When your business has locations scattered across the country or state — or even on the other side of town — make sure your customers find the one that’s most convenient. Multiple-location SEO helps each locale appear prominently in search engine results with its own dedicated Google Business Profile, location page, and reviews.
In this article, I’ll give you a roadmap to this component of local search engine optimization (SEO), complete with examples of how businesses put these tactics to work. You’ll discover how to optimize your Google Business Profile to display in Google Search and Maps, create dynamic, location-specific web pages, craft localized content, build citations, and track performance to ensure each of your locations climbs in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Multi-Location Local SEO Checklist
Boost your visibility in search results and connect more meaningfully with local audiences, building trust and recognition in every community you serve.
What Is Multiple-Location SEO?
Multiple-location SEO is a strategy that enhances the visibility of brands with more than one physical location. This includes offices, retail stores, restaurants, and service providers.
Instead of requiring a customer to visit the brand’s main website and search for the closest storefront, multi-location SEO makes individual pages discoverable directly through Google Maps and Search. You’re still following the principles of search engine optimization but focusing on audiences in a specific area or community for each location.
Google takes into account your location to give you search results tailored to your area.
Even if your business has a great reputation nationally, chances are it might not pop up in searches for potential customers since Google takes proximity into account when delivering search results. If you fail to optimize for local search, you might miss out on being featured in the top Google 3-Pack. This prime real estate includes reviews — a critical part of people’s decision-making process. Plus, without a localized SEO approach, folks might not even know you operate locally. Thus it’s super important to have SEO strategies customized for each of your business locations to make sure you’re not overlooked when people are searching for services or products nearby.
I’ll give you an example. Storyville Coffee, which has two Seattle shops, implemented location SEO. When you search “coffee near Pike Place,” you can see a Google Business Profile for this particular location in the Map Pack. A dedicated web page for the Pike Place cafe also appears as a snippet in the organic search results. This is SEO for multiple locations at work, matching users to businesses based on relevance and proximity.
The Importance of a Multi-Location SEO Strategy
It takes some time and effort to implement local SEO for multiple locations, but the final results can fuel your business growth by:
- Improving local search visibility. Your business is more likely to appear on your customer’s radar when they’re searching for products or services in a particular area.
- Targeting qualified audiences. Your SEO efforts should concentrate on finding (and landing) the customers most likely to need your services.
- Better user experience. Audiences can easily access details about your location, hours, products and services, and customer satisfaction, helping them make informed decisions.
- Establishing credibility. Responding to reviews, taking accountability for work completed, and providing honest and transparent information and pricing all help showcase your credibility.
- Enhancing brand awareness. You’ll get your brand in front of more eyes by building citations on sites such as Facebook, Yelp, and FourSquare.
- Differentiating between locations. Do you have a bookstore that hosts author readings and another with a used book trade-in? Multi-location local SEO tactics help distinguish between your offerings.
How To Optimize for Multiple Locations
Google Maps SEO involves carving out profiles for each of your locations on your website, search engines, and reputable third-party platforms. But don’t forget this is just one component of your overall SEO. To boost your chances of ranking well, your entire website must follow on-page, off-page, and technical SEO best practices.
Create Google Business Profiles for Each Location
Let’s start with a fundamental aspect of every local SEO strategy: a Google Business Profile (GBP). This free marketing tool supplies Google with essential information about your business, such as address, phone number, website link, and hours of operation. These particulars appear in the Local Pack and organic search results so potential customers can learn about your business.
Each of your locations should have its own GBP so that you can customize the information. Users can then post reviews to the appropriate site. You can add multiple GBP locations manually or upload a spreadsheet to create bulk profiles.
Tacodeli, for example, has restaurants throughout Texas. Each has its own GBP, so if you search “Tacodeli Austin” in Google, you’ll see a Local Pack featuring three locations. This makes it easy for customers to find the one closest to them.
