Best SEO Practices for Businesses with Multiple Locations
Create a separate landing page for each location
It’s good to have one domain for all of a client’s locations, but it’s important that each location has it’s own web-page(s). Each location page should have information specific to that location. Such as business name, phone, number, and address. The page can be further optimized by adding customized content specific to that location. This could include testimonials, names, faces, and titles of staff. Updates pertaining to that location could also be placed here. You should also include an embedded Google map for that location.
Create Business Citations for Each Location
As discussed earlier, creating consistent citations can help Google trust a local business. You can utilize the Hoth’s local citation builder for each separate location.
Utilize GMB Correctly
When using GMB for multiple locations you have two options. If the client has 10 or more locations, the easiest method is to use bulk location management. This allows businesses with 10 or more locations to add, verify, and manage their locations all at once. Using bulk management requires a Google account and a location group for the business. Then you can upload a spreadsheet with all of the locations’ information and request bulk verification. Instructions on bulk location management.
The second method is used when a client has 9 or fewer locations. Here you will need to claim, verify, and update each location individually. It’s best if the client uses a company email (like marketing@[company].com) to claim and verify all the locations. Then they would need to add sebo.marketing@gmail.com as a user. After this is done, normal GMB optimization practices should be implemented.
Reviews, Generate Reviews
Reviews are like a reference for a product or service. People see reviews and think that if someone else liked it, they probably will too. I know I’ve mentioned reviews before, but it bears repeating; reviews are incredibly important, and you should do what you can to increase the reviews of a client’s business. Google reviews are probably the most important for SEO purposes, but other, relevant review sites, are also very useful. Here are some ways you might go about generating reviews:
- Just ask. This is probably my favorite. Simply send an email to existing customers asking if they’d like to write a review. You can also ask after the sign-up/purchase process in a confirmation email.
- Add a review page or widget to the website. Creating a dedicated landing page or embedding a widget on your website is a great way to generate online reviews and showcase customer testimonials. Online review sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google make it pretty easy to integrate reviews.
- Include review links in email signatures. If the client has a team that communicates with customers daily, adding review links can be a quick and easy way to generate reviews.
- Create an incentive. Offer a deal or incentive to an existing customer if they write a review.
- Respond to every review. It is important for a client to engage with their customers online. Make sure your client has someone who is responding to reviews, both negative and positive.
- Seek reviews on social media. If the client has a social media presence they may find success in seeking for reviews on their social media accounts. You can have social media links pointing to a review page, or simply ask customers to review a client’s business on the social media platform itself.
There are many other ways to generate reviews. If you want to find more then Google it.
Additional Tips
- Utilize schema and structured markup. Use schema.org structured data markup for your address and hours. This will ensure that Google’s search engine crawlers most accurately represents each locations information.
- Build links to each of the location pages. Don’t let these pages fall to the wayside by ignoring them once they are built. Actively build links to these pages through the Hoth and other creative methods. Some of these methods may include hosting meetups, event sponsorships, and creating valuable local content.
- Don’t forget to track the data. Make sure to set up benchmarks and goals before the pages are live, and once you have built the individual local pages, track them and compare against historical data and the goals you set.