A lot gets written about topic clusters when it comes to SEO-focused content in ecommerce or B2B, but much less so when it comes to local SEO.<\/p>\n
Do locally focused businesses even need to think about topic clusters? What types of clusters could you build for a roofing company or plumbing company?<\/p>\n
While internal linking and site structure is different for local SEO, it\u2019s still critically important.<\/p>\n
In this article, I\u2019ll walk through the key types of topic clusters you should be thinking about for local SEO and how to implement and interlink them.<\/p>\n
Contents<\/h3>\nWhat are topic clusters?<\/h2>\n
Topic clusters are related pages that are interlinked, typically for SEO benefit.<\/p>\n
More specifically, topic clusters have a \u201chub and spoke\u201d set up with a hub or pillar page<\/a> and spoke or cluster pages. Here is a visual representation of the basic concept:<\/p>\n Typically, as part of your topic clusters strategy, you\u2019ll want:<\/p>\n Now that you know what topic clusters are, let\u2019s talk about how they can benefit your local SEO strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude80 Free guide >><\/strong> 10 Tangible & Free Ways to Get on the First Page of Google<\/a><\/p>\n Creating topic clusters for local SEO has a few core benefits.<\/p>\n When you build a topic cluster around a core topic and page you increase the likelihood that the core page will rank. For instance, if you created a series of pages about Orlando roofing costs, Orlando roofing materials, related services, and surrounding towns and had all of those pages link back to your Orlando roofing page, that page will perform better for terms like \u201cOrlando roofing\u201d because you\u2019re indicating to Google that your site is a comprehensive resource on the subject, and those pages can all convey to Google that the Orlando roofing page is about that topic (more on this later).<\/p>\n Additionally, you can attract more potential customers by creating specific content related to a core topic that you wouldn\u2019t have otherwise. Often those searchers are higher intent<\/a> as well because their search terms are more specific, and the terms are within a cluster of terms that are relevant to your business.<\/p>\n Finally, creating content clusters and interlinking them strategically improves the user experience for your site\u2019s visitors<\/a> as you are able to answer more of their related questions (by covering the topic more thoroughly) and giving them the option to dive deeper on a core topic by offering links to related content.<\/p>\n When implemented correctly, all of this leads to more traffic<\/a>, leads, and revenue from local SEO.<\/p>\n \ud83d\uded1 Search ads can also help you attract more local searchers.<\/strong> Want to learn more about search engine marketing on Google? Get the free guide >> PPC 101: Complete Guide to Google Ads<\/a><\/p>\n The concept of topic clusters is relatively simple, but if you\u2019re a locally focused business, what types of pages should you be \u201cclustering\u201d and how should you fit those pages into clusters? Let\u2019s walk through some examples of topic clusters in local SEO.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re providing any type of local service\u2014from roofers to chiropractors\u2014you\u2019ll want to build out local service pages<\/a> targeting your service areas with town page + service. If you offer one service to a tight geography, this may be pretty straightforward with a structure like:<\/p>\n Service Areas<\/p>\n If you have a larger service area, you can cluster pages by geography, with batches of 10 or so towns.<\/p>\n What if you have a situation like the image above where there are several services across multiple service areas?<\/p>\n First, you need to determine how many pages you actually need. Unfortunately, to do this, you need to do some leg work and look at the actual search results in your area. Let\u2019s look at a few of the services offered in this region by the company above. First, roofing company:<\/p>\n And here is the SERP for Orlando leak detection:<\/p>\n All of these results are service pages or entire sites specifically dedicated to leak detection, so if we want to rank, we\u2019ll need to create a new services page (and not just a sub-section on our roofing page).<\/p>\n On the other hand, if you look at \u201croof repair Orlando\u201d the results aren\u2019t exactly the same as \u201cOrlando roofing company,\u201d but there are a number of the same sites, and virtually every page is a general roofing page (not specific to repairs):<\/p>\n So that term can likely be addressed on the roofing page.<\/p>\n For sites that have a mix of multiple services and multiple service areas, the structure might look something like this:<\/p>\n Service Areas<\/p>\n So the Windemere roofing page would link down to its \u201cspoke\u201d pages, those pages would link back up and across to each other, and the Windemere page would have at least two links to and from the other location roofing \u201cspoke\u201d pages.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd0e Need help finding the right keywords for your topic clusters?<\/strong> Try our Free Keyword Tool<\/a>!<\/p>\n Many services will have search volume around town\/city + service + cost as well:<\/p>\n These are national results from the Free Keyword Tool<\/a> but many of these modifiers will show up for localized searches.<\/p>\n Cost pages\u2014particularly if you can invest in building simple cost calculators and in-depth data for specific areas\u2014can also get passive links from other sources as well.<\/p>\n These can be linked to and from both within service + service area pages, and a broader \u201c{service} costs\u201d or \u201cstate {service} costs\u201d page that acts as a hub page and links down to the service area pages.<\/p>\n This is a cluster that depends on the service you\u2019re offering, but there are a lot of locally focused services where measurements and material estimates play a role. A potential customer may want to estimate things like:<\/p>\n Providing tools and frameworks for customers to conduct these estimations can help build credibility and authority around a topic. Plus, if you build something like a free tool for your visitors, you can get links from other sites to help with your ranking<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n If you have a recurring service, there are likely a lot of questions like:<\/p>\n As with measurement terms, you want to get in front of these customers as they\u2019re researching whether they need something replaced or how often they need a recurring service:<\/p>\n An underrated fact here is that these queries are often personalized based on location<\/strong>. You may think a search query like this will reach everyone across the country\u2014and if you rank well for the term it may\u2014but Google will also personalize these results<\/a> based on search history and location. Here is the search result for this phrase according to keyword tools:<\/p>\n This is the result I see in Massachusetts:<\/p>\n The Nova Home Improvement site doesn\u2019t show up at all in the generalized search results, but for a local searcher, it\u2019s getting a featured snippet! Again this is a great opportunity to get in front of your potential customers.