Learn the 10 local SEO tactics for multi-location businesses. Get help to start building your online presence and improving your ROI.
Many business types have multiple business locations. Whether you manage a franchise, regional chain or global enterprise, using local SEO tactics for your multi-location business is essential to success.
Find out how you can make your brick-and-mortar business stand out and how local SEO can help boost your business.
First, let’s briefly review what local SEO is and how it works. Local SEO is the practice of optimizing your business’s online presence to drive traffic from local customers. That traffic can be digital or foot traffic.
Some tactics that might be included in your local SEO strategy include:
The goal is to appear in the top search results when customers in your area search for information or services you offer. From there, you want your content to drive foot traffic to your locations, thereby increasing sales and conversions.
With a full plate of marketing activities spanning a large geography, you might be wondering why local SEO matters. With the right optimization, you can be at the top of results when a user searches for information related to your business or goes looking for a local resource to visit.
By being there when a customer searching for information related to your business in your area, you can better serve your community and increase the likelihood of a conversion since you are there when the customer needs you.
And while you might be thinking that digital searchers rarely visit stores, that simply isn’t the case. Here are some statistics that underline the importance of spending some time optimizing your local SEO.
Based on those numbers, you can’t afford to ignore local SEO and should rather look to maximize your online presence. If you’re looking for a competitive edge over others in your area, SEO is paramount.
Local SEO for multi-location businesses is complex. It presents unique challenges because you’re working to optimize your online presence for various locations and each location provides a unique experience and might serve a different demographic.
As you build your local SEO strategy, consider how you’ll overcome these challenges.
Now that you know the importance of local SEO and the challenges you’ll face along the way, here are some ways you can build out your online presence with a multi-location business.
Your website should have landing pages for every location. Each page should include relevant keywords as well as your business location. Don’t just copy and paste one page and update the address for each location. These pages need to be unique and showcase what you offer your community from that location.
Claim your Google My Business profile for each business location. Ensure you include accurate business information. Add photos that showcase your business. After a customer purchases from you, encourage them to leave a review. Google elevates pages with more high-quality reviews. So if you want more exposure in Google Maps and search, keeping your review section fresh is important.
Structured data markup offers search engines more information about your business. You can include location information as well as contact information. You’ll have greater visibility online when you include structured data markup.
When completing your SEO research, look into location-specific keywords and include geo-targeted phrases. This helps search engines understand how your company relates to local searches. You’ll gain greater visibility in local searches and showcase what you offer.
Your backlinking strategy requires high-quality backlinks from sites with outstanding domain authority to elevate your site as a whole. But also look into earning local backlinks from companies in your community to improve your local credibility.
When building your content calendar, include blogs, social content and articles that focus on the communities you serve. That way, you can show search engines that you are relevant in those areas, and you’ll delight your audience.
Monitor your various online profiles and accounts to respond to reviews. Whether the customer is sharing positive or negative feedback, you should address those concerns and show how responsive you are to your customers.
Use local content on social media. Include promotions for the communities you serve. Create event pages when you host local gatherings. Encourage your local communities to interact with you on social media and show you understand local concerns and nuances. This can be challenging for global businesses, but you should not overlook it just because it is challenging.
The more optimized your website is, the better user experience it creates. Search engines want to know that the customers they direct to your website will have a good experience and find the answers they are seeking. So, while a mobile-friendly website isn’t location-specific, it is an essential element in any SEO plan.
As you produce location-specific content and work toward increasing your rankings, monitor your website’s performance. Look for ways to build similar content once you have high-performing content. Listen to your customer’s problems and address their needs with your marketing. You won’t know when the decisions you make impact your website traffic unless you’re following your metrics closely. Refine your SEO strategy as you find traction with your efforts.
New Light Digital understands the challenges global businesses face. Our team has helped multi-location businesses of various types rank for local SEO and improve their online presence. Schedule a free consultation now to learn more about our services and how we can help.
Further reading:
As you evaluate local SEO vs. global SEO, read up on the main elements of each and businesses that are ideal for each SEO method.
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