local-seo

name	local-seo
description	Use during Stage 3 (SEO audit), Stage 5 (strategy), and Stage 10.2 (build personalisation) of the website factory pipeline to ensure every page is built to rank for local '[service/offering] in [city]' queries, Google Map Pack, and service-area domination. Defines keyword architecture for homepage, service/offering pages, and location pages plus schema markup, internal linking, citation strategy, and on-page SEO. Every page must be built to rank, not just look good.
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit","WebFetch","WebSearch"]

Local SEO Skill

How this skill is customised

This skill defines the universal local-SEO architecture: keyword scaffolding, on-page tags, schema patterns, location-page rules, internal linking, sitemap/robots.

The niche-specific keyword themes, schema subtype, and average-job-value math come from the niche playbook:

templates/{active-niche-slug}/niche-playbook/seo-patterns.md

seo-patterns.md defines per niche:

• Primary keyword templates (e.g. "[main service] [city]" for contractor; "boutique hotel [city]" for hospitality)
• LSI keyword themes (materials/categories/sub-services that read as expertise)
• Schema subtype (RoofingContractor, LodgingBusiness, ProfessionalService, LocalBusiness, etc.)
• Average job/booking value for revenue-impact math in audits
• Conversion-rate baseline for the niche
• Common pitfalls or doorway-page risks specific to the niche

If seo-patterns.md is missing, the agent halts with a Module-2D pointer.

---

Purpose

Ensure every website built by the factory is fully optimised for local search, targeting "[service/offering] in [city]" queries, Google Map Pack rankings, and service-area domination. Every page must be built to rank, not just look good.

---

1. Keyword architecture

Homepage

• Primary keyword: from niche-playbook/seo-patterns.md template (e.g. "[main service] [primary city]")
• Secondary keywords: niche-specific variations
• Long-tail in hero bullets: niche-specific benefit + location

Service / offering pages

Each service from the strategy gets a dedicated page targeting:

• [service] [primary city] as H1
• [service] near me in body copy (1-2 natural mentions)
• [service] [adjacent city] in body copy
• LSI keywords from the niche playbook's theme list

Location pages

Each area in serviceAreas[] gets a dedicated page targeting:

• [main service] [city name] as H1
• [city name] [service variation] as H2s
• Unique content per page, never duplicated with city name swapped (Google penalises thin/duplicate)

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2. On-page SEO requirements

Every page must have

<title>[Primary Keyword] | [Business Name]</title>
<meta name="description" content="[Benefit-driven sentence]. [CTA]. Call [phone]." />
<link rel="canonical" href="[full URL]" />

Title tag formula

Page Type	Formula	Example pattern
Homepage	[Service] [City], [Trust Signal] | [Business]	"[Service] [City], [Trust] | [Brand]"
Service / offering	[Service] in [City], [Benefit] | [Business]	"[Service] in [City], [Benefit] | [Brand]"
Location	[Service] [City, State], [Differentiator] | [Business]	"[Service] [City, State], [Diff] | [Brand]"
Blog	[Topic], [Helpful Angle] | [Business]	"[Topic], [Angle] | [Brand]"

Meta description formula

120-155 characters. Include: primary keyword + benefit + CTA + phone.

"Need [service] in [city]? [Business] offers [benefit]. [Trust signal]. Call [phone] for a free [consultation/estimate/quote]."

Heading hierarchy (every page)

• One H1 per page, contains primary keyword + location
• H2s for section headings with secondary keywords
• H3s for sub-sections, never skip levels

Image SEO

• File names: kebab-case with keywords (e.g. [service]-[primary-city].webp)
• Alt text: descriptive, includes location naturally, NOT keyword-stuffed
• All images WebP format, compressed under 150KB
• loading="lazy" on everything below the fold
• Explicit width and height attributes to prevent CLS

---

3. Location pages (critical for service-area SEO)

Generate one page per service area

For each city in serviceAreas[], create build/src/pages/locations/[city-slug].jsx.

Location page structure

H1: [Main Service/Offering] in [City, State]
├── Intro paragraph (UNIQUE, landmarks, neighbourhoods, local context)
├── H2: Our [Service] Services in [City]
│   └── List services available in this area
├── H2: Why [City] Locals Choose [Business Name]
│   └── Localised trust signals (projects/stays/clients completed in area, local reviews)
├── H2: Service Areas Near [City]
│   └── Internal links to adjacent location pages
├── Localised testimonial (if available)
├── CTA + inline form
├── Embedded Google Map centred on this city
└── LocalBusiness schema with this city's geo-coordinates

Location page content rules

• Minimum 400 words of unique content per page
• Mention city name 3-5 times naturally (not stuffed)
• Reference at least one local landmark, neighbourhood, or geographic feature
• Include "near [adjacent cities]" for geo-relevance
• Link back to homepage and relevant service/offering pages
• Each page has its own unique meta title and description
• NEVER find-and-replace city names in a template, Google detects this instantly

Internal linking from location pages

• Homepage (logo + breadcrumb)
• All relevant service/offering pages
• 3-5 adjacent location pages

---

4. Service / offering pages

Structure

H1: [Service/Offering] in [Primary City]
├── Hero paragraph (problem-aware, visitor with this need lands here)
├── H2: Our [Service] Process
│   └── 3-6 step explanation
├── H2: Why Choose [Business] for [Service] in [City]
│   └── 3-5 benefit bullets
├── H2: [Service] Materials/Categories We Use (if applicable)
├── H2: [Service] Cost in [City] (visitors search this, answer it)
├── H2: Frequently Asked Questions (5-8 Q&As with FAQPage schema)
├── Before/after gallery or portfolio (if assets exist)
├── CTA + inline form
└── Service schema markup

Content rules

• Minimum 600 words
• Include cost/pricing transparency (range, not exact)
• Include warranty / guarantee specifics if relevant
• FAQ section with FAQPage schema mandatory
• Internal links to relevant location pages

---

5. Schema markup

Inject into each page's <head> via React Helmet Async.