Fully Optimize Your GBP
An optimized Google Business Profile acts as a mini website directly in search results, ideally convincing customers to pick your business over a competitor’s. Tailor each profile to the location and provide as much relevant information as possible.
- Update Your name, address, and phone number (NAP). It’s critical that your NAP is accurate. It helps customers reach you and ensures search engines can determine your proximity to a user. Google also compares your NAP to information provided by other websites to help verify your business. Keep your NAP consistent across the web — including your website, Google Business Profile, and social media accounts — so users and search engines can trust you’re providing the most accurate information about your business. I
- Set your business hours. Many customers rely on Google for your business hours. Make sure hours for each location are up to date and that you make changes if a location is closed for holidays or has seasonal hours. You can also mark your business as temporarily closed if a site is closed for renovations. We’ve talked about it before, but if you are considered a 24/7 business, ensure your hours are set to when your employees are physically at your location. If someone tries to come see you at 1:00am and you’re not there, it could lead to a bad review. Home service businesses will occasionally have a 24/7 emergency service line, but this should be clearly stated on your listing and your website.
- Upload photos. Grab a camera and take some high-quality images of each location. Include the inside and outside of the premises to show they’re clean and welcoming and to encourage customers to drop by. Utilize your brand name in your images as often as you can. Google employs machine learning and AI to analyze images, so make sure to provide them with images that can truly enhance your business’s visibility and reputation.
- Add products and services. Let customers know what you sell. You can upload product images, names, prices, and descriptions. If someone searches for “sofas near me,” they can see examples of what you sell and will ideally be enticed to visit your website or store. Restaurants can upload popular dishes and menus.
- Create Google posts. This feature enables you to deliver location-specific marketing messages and updates directly to your customers. Similar to a social media post, you can have a headline, photo or video, description, and call to action. Create Google posts to offer discounts, highlight new products, and promote events.
- Engage with users. Respond to those who leave reviews or ask questions to show you’re responsive, engaged, and caring when it comes to your customers.
Create Unique Web Pages for Each Location
While a GBP helps you gain visibility in Maps, a dedicated location page provides the opportunity to rank as a snippet in organic searches. You can use a template to create these pages, but make sure to provide as much unique value as possible for search engines and customers.
Here’s an example of a dedicated web page for Philz Coffee’s Hollywood location. I like how it clearly outlines the address, business hours, and nearby landmarks. However, the URL would be clearer as philzcoffee.com/locations/hollywood instead of philzcoffee.com/locations/4.
NAP
Yes, we’re talking about NAP again. Start by clearly stating your company’s name, address, and phone number to confirm the information in your Google Business Profile and elsewhere on the internet.
Map and Directions
Provide additional location information as context for search engines and to help customers plan their visit. Embedded maps, directions, landmarks, and parking details are all helpful.
Hours of Operation
Indicate the hours customers can visit your store, restaurant, clinic, or office.
Local Keywords
Perform local keyword research for your industry or niche so you can make your page relevant to popular searches. A veterinarian might incorporate search terms such as “animal hospital,” “veterinary doctor,” “pet vaccination,” or “spay and neuter” in combination with location references.
Page Optimization
Optimize your page title, meta description, H1, and URL with keywords and location. Your page should also load quickly and be easy to navigate.
Schema Markup
Use schema markup code to tell search engines about your business type, operating hours, prices, and aggregate ratings.
Write Localized Content
Localizing content makes your web page as relevant to the community as possible and helps rank your page for searches in the area.
Mention Locations and Landmarks
SEO for multiple cities involves signaling to search engines where your business is situated. Incorporate these mentions naturally in your copy and make them relevant to a human reader.
Instead of stuffing keywords such as “painter in St. Paul” throughout its Twin Cities location page, for example, Wow 1 Day Painting uses varied phrasing:
- “You can go to work, head to the Shoppes at Arbor Lake, or enjoy the outdoors at Minnehaha Falls while leaving the hard work to this team of painters in Twin Cities, MN.”
