Local Site Architecture: Location Page Structure, URL Design, and Internal Linking

Your website's architecture determines how effectively search engines understand your geographic relevance, how authority flows between pages, and how users navigate between your service offerings and locations. For local SEO, architecture is not just an organizational convenience—it's a ranking signal infrastructure that supports every other optimization you build.

Your site architecture should mirror your business's entity structure in Google's knowledge graph:

• One entity per location — each physical location gets its own section/page
• Services connected to locations — service pages link to relevant location pages and vice versa
• Geographic hierarchy — broader areas contain more specific areas (Region > City > Neighborhood)

Internal links distribute page authority (PageRank) throughout your site. Strategic internal linking ensures:

• Your homepage authority flows to location and service pages
• Location pages strengthen each other through contextual cross-linking
• Service pages reinforce location pages' relevance for "[service] + [location]" queries
• Blog content funnels authority to commercial pages through contextual links

For a business with one location:

• Homepage: yourdomain.com/ (targets [city] + brand)
• Service pages: yourdomain.com/services/drain-cleaning/
• About/contact: yourdomain.com/about/ and yourdomain.com/contact/
• Blog: yourdomain.com/blog/[post-slug]/

For businesses with multiple locations, use a location subfolder:

• Locations hub: yourdomain.com/locations/
• Individual locations: yourdomain.com/locations/portland/
• Location + service: yourdomain.com/locations/portland/drain-cleaning/

This structure centralizes domain authority under one domain while creating distinct, indexable pages for each location and service-location combination.

• Use descriptive, lowercase URLs with hyphens as separators
• Include the location name in URLs for location-specific pages
• Keep URLs concise but descriptive (avoid parameter strings)
• Use subfolders rather than subdomains for locations
• Implement trailing slash consistency (either always or never use trailing slashes)
• Ensure every URL has a self-referencing canonical tag

Each location page needs:

• Unique H1 — "[Service] in [Location]" or "[Location] - [Business Name]"
• Unique body content (800+ words) — location-specific information, not templated copy
• NAP block — name, address, phone matching GBP exactly
• Embedded Google Map — with business pin
• [LocalBusiness schema](/blog/local-schema-markup-guide) — with location-specific structured data
• Click-to-call link — tappable phone number for mobile users
• Testimonials — from customers in that specific area
• Service list — services offered at that location

Templated location pages with only city names swapped trigger Google's thin content filter. Differentiate each page with:

• Local staff bios and photos
• Location-specific testimonials
• Area-specific service considerations (climate, regulations, common issues)
• Neighborhood references and landmarks
• Locally relevant FAQs
• Unique service pricing or availability information

The most valuable internal links are contextual—embedded naturally within page content with descriptive anchor text:

• Service pages → location pages: "We provide drain cleaning in Portland and surrounding areas"
• Location pages → service pages: "Learn more about our water heater installation services"
• Blog posts → service/location pages: "If you need a plumber in Portland, contact our local team"

Structure your internal linking as a hub-and-spoke:

• Hub (pillar) pages — comprehensive service or location overview pages
• Spoke pages — specific service-location combinations, blog posts, and FAQ pages
• Spokes link to the hub; the hub links to all spokes
• Spokes cross-link to related spokes where contextually appropriate

• Header navigation — links to primary service and location pages
• Footer — complete sitemap-style links to all key pages plus NAP
• Sidebar (if applicable) — related services and nearby locations
• Breadcrumbs — hierarchical navigation showing the user's current position

Breadcrumbs serve both users and search engines:

• Users can navigate up the hierarchy (Location > City > Service)
• Google uses breadcrumbs to understand site structure
• Breadcrumbs appear in search results, improving click-through rates
• BreadcrumbList schema enhances search result appearance

Display breadcrumb trails on every page except the homepage:

• Service page: Home > Services > Drain Cleaning
• Location page: Home > Locations > Portland
• Location-service page: Home > Locations > Portland > Drain Cleaning
• Blog post: Home > Blog > [Post Title]

Implement BreadcrumbList schema markup alongside the visual breadcrumbs.

Your XML sitemap should include:

• All location pages
• All service pages
• All service-location combination pages
• Blog posts and resource pages
• The locations hub page

• Set lastmod dates accurately to reflect genuine content updates
• Use priority values to signal importance (locations and services: 0.8; blog: 0.6)
• Submit the sitemap through Google Search Console
• For large multi-location sites, use sitemap index files organizing pages by type or region

As your business grows, your architecture should accommodate new locations without restructuring:

• New location → new subfolder page: yourdomain.com/locations/new-city/
• New location services → new pages under location: yourdomain.com/locations/new-city/services/
• Update locations hub page to include new location
• Update internal links on nearby location pages to cross-reference the new location
• Update XML sitemap

New services → new service pages linked from all relevant location pages. Add the service to your GBP for each location. Create local content about the new service with geographic context.

Subfolders. They consolidate domain authority under one root domain, are easier to manage, and perform better in search rankings than subdomains for most multi-location businesses.

There's no hard limit, but every location page must have genuinely unique content. If you can't write 800+ words of unique, valuable content for a location, don't create the page. It's better to have fewer strong location pages than many thin ones.

Use a central /blog/ subfolder for general content. Only place content under location subfolders if it's specifically about that location. Internal links connect blog content to relevant location pages regardless of URL structure.

Create service area pages rather than "location" pages. Be transparent that you serve the area without having a storefront there. Include unique content about serving that area and link to your nearest physical location.

Local site architecture is the structural foundation that supports every ranking signal—from schema markup to internal link authority to content relevance. Design your architecture around clear location hierarchies, descriptive URLs, strategic internal linking, and breadcrumb navigation that helps both users and search engines understand your geographic coverage.

Audit your current architecture against these principles, identify structural gaps, and implement changes systematically. Then verify that your architecture is working as intended by checking how your pages appear in local results using LocalSERPChecker.app.