Top 8 Tips For Local SEO For Franchises

Does it sound challenging to manage multiple locations for your franchise, or, have the tips become insufficient to address your issues correctly?

Don’t worry!! Local SEO tips for managing multiple locations are the right kick-start to your solution. Franchise SEO comes with large content and many pages to handle. 

Local SEO for multiple locations allow you to customize your web pages according to local content strategy for each page.

The customization part includes both on-page as well as off-page SEO techniques which I will show you with the help of images.

By the end of this article, you will be successful in setting up your website for multiple locations. 

What is franchise SEO? 

To elaborate this, consider Franchise SEO as a set of practices to increase the Search Engine visibility of your franchise website.

More precisely these practices are aimed at promoting your brand while ensuring that the localized pages are also offered for your particular brand.

Moving ahead, these practices which fall under the local SEO for franchises are executed to ensure that your web page as a  franchise owner stays at the top of the SERP(Search engine results pages) over which you need to pay attention while *implementing or going for* franchise SEO.

Moving ahead, franchise SEO practices are meant to promote your overall brand while offering to you multiple locations for your brand. 

Since these practices focus on scaling your franchise business, local page quality and listing your franchise locations are the core components of it.

Let me show you how:

This is a web page of a franchise that is properly optimized considering the vital component of local page quality.

As a franchise owner, you would be responsible for enlisting the services of your SEO company, which will help you build brand awareness about your product.

Does it not sound interesting if franchising tips mold your interest towards targeting the local keywords of your competitor’s franchise to boost your search engine ranking?

As the owner of a franchise company, your main goal or aim would be centered on targeting a specific group of audience members who could later be converted to sales. 

Importance Of SEO For Franchise 

If you are overwhelmed with traditional marketing practices for your franchise, here is a list of reasons to focus your attention on the importance of SEO for franchises:

1. More Organic Local Traffic: SEO techniques help the local franchises to generate traffic locally ranging from organic traffic to improving your search rankings.

2. Boosting Your Sales: From using the right local keyword search to identifying the search intent of the user, the techniques bolster the branding of your franchisee to make it more visible to the customers.

High branding ensures high growth in sales for your franchise.

3. Converting Your Leads Into Sales: When you get access to relevant information of the user ranging from his local address to his Gmail address, you can understand the rate of activity of the user.

Franchise SEO Best Practices

Now that you have acclimatized yourself to franchise SEO, you must put yourself in the shoes of local franchise SEO practices.

It refers to a set of practices like creating a Google My Business profile, creating blogs, and using relevant keywords to boost the brand awareness for your franchise.

Here is a list of franchise SEO practices that can yield the best results for you:

List Your Different Locations In Google Maps

When going with the local SEO for franchises, it is must to have your multiple locations in Google maps.  

Having franchise for a business, your customers should be able to locate your different  business location through Google maps.

Here are the benefits of having multiple locations on Google Maps:

1. Increased Visibility and Brand Awareness: As a local franchise, if you have multiple locations for your franchise website, you can have the benefit of having:

• All the information is at a single spot.
• Allowing different customers to locate you where they want.
• Boosting your website traffic locally.

2. Targeting multiple local users: When you have multiple local pages, it makes your franchise website more friendly to the local users, allowing you to earn their loyalty and trust.

3. Increased authority with Google: When SEO for franchises has more than one location then the business recommends google about your authority in those areas.

4. Segment your business and target different niches: When you have multiple locations for your local franchise, optimizing them allows you to segment different audiences, giving you an opportunity to target different niches.

5. Map locations on Google Maps: When you get over the idea of presenting your phone number, business name, and address of your business, you must aim to list your business on Google Maps as an important tip for local SEO for franchises. 

Use Location-Based Keywords In Your Website

Now, your attention should be focused on listing out location-based keywords, which will generate results through location-specific phrases related to a particular geographic location.

It looks like this:

Here is a list of steps through which you can find location-based keywords:

1. Specifying the location: When you specify the location, you must allow the users to access the specified location since this tip will allow you to target the keywords based upon specific locations. 

