Tackling Local SEO for Multiple Locations in 2018

Local SEO for multiple locations might seem like a big challenge for franchises, but it’s easily overcome with the right tactics. Today’s post shares 4 tips to optimize local SEO for multiple locations in 2018.

• Research and Reverse-Engineer the Competition. As with any form of digital marketing, it’s important that you understand the market and assess your competition when tackling local SEO for multiple locations. Simply identifying what the competition is doing and replicating their tactics is a good way to get started, but eventually you’ll need to dive deeper and learn “the why behind the what” if you hope to surpass them.

• Build Subdomains and Subfolders from a Single Domain. If your business or franchise has multiple locations in operation, you may be tempted to create distinct domains for each. After all, hosting several separate websites would eliminate any confusion for the consumer, right?Granted, creating separate domains does make it easier to distinguish between locations in theory. But this tactic falls flat in practice.When you create separate domains for each location, you end up competing with yourself in terms of marketing and SEO. All your efforts get diluted; each domain is indexed separately, so your hard-earned links and perfectly crafted content only serve one site.

  For the best of both worlds, use subdomains and subfolders from a single domain. In doing so, you can create geographically targeted content for individual locations that boosts your overall site authority and search visibility.

• Create Location-Specific Content. Building from the last point, creating location-specific content, such as unique contact pages, blogs/news sections, and testimonial pages, is crucial for optimizing local SEO for multiple locations. At the very least, commit to creating one “location page” that include the location’s name, address, and phone number (NAP), alongside an embedded Google Map and any other location-specific content you desire. This is far superior to the old approach that used a single “master landing page” to list all location information.For best results, use content that creates natural opportunities to slip in geographical data. The names of cities, states, provinces, or even specific streets and local businesses are all great bits of info to juice your local ranking power.

  So how do you slip these in naturally, so that your local name-drops are useful and welcomed, rather than spammy and annoying? You have tons of options: write a blog about local weather conditions; share a few pictures from a local trade show, store event, or town landmark; post video testimonials and reviews from local regulars, and mention where they’re from; or simply piggyback off of local news that you think your audience will find relevant and interesting.

• Claim your Google My Business Listing. Setting up your GMB listing is essential for local SEO for multiple locations. GMB allows users to manually add additional locations (again, think subdomain) to the parent business listing, so that the name, address, phone number, hours, URL, and reviews are visible on Google’s SERP. Be sure to follow Google’s guidelines for best results. And if you have more than 10 locations, look into Google’s bulk location management overview.

Learn More About Local SEO for Multiple Locations

ClickTecs specializes in web marketing and digital advertising solutions for franchises. And as current and former franchise owners, we know all about the challenges of local SEO for multiple locations.

If you want to talk more about local SEO for multiple franchises, contact us online, or call 866-311-7189.