How to Target Multiple Locations with Local SEO

If your business is looking to target several locations, then it’s important that those locations are targeted specifically using local SEO techniques. There are a number of reasons as to why this needs to be done and you’ll find it will benefit your business in ways that average SEO methods cannot. So what is multiple location SEO, how can it benefit you and what can you do to bring those location pages higher up in the SERPs and increase their exposure?

What is multiple location SEO?

Multiple location SEO, or multi-location SEO as it’s also called, involves the managing and mentioning of a company across the internet in addition to on-page optimisation. Google will crawl your content that has been optimised for local consumption for a business name, address and phone number. This can be done with or without links in order to determine how high Google should rank your website in the SERPs. It’s important that your listings are consistent, otherwise it could harm your local SEO campaign.

3 benefits of multiple location SEO?

There are several benefits to targeting multiple locations using local SEO techniques and campaigns. From increasing brand awareness to attracting new customers throughout the local area, you can be sure that local SEO that targets multiple locations will be extremely advantageous.

It boosts local marketing results

It will boost your marketing efforts when it comes to achieving the results you want, by way of generating leads and sales. Google offers location-based data, including drop pins on digital maps and displaying information about your business, such as a name, an address, a telephone number and also your website. Opening hours can also be displayed along with the aforementioned information. Street view is also advantageous for businesses as it allows potential customers to find your company more easily.

For example, let’s say you Google “pet shops near me”, then Google will pull up all the pet shops that are listed in the local area. Not only will you be able to find their exact location, but you’ll also have every other bit of information you need to be able to decide whether to give them your custom or not.

It attracts local customers

According to Go Gulf, around 46% of all Google search results pertain to local information. Go Gulf also stated that 72% of consumers who conduct a local search visited a store within five miles of their location at that time. This shows that multiple location SEO is incredibly beneficial for businesses when it comes to attracting new and returning custom in the local area. But “local” might not actually be as near as you think.

You could be based in Nottingham, for example, but be able to serve customers who reside in Loughborough. While it’s more than five miles away, you still want to draw in customers from further afield if it’s something you can accommodate.

If this is the case, you can use multiple location SEO to target clients in both Nottingham and Loughborough and every town in between if you so wish. If you have unique USPs and something to offer you customers over competitors that might be based directly in the location you’re targeting, then you’ll soon be drawing in customers from far and wide.

It increases brand awareness

You can use multiple location SEO to draw in customers from several locations. This is beneficial because it can funnel traffic to relevant product and service pages. This is especially the case if you use keywords to create your content, which is paramount to any SEO campaign.

Let’s say you run a florist and your customers reside in Derby, Nottingham and Leicester and you’re able to serve all of those locations, then you should use the following keywords to draw in traffic from those areas:

• Florists in Derby
• Florists in Leicester
• Florists in Nottingham
• Florists near me

Although ‘Florists near me’ seems too general, you’ll be surprised by how effective this keyword can be. Although it’s not targeting a specific location, it will still be effective when it comes to drawing in traffic and custom from the aforementioned locations, especially if you’ve used the other keywords in conjunction with ‘florists near me’.

How to optimise for multiple locations

There are several ways in which a business can optimise for multiple locations. As already discussed, it can be extremely advantageous when it comes to drawing in traffic, generating leads and increasing leads. So how can you optimise for multiple locations as effectively as possible?

Create a page for each location you serve or are based in

The first step is to create multiple location pages that are targeting both your business’ location and that of your customers. Build a logical website structure in order to make it as easy as possible for search engines to identify and find the specific location pages that are relevant to where your customers live or where your business, and possibly your branches, are based.

For example, let’s say you own a bakery in Kegworth, then your URL would look something like bethsbakery.co.uk/locations/derby/kegworth. However, if your page doesn’t come under the parent page of ‘locations’, then the URL for your location page might look something like this: bethsbakery.co.uk/kegworth. 

Optimise each location page accordingly

It’s important that you optimise your location pages specifically for the location you’re targeting. This is because Google won’t know that your page is for that specific location if optimisation hasn’t happened. In order to do this, you’ll need to include the location in the title tag and the meta description.