Location keywords can be tracked near the place of business.

2. Focusing on Industry specific keywords: When you focus on industry-specific keywords, you can increase your chances of appearing in the SERP.

This does two important things:

• First, it attracts traffic to your web page.
• Second, it decreases your bounce rate.

3. Adding keyword modifiers: When you hear about adding more keywords to elaborate your research, tools like keyword modifiers will not only help you add more keywords to your research but can also increase the traffic to your website.

Here are some of the benefits of adding location-based keywords to your website:

a) Improving the SEO: While adding multiple locations to your website, you can actually confront situations where you need to adapt yourself according to the keywords of other locations.

Here you can use location-based keywords to improve your SEO since the webpages on your website will be dedicated to the location where you actually are and where you want to change your location to.

b) Improving your market visibility: Now that you have added keywords, it is imperative to expose these keywords to a large section of the population in order to expose your brand publicly.

 “Near Me” searches, which are featured by Google, allow your target audience to locate the best service near them and aid them in increasing the market visibility of your page.

c) Expanding your business: Since business expansion can be related to location-specific webpages, you can aim to adapt each location-based page according to the local trends and customs. 

d) Driving organic traffic to your website: In order to do well in sales, you need to have an organic crowd drive without which you cannot convert your leads into sales.

Ask Customers To Leave Reviews For Your Different Franchise Location

If you are aiming for business growth for your local franchise, then you must include reviews as a part of your brand reputation management to ensure sustainable growth.

Reviews are the kind of feedback that the customer provides on any online platform for the services that they have taken from you. Anyone who is familiar with your product or service gets a chance to publicly share their opinion about your product or service.

If reviews are considered so important, then you better pull up your socks since 92% of consumers rely on online reviews for their local businesses. 

So, here is a list of reasons why reviews should be considered at the peril of every business:

1. Getting better visibility: If I tell you that online reviews are used as an important factor by the search engines to rank their pages on the SERP, would you believe that?

Yes, that’s true—the more positive reviews your franchise receives, the better search rankings you will get.

Increased rankings allow you to attract traffic to your website, increasing the number of leads for your website.

Brain Patterson says, large businesses need to have a strategy for managing reviews.

2. Earning customer trust: Now, taking your attention to the factual side, the reports published by Harvard Franchise Business Review state that positive franchise reviews and ratings allow you to earn customer trust.

If this theory is true, then positive franchise reviews allow you to earn customer trust.

3. Building your customer’s trust: If you have come across the word “online brand reputation management strategy,” then you would want to know the importance of customer trust in achieving that.

Having a positive number of reviews on your business profile on Google can increase the rate at which your customers use your business.

So if reviews are so important then let’s look at the ways of increasing the reviews:

A. Providing great customer service: In order to start, you must set the highest standard of customer service for all your locations.

This works in two smart ways:

• First, you provide the highest standards of customer service.
• Customer service strengthens your online brand reputation management.

B. Encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews: If you understand the value of a happy customer, you will want to teach your employees to identify a happy customer and ask him to leave reviews.

C. Developing an online reputation management strategy: When branding your product and monitoring its strategy are your primary goals, online reputation management helps you achieve the same.

An online reputation management strategy is aimed at fostering a positive perception of your brand or business.

This image will help you understand how online reputation management works:

It also helps to develop strategies that are intended to solve problems that can damage an entity’s reputation.

Create And Optimize Your GMB Profile

Even before you ponder over the idea of creating and optimizing your profile, you must first understand what a GMB profile is. 

A GMB profile is a feature that is provided by Google to help business owners increase their visibility and manage their online presence across Google.

Complex right? Let’s view it through an example. 

If you are running a chain of restaurants, then you probably need to update your customers and clients about your location, address, and contact details since any major operation on your part is likely to impact your operations ahead.   

Herein is a list of tips you can follow for optimizing your Google My Business profile:

1. Keeping your GMB profile informative: Your Google My Business profile must convey everything about your business. In a nutshell, your GMB profile must offer detailed and accurate information to serve the search. 

