Local SEO for Multiple Locations

Local SEO is an important element of any website’s success, especially if there is a physical storefront location to go with it. However, one concept that does not get discussed enough within the world of SEO is what happens if a company has multiple different locations. How do these separate storefront spaces operate within the SEO sphere?  

Luckily, the concept is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance. This article will discuss SEO for local businesses, the many benefits of SEO and some tips for building your SEO, and how to utilize multiple location local SEO. 

 

What is Local SEO? 

Before we dive headfirst into SEO for multiple locations, we have to discuss local SEO and how it works. The easiest way to break down the concept is by splitting it into its parts: let’s begin with SEO. 

 

What is SEO? 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is a tool used by many almost every website on the internet and is a competitive and analytical way to get more website traffic and customers. Through a series of different optimizing strategies like backlinks, keywords, website speed, and more, you can push your website to the top of the Search Engine Results Pages, or SERPs. The majority of internet searchers will not click past the first page of search results, so earning a spot on that first page is essential for your company’s success. 

 

Local SEO 

SEO can be for general internet searches, but it can also be used locally. You can optimize your SEO for a specific location or area, and then your website is more likely to be seen by people in your area. This is especially helpful if you have a physical storefront, but is also excellent for companies that offer services in a certain location, like freelance photographers or plumbing services. Optimizing your SEO locally can feel a little bit more complicated than a general SEO optimization strategy, but is overall to your company’s benefit. 

Digging into multiple locations local SEO can take on some additional complications and challenges. However, if your company does service multiple locations or has multiple storefront spaces across different cities or areas, it is a great idea to optimize your website as much as you can while using local SEO best practices. 

 

Local SEO Benefits

So, why is it valuable to optimize your local SEO? Let’s go over some of the benefits of optimizing your SEO locally: 

• Expand your Business: The growth you see in your traffic, customers, and profits can be an excellent way to help expand your business. As you see success through your local use of SEO, you might be able to open a second location or even a third! This is where multiple location local SEO comes into play. 

• More Physical Customers: On average, 46% of all Google searches are trying to find local information. This often means that someone is looking for a local service or shop. If you have a physical storefront, optimizing your SEO is going to make more people aware of your location, and draw more in-person customers to your business. 

• Connect with Consumers: By drawing more customers into your physical location, you are actively creating a wider network! Provide a quality customer experience for everyone who visits your storefront, and you will increase your customer base through word of mouth and through positive reviews. Online reviews also help increase your SEO, so the more good people have to say, the better! 

• Become an Authority: When you put high-quality and reliable information on your website, you are on your way to becoming an authority in the field. This is especially helpful for local businesses because you have competition with fewer companies; only those within your local area. By providing the best products, services, and knowledge, more people are incentivized to work with you.  

Multiple Location Local SEO 

Now that we have discussed local SEO, it is important to clarify what it means to have SEO for multiple different locations. You can still implement SEO tools for local businesses, but you have to be clear on what the differences will be before you start. 

This practice involves multiple businesses underneath the same brand all working together to elevate the brand’s success and growth. When the entire brand is successful, all of the individual locations will also find success, and vice versa. It is all about locations supporting each other. 

This does not necessarily mean that you have to have separate websites and separate SEO for each of your different locations. Instead, you will want to create different webpages for each of your locations and make note of how they all stand out. Then, you can utilize keywords and other practices through your website to push all of your different locations toward the top of the SERPs where it is necessary. 

 

Local SEO Best Practices 

Here are some of the best practices you can use for local SEO: 

 

Use Structured Data

One of the most important elements of optimizing SEO for local businesses and storefronts is establishing that you are in fact a local business. This means that you need to add the most important structured information to your website and other profiles. If you are in any way connected to another local business, be sure to include it. Add your mailing address and your physical location’s address to make it clear that you are easily accessible. 

 

Optimize your Google Business Profile

You should also be sure to open a Google Business Profile. This is one of the best tips for optimizing your SEO. With a Google Business Profile, you can offer a lot of essential information that will show up straight on Google, like photos, reviews, menu items, and descriptions. You can also include short video content to appear alongside your images. 

 

Local Keyword Research

When it comes to boosting your SEO, keyword research is one of the greatest local SEO benefits. Learn what people are searching for in your area. Phrases like “near me” or the name of your city are bound to appear quite often in local Google searches. Include those phrases and terms throughout your website in order to push it higher on the SERPs. 

 

Engage with Other Local Brands

Links and local citations are going to be a major part of building your brand and boosting your SEO, especially locally. Reach out to local blogs or publishers to see if you can get a review or mention in one of their columns. This further increases your outreach and gets more people to visit your website and visit you in person. 

 

Optimizing your SEO Across Locations

If you do have multiple physical locations, there are a few different local SEO best practices that you can use for your website and your physical locations. Here are just a couple of ways top optimize your SEO for multiple locations:

 

Hyperlocal Landing Pages

Hyperlocal landing pages take local SEO to a whole new level. You don’t just need to stop your SEO optimization at a certain city. You can take it a step further by singling out neighborhoods or specific areas within a larger city. If your two locations are within the same city, you can use hyperlocal SEO to push customers toward the location closest to them. In Chicago, for example, you could create a hyperlocal landing page for your Wicker Park location, pushing Wicker Park and surrounding residents to see that page. Then, in a different area of town, you could create a different hyperlocal landing page for your Edgewater location. 

 

“Book Online” Options

You can also incorporate buttons and links for your customers to book services or reservations online. By going through these different services, you can make it easy for customers to select specific locations or even use Google’s location services to automatically select the nearest shop. If your business involves a service where you have to travel specifically to their home, you can assign the service to a location manually on the back end. Small tools like these can make your website more accessible to customers and help draw attention to the multiple locations you may be operating.

 

Get the Support You Need 

No matter what type of business you have, whether it be a restaurant, roofing company, or hair salon, local SEO is important. It does not help you to appear at the top of search results on the other side of the country; what matters is making yourself available to consumers who are in your area. 

Putting together an SEO marketing plan can be tricky, especially if you have never done it before. There are a lot of moving parts: analytics, data tracking, designing your website, and more. So, why not work with experts? 

Reap the rewards of local SEO benefits without having to worry about doing it all by yourself. Instead, talk to our team at SEO Design Chicago today and find out how we can seamlessly market your multiple locations and bring your business more traffic, both online and in-person.