Your city pages probably aren't ranking — and here's the honest reason why.
I've looked at a lot of contractor websites where city pages clearly weren't doing anything. The pattern is almost always the same: pages built fast, content templated, city name swapped, problem supposedly solved. Google doesn't care. Neither do the homeowners searching in those towns.
Here's what actually makes a city page rank — and what to do if you serve multiple cities but only show up in one.
Why it matters
If you're a service area contractor, your Google Business Profile anchors you to wherever your verified address is. That's great for your home city. For everywhere else, your website has to do the geographic work.
The problem: most location pages are interchangeable. The same service description, the same photos, the same copy — just a different city name at the top. Google sees a page like that and has no reason to rank it above the dozen competitors doing the same thing. There's no proof your business has ever touched a job in that city.
I worked with Macaw Plumbing and Tankless out of China Grove, NC. No public address, no storefront anywhere outside their home town. Before we built their site, they ranked for their company name and almost nothing else. Four months after launching with the right city pages, they were #1 in Salisbury for tankless water heater installations. That's not their address. They just had a page that proved they'd done the work there.
How to build city pages that actually rank
Start with proof, not copy. Before you write anything, ask: what work have we done in this city? What street? What type of job? That's your content foundation — not a description of the town.
Write the case study. You don't need a customer name or exact address. "We replaced a tankless unit for a homeowner off Jake Alexander Blvd in Salisbury" is specific enough. That's experience no competitor can copy.
Use real project photos. A photo of your van or your work in that city is worth ten paragraphs of copy. Stock images and town welcome signs don't help you rank. Real job photos do.
Get a review that mentions the city. Even if it doesn't name the city, use a different review than you used on every other page. Google notices repetition across location pages.
Cut anything not about your service. Town history, population, local landmarks — it's filler. Keep the page tight and focused on what you do and what you've done there.
Don't build 20 pages at once. If you haven't done work in most of those cities yet, you don't have the proof to make the pages real. One strong page beats ten thin ones. Build them as your work history in each city grows.
The Quick Apply
Pull up two of your city pages side by side. Ask yourself: if you swapped the city names, would anyone notice?
If the answer is no, pick one of those pages and rewrite it around a real job you did there. One case study, one real photo, one focused service description. That's your baseline for what a city page should be.
City pages that rank aren't clever. They're specific.
In Case You Missed It
→ Read the whole guide — Do City Pages Actually Work for Contractors? (What We’ve Seen After 60,000+ Impressions)
The Traction Sprint
→ Inconsistent leads are a visibility problem, not a hustle problem. The Traction Sprint fixes that in 90 days. See What's Included
Still got a specific question about your website strategy or strategy for multiple service areas?
— John