Online recognition isn’t just having a large number of followers on social media or getting 1,000 clicks on an ad.
In today’s world, being visible on the internet requires us to take our efforts a step further. That’s where search engine optimization joins the conversation. SEO has taken the digital marketing world by storm (even if its beginnings trace back to the ’90s!), and local businesses are aware of this now, resorting to local SEO agencies to help them take their companies to the next level.
But what happens when a company has multiple branches? Do local SEO agencies carry their SEO efforts one by one? Or do they have strategies to manage all locations at once? Most importantly, can you manage multiple locations on Google? Stay with us as we answer these questions and dive into the world of multi-location SEO management.
Understanding Multi-Location SEO
Before talking about strategies, Google’s approach to multi-location SEO, and more, let’s start with a crucial part of our journey: what it is.
Multiple location SEO is taking the best local SEO efforts and applying them to all locations a client has. If you have a multi-location business, agencies must have a multi-location SEO strategy to ensure all establishments stay relevant and visible across the web.
This SEO method ensures businesses reach potential clients based on their location and ensures all establishments get organic traffic and overall visibility.
For example, almost everyone knows the famous retail clothing chain Zara. Yet, their locations in the US are optimized to rank if a potential customer searches for clothing stores near me. This example showcases that no matter how well-known a business is, local SEO for multiple locations is essential.
Implementing this strategy in local SEO campaigns ensures search engines understand the establishments’ information and provide location-specific results.
How Google Approaches Businesses With Multiple Locations
Here’s where our dive starts to get deeper. Google crawls the web to find citations of a business and bases the establishment’s ranking on its SERPs based on said information.
It is crucial to ensure a business’s NAP (name, address, phone number) is consistent among all different citations, as these will ultimately help Google understand the company and rank it accordingly.
Furthermore, there are other things you can do to make businesses with multiple locations rank on Google, such as optimizing their listings, setting target areas, and more.
Learning How to Rank Multi-Locations on Google
Doing a local SEO campaign for multiple locations isn’t a click-and-done task. It requires marketers to cover several aspects, but technology always provides ways of making these tasks amicable. Here’s what you need to know about ranking multi-locations on this search engine.
Having Multiple Locations on Google My Business
We’ll start this phase of our dive by learning about one of the most popular tools for local SEO: Google My Business.
Google Local Service Ads and its Google Screened and Google Guaranteed sub tools should be part of any local SEO efforts, but everything starts with GMB. This platform came around in 2014 and changed the game for local SEO, which means a business must be there and build an online presence, among other benefits it offers.
Here’s the thing: You must have a Google Business Profile per location. A client whose business has five branches must have a page for each store or office.
When working on GBP optimizations per location, consider the following aspects:
- Location-specific pages require you to add exact information to help it appear on local directories. Ensure you add the phone number of each location and not one central number.
- Regarding websites, it is best practice to have a page per location on the web page. Instead of linking the main URL, add the city page. These will show up on local search results.
- Keep your categories consistent. It is rare to see businesses with different classifications per location, so ensure your company is within the same category in all its location pages. Furthermore, try not to cover several at once.
However, having five business listings to manage isn’t that appealing to most people, and that’s why the search engine has a Business Location group. Follow these steps to create one:
- Start by signing in to Business Profile Manager.
- Select the Create Business Group option you will find at the top right of the website.
- Next, enter the business name, click Done, and your Business Group will be ready to go.
Doing this allows you to update all the business listings at once, which makes the process easier, but essential information, such as NAP (name, address, phone number), location-specific keywords, and others, must be handled manually. A Google Business Profile audit with checklists can help you ensure you cover every aspect of GBP optimization.
Establish the Areas You’ll Target
When you want to rank well on SERPs, you must consider what it takes to make it happen, and for this, you must establish which areas you will target. You want to ensure your target won’t be ranking within locations two or three hours away from them. Choose a few different locations near your client’s address, and start there.
Part of these efforts include knowing where the target audience is and the access they have to what the business offers. For example, most people won’t need to drive for 40 minutes to a beauty salon, but they might feel convinced to do it to visit a new Thai restaurant in town.
Another crucial part of this phase is doing keyword research. Ranking hire depends on several aspects, and keywords are within the stellar roles of this task. See how challenging it is to rant with your target keywords and what their search volume looks like. Furthermore, check out who ranks based on the keywords you want to use.
While you want to ensure your client is within the best of their industry, you don’t want to waste efforts, resources, and energy fighting the titan of their market.
Ensure Your Client’s Location-Specific Pages Are Relevant
Assessing your client’s competition includes seeing what their location pages look like and seeing if you could shape your on-page SEO strategy around it (of course, this doesn’t mean you’ll copy it!).
Some crucial information you must include in your client’s pages is:
- Address.
- Phone number (Remember not to add a central number. Each location should have its contact point).
- Embedded Google Maps.
- Reasons differentiating each location from one another (for example, if one dentist’s office has pediatric dentists and another one has cosmetic dentists, highlight it).
- Business hours.
- Directory links from different websites, such as Yelp.
However, there are also things you mustn’t add to the pages. Ensure it doesn’t have duplicate content and that the page has information on the location it covers. You don’t want to copy-paste information across sites, which will ultimately be harmful to your local SEO strategy.