<\/p>\n The fundamental structure of these kinds of clusters would be the same\u2013you don\u2019t need to build a separate page for each service area you have, just a cluster of related terms around replacement, maintenance, and frequency terms with the same hub and spoke approach.<\/p>\n Not every local site needs a lot of informational content. If you\u2019re servicing an area that\u2019s low competition, and\/or you offer a service that\u2019s lower competition, you may want to focus on local SEO best practices<\/a> like building local citations<\/a>, links, and service area pages rather than informational content.<\/p>\n But the screenshot above gives you an indication of how informational content helps you reach prospects. You can then remarket<\/a> to those folks, have them see your organic results or ads, and get more business down the line from these activities. More informational content also has a couple of additional advantages for local businesses:<\/p>\n Again, these could be on a variety of topics, using the same hub and spoke model with the same linking recommendations outlined above. Some examples of informational content that could work for your locally focused site include:<\/p>\n A lot of businesses don\u2019t want to talk about competitors<\/a>, but it\u2019s often the case that your prospects already know about your competitors, and being willing to mention them can be a way to get in front of more potential customers who are close to paying for your service.<\/p>\n Just as with Google Ads \u201cconquesting\u201d campaigns<\/a> that target competitor names, you can potentially rank for some search terms related to your competitors by being willing to mention them and highlight where you\u2019re different.<\/p>\n First, you can create a list of the businesses in your area. Again: this is a bit scary and something a lot of businesses want to stay away from, but it can be a great way to rank for terms that you couldn\u2019t otherwise. When a searcher looks for \u201croofing companies in Nashville\u201d they want a list, not just the site of a specific company.<\/p>\n This organic result is mostly third-party sites like Yelp or the BBB, but the third organic result here is an individual roofing company that was willing to list competitors:<\/p>\n From there, you could go a step further and actually link to a page with your competitor\u2019s name, and do a comparison of what your strengths are versus the competitor. Obviously, you have to be careful not to say anything false or libelous about the competitor, but you can often rank well with these pages for search terms like:<\/p>\n This is a fairly common practice in other industries but not well used with locally focused businesses.<\/p>\n In terms of structure, you would use the \u201cbest of\u201d list as the hub, and the competitor pages would each function as a spoke.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd75\ufe0f\u200d\u2640\ufe0f Want to know what your competitors are up to?<\/strong> Get the guide >> How to Spy on Your Competitors: 7 Ways to Become a Competitive Supersleuth<\/a><\/p>\n Ultimately the most important \u201ctopic cluster\u201d for local SEO is making sure that you have coverage around service pages to target your core services and service areas.<\/p>\n If you have additional resources and\/or are in a competitive market, a lot of these additional content types and topic clusters can both help you drive incremental traffic and leads and can help solidify your rankings on your core services and service areas.<\/p>\n Here are the key takeaways to keep in mind if you do decide to work on any of these local SEO topic cluster types:<\/p>\n![\"topic](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/topic-clusters-png.webp\")
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Why create topic clusters? What are the benefits?<\/h2>\n
Increases your chances for ranking in search results<\/h3>\n
Attracts more potential local customers<\/h3>\n
Improves the user experience<\/h3>\n
Types of topic clusters for local SEO (+examples)<\/h2>\n
Service and area topic clusters<\/h3>\n
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![\"topic](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/topic-clusters-service-service-area-png.webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"search](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/orlando-roofing-serp-png.webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"search](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/orlando-roof-leak-detection-serp-png.webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"search](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/roof-repair-orlando-serp-png.webp\")
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What to keep in mind when creating this type of topic cluster<\/h4>\n
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Cost and cost calculator topic clusters<\/h3>\n
![\"wordstream](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/local-keyword-research-results-roofing-cost-png.webp\")
<\/p>\nTips for creating this type of topic cluster:<\/h4>\n
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Measurement and materials topic clusters<\/h3>\n
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Frequency and maintenance topic clusters<\/h3>\n
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![\"wordstream](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/local-keyword-research-results-roofing-png.webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"roof](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/roof-replacement-query-results-png.webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"informational](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/local-informational-content-roofing-example-png.webp\")
<\/p>\nTips for creating these topic clusters<\/h4>\n
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Informational and blog topic clusters<\/h3>\n
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Tips for creating these types of topic clusters<\/h4>\n
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Competitor comparison topic clusters<\/h3>\n
![\"roofing](\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/roofing-companies-nashville-serp-png.webp\")
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Tips for creating these topic clusters<\/h4>\n
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How to think about topic clusters for local SEO<\/h2>\n
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