Fixing Local SEO Schema and Internal Linking Disasters: A Real-World Site Audit
When auditing a local business website, it’s common to find quick fixes that can yield massive improvements. Recently, we dug into a site audit that revealed a classic combination of sitewide schema errors, misapplied product data, and messy location targeting.
If your local business website is utilizing plugins to automate your setup, you might be making some of these exact same mistakes. Let’s break down what went wrong and how to structure a proper local SEO topical pillar.
The Sitewide Product Schema Trap
Looking at the site’s code, we identified a home and construction business. However, a sitewide deployment plugin caused major structural issues:
- Filler Text in Breadcrumbs: Some of the webpage schema and breadcrumbs still contained raw filler text.
- Misused Product Schema: Product schema was loaded onto the homepage—and every single page across the site.
Why this matters: Google explicitly reserves the “product” designation for e-commerce and internet shopping. If you provide local services (like contracting, painting, or repairs), labeling yourself as a product vendor creates confusion for search engines. Stick to service-specific schema types appropriate for your business model.
Unfocused URLs and City-Packing Mistakes
Next, looking at the on-page structure and URL pathways, things were completely disjointed:
- URL vs. Content Mismatch: A URL might indicate a broad service like house painting, but the body content immediately hyper-focused on a single localized area.
- City Packing: The site attempted to target multiple areas simultaneously—including Memphis, Collierville, Cordova, Ellendale, and Arlington—without a clean hierarchy.
- Orphaned Location Pages: Despite packing multiple cities into the copy, none of those separate location pages were properly integrated or internally linked.
Building a Proper Topical Pillar with Internal Links
To fix this structure, you need to guide Google step-by-step from your brand down to your specific service areas. Here is how to correct it:
- Optimize the Core Service Page: Instead of cramming random locations awkwardly into a single URL, let your top-level service page broadly target the primary trade (e.g., house painting services) while lightly referencing the wider state or region in your headings and body tags.
- Create Internal Linking Opportunities: Use the body copy of your main service page to naturally list out your service areas as clean internal links.
- Route to Dedicated Location Pages: Direct those internal links straight to dedicated, localized landing pages.
The Ideal User and Crawler Flow:
- The Homepage: Establishes your brand identity and overview of what you do.
- The Service Page: Explains the mechanics, quality, and general state-wide scope of your offering.
- The Location Pages: Pinpoint specifically where within that region you operate, satisfying local search intent seamlessly.
Watch the full breakdown here: Fixing THIS Local SEO Schema Disaster 🛑