A client has 3 verified GMB's across 2 states,with service pages for each location. Should service pages have only their respective locations address?

[dteb]

A client has 3 verified GMB's across 2 states, and their website has the homepage & service pages for each location. Should the homepage have the addresses for all 3 locations, but the service pages only have the address for its location?

 

[Phil Rozek]

A client has 3 verified GMB's across 2 states, and their website has the homepage & service pages for each location. Should the homepage have the addresses for all 3 locations, but the service pages only have the address for its location?

This seems like at least a couple of questions wrapped into one (i.e. what landing page to use for GMB, which sets of NAP info to use on which pages, and how many "service" pages to have). But I'll take a crack at it.

Unless you offer different services from one location to the next, then I don't suggest having separate "service" pages for different locations. In general, you're better off consolidating those pages.

Here is the rigging I tend to suggest:

1. All GMB pages point to the homepage.

2. The homepage has info on all the specific services you care about.

3. The site-wide footer has the address / NAP info for all your locations, plus links to all the "service" pages you care about, plus a paragraph or so that describes your service area explicitly. That footer shows up on every page of the site.

4. You have ONE page on each specific service you consider a priority. Those pages not only describe what it is you offer and why it's better (etc.) in detail, but they also describe your service area, include links to related service pages, and include links to "city" pages if you have them.

 

[dteb]

This seems like at least a couple of questions wrapped into one (i.e. what landing page to use for GMB, which sets of NAP info to use on which pages, and how many "service" pages to have). But I'll take a crack at it.

Unless you offer different services from one location to the next, then I don't suggest having separate "service" pages for different locations. In general, you're better off consolidating those pages.

Here is the rigging I tend to suggest:

1. All GMB pages point to the homepage.

2. The homepage has info on all the specific services you care about.

3. The site-wide footer has the address / NAP info for all your locations, plus links to all the "service" pages you care about, plus a paragraph or so that describes your service area explicitly. That footer shows up on every page of the site.

4. You have ONE page on each specific service you consider a priority. Those pages not only describe what it is you offer and why it's better (etc.) in detail, but they also describe your service area, include links to related service pages, and include links to "city" pages if you have them.

Thank you for the detailed info!

I think my uncertainty is caused by
1) multiple sources indicating that it's best to have one topic per page
2) If I were to have "city" pages, why not just build out city pages dedicated to each service offered?

This client offers 3 services (same services for each location). So, would it not be prudent to create 3 service pages for each area (to best target search intent)? That is, if creating city pages is good, why not create city/service pages?

Hopefully that makes sense. And thank you again for your time and input!

 

[Phil Rozek]

Sure thing, @dteb.

1. I don't recommend that, in most cases. Having only one page that's viable for a certain term, or for a group of search terms, tends not to work well in practice. My working assumption always has been that's because (a) very few pages on a "local" business's site have much or any link authority (i.e. non-toolbar PageRank), and because (b) Google often doesn't rank your pages in the way you hope or expect Google to. That kind of siloing may work OK on an ecommerce or educational site, but rarely holds up for a local business.

2. You might be interested in a post I did called "You Offer 10 Services and Serve 10 Cities, So You Create 100 City Pages? Why City-Page Proliferation Is Dumb." (In a nutshell: that "city-service" page approach tends not to work out, for a variety of reasons.)

 

[dteb]

Sure thing, @dteb.

1. I don't recommend that, in most cases. Having only one page that's viable for a certain term, or for a group of search terms, tends not to work well in practice. My working assumption always has been that's because (a) very few pages on a "local" business's site have much or any link authority (i.e. non-toolbar PageRank), and because (b) Google often doesn't rank your pages in the way you hope or expect Google to. That kind of siloing may work OK on an ecommerce or educational site, but rarely holds up for a local business.

2. You might be interested in a post I did called "You Offer 10 Services and Serve 10 Cities, So You Create 100 City Pages? Why City-Page Proliferation Is Dumb." (In a nutshell: that "city-service" page approach tends not to work out, for a variety of reasons.)

Understood, thank you for the input Phil!