Local SEO isn't just for small businesses with a single location. Even large companies with outlets in a number of cities or even states can take advantage of local SEO and all that it has to offer. Following are some tried and proven local SEO tips for businesses with multiple locations.

Create Local Pages

You don't want to create a brand new website for every single city; in fact, doing so looks unprofessional and could do your company more harm than good. However, what you should seriously consider doing is adding a location-based page for every city you have a branch in. For instance, a company with branches in Houston and Dallas could add pages named www.mybusiness.com/houston and www.mybusiness.com/dallas. This same principle can be applied by very large companies with multiple outlets across varying states by naming pages after states instead of cities. Then, when people click on the state page, have a list of links to sub-pages for individual cities where you are located.

Create City-Specific Content

The new pages discussed above are meant to be more than mere stubs. They should include city-specific information such as:

  • Business address,
  • Phone number
  • Branch office email address
  • When appropriate, name of the local business manager
  • Information about city-specific special offers

It's also a good idea to create city-specific content for your blog. Doing so can help you address issues that customers in certain cities face, giving you the appeal of a local businessperson who is in tune with the market instead of a large corporation that doesn't really know what's going on in town. This is perhaps one of the most important local SEO tips for businesses with multiple locations, albeit one that can be time-consuming to implement on a regular basis.

Each local page should also include a map to direct potential customers who want to find out exactly where you're located.

Optimize Local Pages

Each local page should be optimized so that local customers in any city can find you easily. Effective, tried and proven local optimization techniques include using city-specific title tags, keywords and Meta descriptions.

Use Offsite SEO Tactics

Local Directories

One of the best ways to optimize your local SEO pages is to have them listed on well-known business directories. Listing your local business outlets on sites such as Yelp and Angie's List is a must. Any business that is part of the travel agency will want to get listed on TripAdvisor. There may be other local niche directories that suit your outlets' needs so do some research to see what your best options are.

Once you list your company on the major local directories, post the link to these directories on your website. Doing so makes it easy for your customers to see positive reviews and find out even more about your local outlet. What is more, posting a link makes it easy for satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on the page for your local business. This in turn boosts your local SEO and makes it easier than ever for first time customers to trust one of your local outlets with their business.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a popular social media service that makes it easy to find any type of business in the local area. Be sure each one of your outlets can easily be found on this app that is used by an average of eight million people every single day. To make your business stand out from the competition, offer city-specific coupons for users; any special offer you are currently making will show up on Foursquare along with your exact business location.

Groupon

It has been estimated that Groupon closes about 200 million deals every single year. Use this digital coupon website to advertise city-specific deals to potential customers. You may not break even on every single deal but the exposure your local outlets gain from this marketing website makes it more than worth the cost. Using Groupon can be a particularly good idea if you are opening a new outlet in a city and want to promote your new place of business.

Other Local SEO Tips for Businesses with Multiple Locations

  • Keep your local business information up to date at all times. Wrong phone numbers, mistakes in the business schedule or an old address can not only ruin your local optimization efforts but also put off potential customers.
  • Tailor special offers and deals to meet the needs of each city. Don't generate a national marketing campaign and then slap the name of a specific city on it to make it look local.
  • Keep track of your local marketing efforts to discover what works well in each city. Some local SEO tips for businesses with multiple locations may work better in some locations than others. Timing can also play a role in the effectiveness of any given strategy.

Naturally, keeping up with a business with multiple branches is a lot of hard work. Thankfully, you do not need to create, optimize and manage local SEO pages for each outlet on your own. Brandgy specializes in local SEO and can help you reach clients in every city and state in the United States.  Get in touch with us to find out more about we can help you implement these and other local SEO tips for businesses with multiple locations.