Homepage

• Niche-appropriate LocalBusiness subtype (from seo-patterns.md) with all NAP details
• AggregateRating from Google review count + rating
• areaServed listing all service areas
• sameAs linking to GBP, Facebook, BBB/TripAdvisor/Houzz/etc. as the niche playbook prescribes

Service / offering pages

• Service schema with serviceType + provider linking back to the homepage subtype
• FAQPage schema for the FAQ section

Location pages

• LocalBusiness (or niche subtype) with GeoCoordinates for the specific city
• areaServed for this single city

Blog posts

• Article schema with author, datePublished, image
• BreadcrumbList for navigation context

All pages

• BreadcrumbList for nav hierarchy
• Organization schema in footer

---

6. Sitemap & robots

sitemap.xml

Generated at build time. Lists every page with:

• lastmod date
• priority: homepage = 1.0, service/offering = 0.9, location = 0.8, blog = 0.6
• changefreq: homepage = weekly, services = monthly, blog = weekly

robots.txt

User-agent: *
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://{domain}/sitemap.xml

Disallow only build artifacts and admin paths.

---

7. Internal linking architecture

Link patterns (mandatory)

• Every service/offering page links to all relevant location pages
• Every location page links to all service/offering pages
• Footer links to all top-level pages
• Nav has dropdown menus for Services/Offerings and Locations

Link anchor text

• Varied anchor text, never "click here" or "learn more"
• Include keywords naturally
• Never link multiple times to the same URL with the same anchor on one page

---

8. Audit framework (Stage 3, auditing the client's CURRENT site)

Score across these 7 dimensions:

Section 1: Domain authority & trust signals

Domain rank/authority, organic keywords ranked for, estimated monthly organic traffic, traffic trend. Plain-language 2-3 sentence summary.

Section 2: Local keyword gaps

Identify the most valuable niche keywords they are NOT ranking for, per the niche playbook's keyword templates. Estimate leads/bookings per month each keyword represents.

Section 3: Competitor landscape

From research's competitor list: who is ranking above, what they have that the prospect doesn't (reviews, backlinks, content), specific keywords where prospect is outranked.

Section 4: Website technical audit

Title tag quality, H1 optimisation, content depth (under 300 words = thin), blog active/stale, mobile-friendly, page speed, schema markup, internal linking structure.

Section 5: Google Business Profile assessment

Review count vs competitors, review velocity, star rating, GBP photo count, local pack ranking potential.

Section 6: Content strategy gaps

Service/offering pages, location landing pages, FAQ content, before/after/portfolio galleries, blog content.

Section 7: Revenue impact summary

Translate everything into currency:

• Current organic leads/bookings per month
• Potential with proper SEO
• Average job/booking value (from niche-playbook/seo-patterns.md, never invent)
• Monthly revenue left on the table
• Annual revenue left on the table

Format: "You currently rank for X keywords and get approximately Y visitors/month. With proper local SEO, businesses in your niche typically reach Z visitors/month. At a {niche- specific conversion rate}% conversion rate, that's [N] additional leads/bookings per month. At your average value of {currency amount}, that's {monthly amount}/month in additional revenue."

Keep math conservative and explainable. Show the work.

---

9. Output formats per stage

Stage 3 (Audit)

• clients/[Client Name]/Pipeline Data/seo/audit-report.md, 400-600 word professional report
• clients/[Client Name]/Pipeline Data/seo/audit-data.json, structured for proposal injection:

{
  "domainAuthority": 0,
  "monthlyTraffic": 0,
  "page1Keywords": 0,
  "keywordGaps": 0,
  "missingKeywords": [],
  "topCompetitors": [],
  "technicalIssues": [],
  "contentGaps": [],
  "potentialLeadsPerMonth": 0,
  "currentLeadsPerMonth": 0,
  "averageJobValue": 0,
  "currency": "",
  "monthlyRevenueGap": 0,
  "annualRevenueGap": 0,
  "topPriorities": []
}

Stage 5 (Strategy)

• clients/[Client Name]/Pipeline Data/strategy/sitemap.json, full sitemap with target keywords per page

Stage 10 (Build)

• All meta tags, schema markup, location pages, service/offering pages, sitemap.xml, robots.txt rendered into the build

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10. Forbidden patterns

• Keyword stuffing, natural language always
• Doorway pages, every page must offer real value, not just rank
• Cloaking, Google sees what users see
• Duplicate content across location pages, must be unique
• Hidden text for keywords
• Buying backlinks or PBN tactics
• Schema on pages it doesn't apply to, the niche subtype schema goes on the homepage, not on a blog post