keywords that you target with the site.
• Use this page as a file An opportunity to link to landing pages for a specific city and metroWhich we will talk about a little later.
• Be sure to Add a local schema to make sure search engines understand all the important information About your business including your name, location, hours of operation, coordinates of the area you serve, services and associated social accounts. If you have more than one site, be sure to write a unique outline for each site and place it on the appropriate service area page.
• Include a Google Map linked to your Business Google Profile. This will send an indication that this website serves the target area indicated on this page with a direct link.
• Don’t forget information about your business Including NAP, opening hours, email address, and relevant photos. Bonus points if these photos are geotagged.

2. City specific landing pages

We briefly mentioned city-specific landing pages in the last section.

This type of page gives you the opportunity to target a metropolitan area or city where you provide services.

This is especially useful if you don’t have a physical location within that area.

Since the intent of this page is to drive organic traffic from a specific city or metro area, you definitely want to make sure that the content is unique and targets the keywords you identified in your strategic plan.

This could be a specific eg [your service] + [city].

Since search engines are looking for the best site to serve their customers with the most relevant search results, you want that content to scream, “I AM THIS BUSINESS!”.

Unique content tips:

• Talk about individual services or products What you offer in this area and why it is important.
• Be sure to include surrounding cities and suburbs in content. This will help expand your local reach.
• Local landmarks will help Validate your knowledge of the area.
• Do not forget Include the address of the office or location serving the target city.
• Local reviews, testimonials and work stories Help build your credibility.
• Don’t forget your focus. Treat this as the landing page for your customers within the target city. This may be your only chance to convert or retain a customer on your site.

3. Articles and blogs

In today’s social culture, everyone loves a good article or blog, especially if it is related to a situation they are going through at that moment.

The Resources section of your site is a great place to speak directly to that specific client need while showing that you are the authority in your space.

The best part about having articles and blogs as part of your strategy is the flexibility to delve into any topic and make it applicable to your service or product.

Don’t get bored by just reusing the same thing over and over again.

Throw off that creative hat and have some fun.

Unique content tips:

• Get hyperlocal! Talk about what is happening in your neighborhood or area.
• Be relevant and on time. Create content that users will care about right now. This can range from social issues to events and promotions. Listen to what your customers care about.
• Post your long tail keyword strategy here. Use your resource pages to create content for those hyper-targeted keywords that may not fit with the main areas of your site.
• Get creative and Use checklists, top 10 lists, infographics and video content To engage your local audience.
• Not sure what to create? Use your own keyword research tools Google trends What is common in the area you are targeting.

4. Information on the National Action Program

Although NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) may not be a full page of content, it is extremely important for local SEO.

This is an example where consistency is important and you want it to be the same across the board.

The required level of detail goes deeper as if you were using “St.” or “street” in your address.

This is important because it is how search engines check your online presence.

If they can match your name, address, and phone number to other sources of information, it shows the connection between your website and other signals of your company.

You should have this information in the footer of your website, on your metro pages and about us pages.

Help your customer and search engine connect the dots.

5. Reviews and testimonials

Reviews and testimonials build trust and credibility with your customers.

According to BrightLocal, 77% of users always or regularly read reviews when browsing for a local business.

Don’t be afraid to use the same reviews and testimonials across different pages on your site.

The key here is to update this content periodically.

This can be done manually or through plugins that pull reviews directly from the source.

6. Directory listings

Web directories are still very relevant to local SEO.

We’ve all heard about the most popular directories like Google Business Profile and Bing Places, however, there are a slew of others that are used quite often and may not be on your radar.

These include local search directories, map sites, affiliate/review sites, and chambers of commerce.

Each directory may give you the opportunity to obtain a profile that includes your NAP information as well as a list of your services and a description of the business.

It is not necessary to create a new description or list of services for each directory.

Similar to the NAP, consistency is important.

You want the search engines to be able to plug the dots from the directory sites into your website and identify, beyond any doubt, that you are the same company.

To save a little time, you can sign up for a listing service that pushes your business information to the directories most popular to you.

As you experiment with these different types of content, you’ll find ways to start integrating your other marketing efforts like social content and video content into your local SEO strategy.

Consistency across platforms will further connect the dots across the entire marketing portfolio and create an end-to-end user journey.

Don’t just repeat this content.

Use the snack form, giving them more information with each step.

start

Planning content for your local SEO efforts can seem daunting when you’re starting out, with the right plan in place, it’s well worth the effort.

Check out our Local SEO Guide to get started on this journey.

This will put you on the right track to create your strategy, plan the right content, drive traffic, and increase rankings.

More resources:

• 3 tips for successful keyword research and content localization
• 7 ways to improve your local SEO and attract new business
• A guide to local search engine optimization

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