- “Properly applied exterior paint protects a house from Minnesota weather…”
- “In a place that receives as much precipitation as St. Paul…”
Similarly, Strive Physical Therapy’s Philadelphia location page mentions areas such as West Philadelphia and Center City. It also references nearby chiropractic, orthopedic, and medical practices, underscoring its business niche.
Craft Compelling Staff Profiles
Personalize each web page by introducing the staff who oversee the store, office, or practice. This gives your business added credibility as well as opportunities to optimize location mentions. Strive’s staff bios, for example, include references to the Philadelphia Ostomy Association and Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association, giving additional geographic context to search engines.
Provide Social Proof
When customers are choosing between your business and a competitor’s, social proof can nudge them your way. Kudos from satisfied customers show you’re a trusted brand providing quality service. You can embed Google Reviews and star ratings or testimonials you’ve received directly from customers. Just make sure your reviews relate directly to that location.
Seals from the Better Business Bureau or local chamber of commerce can also convey trust. On their landing page, Oasis Day Spa in New York prominently displays a “Best of Westchester” seal from a local magazine.
Add Photos and Videos
Visuals are a great way to perk up content and help customers visualize your business. A restaurant can show the dining area, bar, patio, or views, and a spa may want to include photos of luxurious treatment rooms. 360-degree tours can also set your location apart from your competition.
Storyville Coffee does a wonderful job creating videos unique to its Pike Place shop and downtown location. The videos reflect the atmosphere of each cafe, complete with smiling staff, happy customers, and beautifully poured coffees.
Add these same images to your Google Business Profile listings for extra bonus points. Include local keywords in both your file name and alt tags.
Custom location images are a critical local search ranking factor. Acquiring these images might require more effort, but their value far surpasses the investment, significantly enhancing your overall strategy.
Build Local Citations for Each Location
It’s important to have a presence beyond your own website and GBP, as search engines scan the internet to verify your business details. For each location, create citations, which are mentions of your business’s NAP on other websites. You’ll notice, for example, that Storyville Coffee has separate Yelp listings for its Pike Place and downtown locations.
You can build citations on:
- Other search engines like Bing Places and Apple Business Connect.
- Review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor.
- Directories such as Yellow Pages, Superpages, and Angi.
- Organizations like the Better Business Bureau, your local chamber of commerce, and professional industry associations.
- Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
Each citation should include your NAP, which must be consistent with the details on your GBP and location page. Avoid listing your location’s phone number on one page and head office number on another, as this confuses search engines. If possible, include a link to the location’s dedicated web page. If your resources allow, you can also integrate local link building into your strategy.
Measure Performance
I recommend regularly monitoring how well your multiple-location SEO strategy is generating visibility and traffic. Set goals and track relevant metrics that help you hit your goals. For example, you may want to see a steady increase in the number of positive Google reviews for each location or improved traffic to your location pages.
Google Business Profile Insights
Google makes it easy to track engagement with your GBP. You can run reports for specific periods directly from your profile. Using the Business Profile Manager, you can also download insights for multiple locations at once. These reports tell you the search terms users used to find your profile, how many users viewed it, and engagement through calls, website clicks, and direction requests.
Keyword Rankings
Track how well your location pages are performing in the SERPs for selected keywords. You may need to work on improving visibility through increased backlinks, citations, or optimized content.
Location Page Performance
Use Google Analytics or another platform to see where traffic to your location pages is coming from and how users behave once they land on the page. Are they viewing your products or making bookings online? You may need to strengthen your call to action or find ways to engage visitors.
Don’t Juggle Multiple-Location SEO Alone
An SEO strategy for multiple locations helps you drive results in the cities and communities where you do business. Whether you’re managing two locations or two dozen, our SEO experts can customize a strategy for your business niche and goals and put these tactics into action. Reach out today for a free consultation and learn more about our local SEO services.