Your GMB profile must not contain anything that is based on assumption; rather, everything must be clear when details are listed.

2. Using important keywords: While using the local SEO for franchise tips you must aim to include keywords within your GMB profile so that each keyword you use includes the listing of your GMB profile.

3. Optimizing Your GMB profile:: In order to update your GMB profile, you must aim to optimize your profile in such a manner that customization leads to better operating hours. 

The customization must be done by changing the schedule of hours to days and optimizing hours for holidays.

4. Inserting Photos: Adding photos to your google my business profile will not only aid in getting more thorough clicks for their websites but will foster more requests.

5. Responding to customer reviews: Now taking note from a point that talked about asking for reviews you need to be careful here as well. Responding to customer reviews will cater to two of the most important benefits of local SEO for Franchises:

a)    One which is increasing your visibility within the search results.

b)    And the other is generating to you potential customers through a list of positive reviews.

6. Using Local Posts: In order to engage with your audience, you must check your posts regularly so that you can engage with them properly. 

In this method, you must make sure that your post is of high quality, respectful, but not offensive.

7. Adding New Features to Your GMB Profile: Adding new features to your Google Business Profile allows you to highlight your profile in a better manner.

As a local SEO for a franchise, you must offer a range of features like editing your gender-based information, scheduling, and receiving online care.

Keep Your NAP Consistent

What do you say when asked about the accuracy of your business data? Well, if you want to manage it on a relatively consistent level, then NAP is the right concept to coin.

NAP refers to the accuracy of your data and updated business information related to it. 

Since it is imperative for you to not only list all relevant data relating to your information but also NAP relating data into it, therefore you must aim to ensure the consistency of NAP.

When you have ensured the consistency of NAP, you will appear in the local pack at the top of the search.

Here is a list of methods that you, as a local SEO for a franchise, can adapt to keep your NAP data consistent:

1. Fixing the Business Name: When you operate your franchise in multiple locations, you must fix a business name, address, and contact details. 

Since Google values keywords with rich names, it is essential to add keywords to your Google My Business name so as to improve your search rankings.

You must decide whether to add full words or abbreviations to your website. Your address must, however, be consistent and must not alter.

2. Review NAP data: For local SEO for a franchise, you must aim to review your data after you have officially added an address and phone number. 

In the next process, you complete the paperwork before submitting your NAP data to the right institutions.

3. Updating Your NAP Information: You must aim to update your NAP information on your website since that is the first place where inconsistencies can be pointed out and updates can be made regarding it.

4. Updating GMB Profile through NAP: When potential clients look at your Google My Business profile through your NAP information, then you must update your Google My Business page. 

On the Google my business page you must ensure that the details of your NAP match the information according to your website and your paperwork.

5. Adding Local Schema:  When you add a local schema to your page, Google can evaluate your NAP information and allow you to appear in snippets.

6. Auditing your directories and citations: When you update your citations and listings, you invite a range of initiatives to check the NAP consistency of your information with the website.

Read More: 500+ Top Local Business Listing Sites – Citation Database

7. Managing your social media profile and keeping a consistent flow of information: When you have your profiles on social media platforms, you must ensure that the NAP information matches up with your website.

Create Local Content

If you are able to solve the problem of your client through local content then your franchise has made a positive start.  

The content must focus on solving the problems alone, but broadening the focus by targeting the community, in general, is applaudable.

Your intention for including the community is to generate a gesture of welcome towards the local audience through your content. 

When you mix your content with community-specific news then you actually embrace the community beyond selling. For example, when you focus on a local event like discussing what the people would be interested in then you basically venerate the people as a gesture of respect.

In order to generate traffic from your content, it must be local and ideal. 

Read More: 10 SEO Content Strategies To Boost Your Rankings in 2023

As a practitioner of local SEO for franchises, your aim must be centered on solving problems in the following ways:

When you talk about keyword research, you must aim to add local keywords to the text.

Now, to aim for content that is able to generate more traffic and attract people, you must incorporate the following content into your strategy:

1. Written Content: Your written content can be powerful enough to leave a lasting impression on the minds of the viewers.