For example, if you have a restaurant in London, then you’ll need to make sure you include ‘restaurants London’ in the title, the URL and the description. This will help to rank your location page higher in the SERPs if someone, especially if they live in London, searches for ‘restaurants in London’. 

Create specific local content for each location

It might seem obvious and self-explanatory, but it’s something that often gets overlooked when writing location pages. The location itself needs to be mentioned throughout the copy, but not so much that it results in ‘keyword stuffing’, which will penalise your content as Google will think your page is spam or that it’s been written by a robot.

Make sure you create localised content that’s based on the services and/or products that you have available in that specific location. E-commerce stores in particular will have distinct products and services that are specifically based in certain regions, like ‘go-karting in Nottinghamshire’ or, even more broadly, ‘go-karting in the East Midlands’.

The latter would be more appropriate if you owned a go-karting business with several locations across the East Midlands, such as Leicester, Nottingham, Loughborough and Derby. As such, the following landing pages need to be created in order to get the most out of your newly-produced location pages:

• Store location – creating landing pages that contain information about your stores/branches, including opening hours, address, directions to the store and a map with your pinned location
• Images – include photos of your branches and/or stores and also of your products or photos of employees carrying out the services you offer, like someone laying block paving, for example
• Product pages – for products that are only available in a specific location, then a product page should be optimised based on the location the product is available in. For example, McDonald’s has a specific menu on their Korean website that’s based on their current location. There are some things on the Korean menu that aren’t available in the USA and there are some items on the menu that are available in the USA but not in the UK.
• Service pages – make sure you describe the services you have available in a particular location, much like you would do if you have products that are only available in certain locations.
• Blog posts – make sure you produce blog posts and articles that have been specifically designed to attract customers in the local area, including being based in the corresponding region, generally. For example, you could own a coffee shop in Nottingham, but where your customers who live in Nottingham will be able to find your shop, so will people in the East Midlands.

Sign up to Google My Business

Create a Google My Business account with listings for each location you want to target. Usually, those locations, as already touched upon, are where your business and/or branches are based and also where your customers reside. It’s also important to list locations that you want to target. You could have an office in Derby but want to target towns and villages in the area even though you don’t have a branch situated there.

A good listing needs to include basic business information, photos of products available and/or photos of services being carried out, customer reviews and social media platforms to allow website visitors to connect with you and engage with the content you’re putting out there. BrightLocal states that 5% of Google My Business listing impressions will lead to calls, clicks or inquiries.

Make your most positive reviews public

According to research carried out by State of Online Reviews, 93% of consumers admitted that reading online reviews influences their decision as to whether or not to buy a product or commit to a business’ services. A BrightLocal study also found that transitioning your reviews from three stars to a five-star average rating on Google can lead to 25% more clicks, leads and, subsequently, sales.

The same study also found that businesses who achieved a five-star rating on average took 69% of clicks in the local search. This meant that they were outdoing their competitors by a considerably large margin. As such, you should look to showcase only your very best reviews in order to build trust between your company and your potential customers.

If you’re wanting to receive more top-notch reviews, then prompt your customers to leave you some either on Google, on your website, via email or even on Google My Business. If you want to guarantee more reviews, then you should offer an incentive for doing so, such as a coupon offering money off their next purchase or a free gift of some sort. It could even be something as simple as a free cupcake if you own a bakery, for example.

Build specific backlinks for every location

Backlinking is a critical part of multiple location SEO. Businesses who want to improve their ranking in the SERPs, especially when it comes to targeting locations, will need to build backlinks to each page for every location on their site. This can be done by outreaching to bloggers and industry-specific, industry-relevant websites and online magazines. 

For example, if you own a restaurant, you should look to get in touch with a local food blogger to write a blog post about your restaurant or to review their experience at your establishment. This could also be classified as advertisement but it should be noted that this sort of exposure might come at a cost, whether you pay the blogger/magazine for the article or if a food blogger gets to eat at your restaurant for free.

Kumo Digital is a highly-dedicated digital marketing agency with a team of specialists at the helm of our operations. Whether you’re looking to have a website developed or updated, if you’re wanting fresh content and blog posts or if you’re wanting to propel your business into the spotlight with our SEO services and PPC methods, get in touch with a member of our expert team today – we’re always happy to hear from you.