SEO Tips for Multiple Locations
SEO projects need you to cover certain aspects of it. When doing an SEO audit, consider having checklists to ensure everything is running smoothly. Beyond audits and checklists, here are some tips that can help you boost your SEO performance.
Creating a Website for Each Location: Is It Necessary?
When working on a multi-location SEO campaign, many have a question in common: Should each location have its website?
The answer is no, they shouldn’t. For starters, finding multiple websites related to one business can confuse potential customers and search engines. And if those pages don’t have the same quality, designs, and more, the confusion goes even further.
Another reason you should not create different websites for various locations is that if trying to rank one website is difficult, imagine having to rank several websites at once! Additionally, it can be expensive to maintain all the websites, so consider relying on URL structures instead.
Have an Understandable URL Structure
Now that you know it is better to have location pages instead of a website per establishment, it’s important to emphasize that your client’s website must have an understandable URL structure. Simply put, the website must be crawlable.
Regardless if you choose to use a subdomain or a subdirectory, Google will take either into account.
Don’t Forget to Optimize
So, your client’s website has an understandable URL structure and is running smoothly, but what about technical SEO?
When you have a holistic SEO approach in your strategies, considering all aspects will change your game. Don’t forget about meta descriptions and titles, and use geo-specific keywords. All these efforts will help your client’s websites rank higher.
Keep the Word Running
You have an optimized website and an optimized Google Business Profile, so why not take your efforts to other sites?
Search engines like Bing and Yahoo also have platforms for businesses. Other platforms like Yelp, Facebook Business, Instagram, and more can help keep your client’s company on people’s horizons.
Be careful not to create too many listings, though. Unless we’re talking about an enormous company with global or national locations, having several listings could become hard to keep, irrelevant to your SEO strategies, and ultimately harmful to your results.
Your Client’s Citations Must Be On Your Radar
We mentioned that Google takes its information from citations to see where it will rank a business. That means you must keep your client’s citations on your radar.
You want to ensure the information stays consistent across the sites. For that, you can look into web pages such as:
- Yelp.
- Google My Business.
- Bing.
- Yahoo.
Manage Reviews Accordingly
Reviews are essential for any business, and managing them is part of SEO best practices. Whether your client manages the feedback or you do it, answering it and monitoring it is crucial to keep everything in shape.
Furthermore, consider adding call-to-action buttons on their websites, as these can boost the number of reviews the business gets. Additionally, ensure you know their feedback guidelines so that you can make informed decisions regarding reporting a comment.
Link Building Is Essential
Backlinks are among the main characters in the SEO world. However, several SEO experts agree with this statement: Link building is not a piece of cake.
Any backlink that works for your client’s websites will help, but it’s crucial to have a strategy, especially when it comes to multiple-location SEO. Consider efforts such as guest posting, link exchanges, and any other method that helps you boost the web page’s authority.
This is one of the most crucial SEO KPIs you’ll report to your client, so you want to ensure your results match your efforts.
Onsite Content Is Crucial for Your Arsenal
We mentioned keywords, and we told you about meta titles and descriptions, but it is here where they ultimately meet.
Ensure you create high-quality, relevant content. Ensure the content’s relevancy also fits the business (for example, if your client sells fishing equipment, you want to create next-level posts during fishing seasons).
If needed, answer questions from their customers and design a posting schedule to avoid spamming.
Are There Multi-Location SEO Challenges?
Yes, there are! However, these challenges (which some people acknowledge as mistakes) are more common than you expect, so don’t be discouraged when they happen.
For example, you could find that your client’s Google Business Profile is not getting new reviews or that the listing is duplicated. Not adding meta descriptions, not doing regular maintenance, and other similar challenges can become part of your campaign.
However, when you have access to the right SEO analytics, you will most likely have the opportunity to optimize your campaigns and overall SEO strategy for multiple locations. Don’t be discouraged! Challenges are expected, but with tools like SEO dashboards and the expertise you’ll gain, your campaigns will become a force to be reckoned with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Maps Good for SEO?
Yes, they are! If you haven’t used Google Maps in your SEO strategies, now is the time to start. It allows you to embed location maps on your client’s websites and gives you another popular platform to place your client on potential customer’s radar. Furthermore, having exact addresses and embedded maps can help them locate your client’s business faster.
Does a Slow Website Affect SEO Rankings?
Yes, it does. Website speed is part of technical SEO and is one of the known factors Google considers when creating its rankings. A slow website also increases bounce rates and can lead to a decrease in organic traffic.
What Is Unethical SEO?
Unethical SEO is the practice in which people try to get within a search engine’s main rankings by using strategies like keyword stuffing, creating toxic backlinks, leaving malicious reviews on competitors’ sites, or adding comments with a direct link to their websites.
Wrapping Up
Doing multiple location SEO campaigns is not the easiest of rides, but it isn’t an unclimbable mountain, either. You require a list of strategies to keep your SEO metrics in check and ensure your reports are up to your standards, but today’s digital tools take a load off our shoulders.
Get in touch with us if you’d like to work with a team of local SEO experts. Thank you for reading!