Stats reveal that 40.4% of people give a positive affirmation for incorporating written content to generate traffic.

2. Video Content: Learning through visuals and video graphics helps you retain more clients and customers. 

Yes, that’s a scientific fact, statistics reveal that 34.3% of people affirm that video graphics and visual content are capable enough to generate more traffic.

Moving ahead, I will show you the following pieces of content that will be helpful for attracting more traffic:

3. Webinars: Webinars are capable of delivering traffic and generating leads. Your webinars help you build relationships with influencers and are capable of generating leads that can become clients later.

4. Using Podcasts: Would you believe that the reports published by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Edison Research reveal that podcast listeners spend about 45 minutes a day hearing them?

Yes, that’s true, so if you select such topics that are educational and related to your business, catering to the needs of the audience, then you can generate heavy traffic for your local content.

Read More: Everything You Need To Know About SEO For Podcast

5. Using expert opinions: You are likely to choose the opinion of an expert rather than referring to a layman.

The same is the case with generating traffic. When you consult an expert about the tools they use to assist their clients regarding keywords, they will give you the best piece of advice.

6. Using Marketing Tools: When you use marketing tools for constantly posting updates regarding your content, they help you share your content on social media channels.

Since followers on social media are evident of how powerful social media becomes when sharing your content and getting visibility, this is a blessing for getting your content noticed.

7. Researching Your Content: When you research your content, you must aim to find the burning question of your industry and look forward to gathering information regarding a controversial topic. 

Use Location Based Data Structure

If unstructured and unstandardized information has created a problem for you in listing out your features appropriately, then you need to pull up your socks and structure them in a proper way.

Yes, structured data refers to the standardized form of presenting your information by classifying the information on your webpage.

Now let me first explain to you the advantages of using structured data:

1. Structured data is able to pull the information from the websites to offer you features like snippets, FAQs, and knowledge graphs.

2. Since these features are used by Google to expose your website, the information that is needed by Google should be understandable.

Hence, structured data provides information in a manner that is understandable.

3. Since the search engines use this information on the result pages, they give your website more exposure.

Optimize Your Site Speed

How often is your site speed becoming an issue for you on a long term basis? Do you suffer from broken page links or does an error 404 pop up, indicating slowness?

Well, you need to address this problem by adopting the following remedies:

1. Using a content delivery network: When you use a set of web servers that are distributed across different physical locations, you are making use of a content delivery network.

2. Sharing hosting: A popular feature of sharing hosting is that it allows you to get your site online in a relatively shorter period of time. 

Among them, a fast web host is imperative to ensure better optimization.

3. Reducing the number of plugins: As a local SEO for a franchise, you must aim to reduce the number of plugins on your website since they can slow the speed of the site and cause security issues.

Regarding the use of plugins, one must ensure that the unwanted ones are deleted since they are not used anymore. Moreover, you can run a performance test on your website to determine which plugins are slowing the speed of your website.

4. Avoiding websites that contain CSS files: If the websites for franchises contain CSS files or Java scripts, they can hamper the speed since they generate a large number of HTTP links, which have a tendency to slow the speed of the website.

5. Using the process of catching:  As a local SEO for the franchise, if you witness a lot of users accessing your website, then you must aim to use the process of catching. 

When you store the current version of your website until it is updated, your web page doesn’t render over and over again.

6. Using Gzip compression: When you want to reduce the size of files, you must use this method since it minimizes the HTTP requests and further reduces the server response time. 

The method is applicable to all files on the website.

7. Using web fonts: The use of web fonts can unfortunately reduce the speed of your page, which can lead to extra HTTP requests. 

As local SEO for a franchise, you must achieve this by using modern WOFF2 formats and choosing the needed characters only.

Conclusion

So, we have read 8 amazing tips for local SEO for franchises. Franchise SEO totally depends on the multiple locations of SEO. However, it is not too difficult to perform multiple location SEO. The tips given above are enough for you to perform multiple local SEO. 

If you have any doubts or query, you can simply comment down below in the comment section, and I will reply for sure! I am always ready to help.