Small service-based businesses must have service pages that not only promote their services but are also optimized for local keywords. If you want to come up for local keywords, it’s important to write service pages that convert and will continue to be evergreen.

A few methods, and there are a lot, to increase your conversion rates while also properly optimizing your page for local keywords are:

1. Establish Trust With the Reader

Honesty and ethics mean a lot to consumers. Clients need to trust your business, and this is apparent in the Edelman Trust Barometer report from 2016. But how do you gain trust with a reader and potential customer?

There are a few methods of gaining trust:

1. About Section: Adding an about section to a key landing page will help build trust and is a great way to put in local keywords. The about section can be short, but it should explain the benefit of using your service over a competitors. You can also put in local directions, much in the same way Marks and Harrison does on their landing page:

• You will find us centrally located on Route 1 in front of the DMV in Fredericksburg, which also is the home of the University of Mary Washington

This section establishes trust with the reader as well as explains what the firm can do for the reader.

2. Recognition: If you’ve been given an industry award or are a member of an industry association, you can add this into the page to help increase trust and credibility. This can include:

• Awards
• Reviews
• Better Business Bureau ratings

Anything that adds to your business’ trust is a good option and will enhance the trust you have with the reader.

Mentions in local newspapers are also a great way to build recognition and trust.

2. Local Commitment

If a business is involved in the community, it’s always a major bonus for consumers. Consumers want to hire businesses that are involved in the community, and they trust businesses that are willing to give back.

Local commitment can be:

• Special programs designed to help the community
• Offering free services to charities and non-profits
• Offering free services to low-income clients

Every business needs to make money to remain viable and stay in business, but a little local commitment can better serve the community and help your business build trust.

Even local sponsorships, such as buying soccer jerseys for a local team, can be mentioned in the service page’s copy.

3. Testimonials and Reviews

There’s a lot that goes into a service page’s copy, and you’ll need to find a tactful way to add in reviews and testimonials whenever possible. Yes, you can go overboard with this method, so you’ll need to keep the reviews and testimonials either spread out or to 2 – 3 at the most.

When you add these testimonials and reviews, keep in mind that they must be real.

Fake reviews and testimonials can get you in legal trouble. Placement of these trust builders needs to be strategic, too, so you’ll want to include them:

• Before outlining a service and what it offers
• Before asking for the reader to take action via a phone call or filling out a form

You can use any real reviews tied to your company. If no reviews or testimonials are available, ask clients for them after performing a service. A simple nudge to post a review will drastically increase the amount of reviews that clients provide.

There’s a lot more to writing a service page, but if you build trust and outline the benefits of your service and what it can do for the client, you’ll have much higher conversion rates.