You’ve heard it a hundred times: build a location page for every city, town, or locale you serve. And for the most part, it works (if done right). But there’s a fine line between a legitimate, scalable local SEO strategy and spam, what Google has sometimes labeled “doorway pages.”
This post breaks down exactly where the line is, how to stay on the right side of it, and what actually works when you’re building location pages that won’t get you flagged or ignored.
High Risk, High Reward in Local SEO
Every SEO knows location pages can drive traffic, leads, and visibility in local packs. So agencies crank out dozens (or hundreds) of them, thinking more pages = more reach. It’s easy to understand why: it often works just enough to seem worth it.
But here’s the problem: Google’s been calling this out for years. Its doorway page policy warns clearly against
having multiple domain names or pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page.
The wording is somewhat vague, but the intent is fairly clear: Google doesn’t want low-value, copy-paste pages cluttering the index.
When local landing pages are a liability
Google’s spam policy puts it plainly:
Sites that violate our policies may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all.
So if your find-and-replace style landing pages get indexed at all, they may end up doing more harm than good if they don’t add real value for your users.
The bottom line is that spammy local landing pages don’t just bloat search engine crawl budget; they risk confusing users and killing conversions, which is what we’re all about in local SEO anyway, right?
Spotting Spam in Local Pages
Don’t get us wrong here: not every location page is spammy. But certain patterns are just obvious to users and search engines and raise our spam radar.
Here’s what can make your pages look more like a problem than a real local presence:
- Dozens of pages that say the same thing — Swapping city names across boilerplate copy is duplication, not localization. Google recognizes the pattern, and so do users if they navigate elsewhere on your site.
- Content that tries to game the algorithm — If your copy is packed with keywords and FAQs but says nothing useful to a real person in that locale, it’s working against you.
- No internal links, no site context — Orphaned pages that live outside your site’s navigation look disconnected, and Google sees them as lower quality. (Bloated footers or sections on a homepage aren’t much better!)
- No local footprint — Pages that claim to serve a locale but offer no proof (no address, no local team, no context) undermine credibility.
- No real value for visitors — If someone lands on your page and still doesn’t know what to do, who you really are, or what’s unique about you, it’s a bounce waiting to happen.
How to Build Location Pages That Work (and Last)
Here are a few elements that separate pages that perform from pages that get ignored, buried, or worse, penalized.
✅Wanna learn more? Take a peek at our local landing page checklist 📍
Localized content that actually helps
A strong location page speaks directly to the user in that area. It includes details that prove you know the market: real customer testimonials, photos from the region, relevant service examples, and even local-specific FAQs where applicable.
If you can swap out the location and all the rest of the content passes, you haven’t done your job. No one needs a Wikipedia-like history lesson on their town when they’re looking for a service. But your content should look, feel, and sound local—even if we’re talking about the neighborhood level. Add real value by showing (not just telling!) you know the locale and you care about its well-being.
Honesty with service areas vs. physical locations
There’s nothing wrong with serving a city you’re not based in. But pretending you have a local office when you don’t is a fast way to lose trust. Clear messaging that shows how you serve the area—without faking an address or implying you’re located where you actually aren’t—builds credibility and avoids confusion.
Interlinked, navigable pages
Ideally, pages should live within your main navigation or be linked naturally from your service area hub, related blog content, and/or internal service pages. If your location pages exist as orphans, they’ll struggle to gain traction, if they’re indexed at all.
Be careful, however, with loading your footer and top-level nav with every possible location. These internal links are less valuable than in-context links, plus an alphabetical list of locations in the footer, or even smack-dab in the middle of the homepage, doesn’t provide the most friendly, agreeable user experience.
Built to convert, not just to rank
A well-optimized page might bring someone in, but it takes smart UX and CRO to turn that visit into a lead. (Plus, by this point, we all know that user signals such as engagement with your content are actually key factors for building visibility anyway.) Conversion-friendly location pages include clear calls to action, copious social proof, answers to real user questions, USPs/UVPs, and more.
Not Sure If You’ve Overstepped with Location Pages? Start Here
Audit for thin or overlapping pages
Start by looking for pages that cover the same ground (literally) with little variation, especially if they target towns or suburbs near each other.
Pages like these often end up in Crawled – currently not indexed in Google Search Console, which is a clear sign that Google’s not impressed (to put it lightly). Regularly checking the Indexing report in GSC helps you keep tabs on what’s working and what’s not.
Check for cannibalization in GSC
Look at your performance reports in Search Console. Are multiple pages competing for the same queries? Are impressions and clicks scattered across similar URLs with no clear winner? That’s a signal to consolidate, refine, or rebuild (more on consolidation below).
Kill or combine low-value pages
Some overlap in impressions among site content is inevitable, but if you have cannibalization, identify your strongest, most relevant pages for a given locale and redirect the cannibalizers. Merging weaker content into a stronger, broader regional page can preserve authority while creating a better user experience.
And don’t forget: It’s completely fine to mention multiple locations on one page. If you’re targeting a principal city, referencing surrounding inner-ring suburbs or neighboring municipalities is helpful, not spammy. It shows both users and search engines that you serve a given region, not merely a select few zip codes.
Our Take: Location Pages vs. Doorway Pages
Not all location pages are risky. But plenty of them feel like doorway pages to Google and users alike. The difference comes down to providing legitimate, real-world value.
| Trait | Safe | Risky | Spammy |
| Content uniqueness | Localized, original, relevant | Mostly duplicated with minor changes | Swapped city names, boilerplate everywhere |
| Local proof | Testimonials, photos, service examples | Vague mentions of area served | No visible connection to the area |
| Navigation & internal links | Linked to clearly, obviously, and usably | Buried or inconsistently linked | Orphaned, no clear path to/from other pages |
| Conversion intent | Clear CTAs, trust signals | Generic forms, no guidance | No real CTAs, built solely to rank |
| Service area transparency | Clear about office vs. service-only regions | Suggests physical presence without proof | Fakes an address or implies location deceptively |
| Engagement | Indexed, driving impressions + clicks, good dwell time | Inconsistent indexing, low engagement | Crawled or discovered but not indexed, zero organic visibility |
Need Some Local Luster?
At RicketyRoo, we help businesses build location strategies that lead to real leads. Rankings, visibility, impressions—that’s all great, but those metrics don’t pay the bills; customers do.
Need help untangling a messy local buildout, or making sure your pages don’t cross the line? We get local landing pages discovered, crawled, indexed, seen, clicked on, and used to convert every single day.
