2 builders who never spoke to each other

Win one city, then repeat the sequence in the next

Build a parent page per city with child pages for each category inside it, so every phrasing already has a page waiting. Earn the local links by offering the local press a discount for their readers with a link to the offer page as the only condition. Then turn that sequence into a template and run it in every new market you enter.

The method

1. 01

   Build the site as a parent page per city with child pages for each specific category inside it, so every phrasing of the query already has an indexed page waiting.

2. 02

   Earn local links by offering the local press a discount for their readers and making the link to your city page the price of the offer.

3. 03

   Make organic search the backbone of a geographic expansion when thousands of people search your category daily, and hire for it specifically.

4. 04

   Turn the first market's link-building sequence into a repeatable template and run it again in every new city you enter.

5. 05

   For a local business, target the geographic intent phrase your customers would use - the category plus the town name.

What it returned

• $10

  Grubhub told New York press it was launching and offered readers $10 off a first order, with the only requirement being a link to the page explaining the discount.

• $1.1

  Grubhub had raised $1.1 million by 2007 and brought in its first marketer expressly to drive the New York expansion through search.

• Grubhub's first marketer, Casey Winters, generated a New York parent page plus child pages for pizza delivery, vegan delivery and the rest.

• A Vernon shop kept coming up when men discussed where to buy gifts, so the author would optimise for gift-idea searches tied to Vernon BC.

Sources

• The secret is to sell what people are already searching forJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · The secret is to sell what people are already searching for · undated
• Grubhub's link building strategyHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Grubhub's link building strategy · undated