Local SEO | By Ben Fisher
Navigating the murky waters of local SEO is tricky enough for a small business with a single location. Now, imagine doing it for a sprawling enterprise or a franchise with hundreds of locations. Welcome to the jungle. The complexity isn’t just dialed up; it’s on a whole different level. If you're in charge of local SEO for a big brand or franchise, you already know that a cookie-cutter approach isn't going to cut it.
So why do so many large enterprises trip up on local SEO? The answer is simple: they underestimate the beast. Let’s dive into why that happens and, more importantly, how you can outsmart the competition with these five actionable tips.
The Big Hurdles for Big Businesses
1. Where’s the Budget Going?
When it comes to big brands, the budget is often their superpower. But here’s the catch: while they're quick to drop major cash on national ad campaigns, they often hesitate when it comes to the smaller, localized efforts that really drive results at the franchise level. Local SEO needs a targeted approach, and that means getting individual franchisees involved in the nitty-gritty. Unfortunately, that’s where many enterprises falter.
2. Communication Breakdown
One of the biggest issues for enterprises? Communication, or the lack thereof. Sending out a blanket email to franchisees and hoping they execute the plan is wishful thinking at best. Too often, corporate sends the memo, but nothing happens on the ground. The result? Missed opportunities and underwhelming local SEO performance.
3. Decision-Maker Gridlock
When you’ve got too many cooks in the kitchen, nothing gets done. Enterprises have layers upon layers of decision-makers, which often means that the approval process grinds to a halt. This can be disastrous when it comes to something time-sensitive like ensuring all Google Business Profiles (GBPs) are in compliance. Remember, a suspended GBP can cost you big time.
4. Who’s Doing the Work?
Even when everyone agrees something needs to be done, no one steps up. You’ve got decision-makers pointing fingers, assuming someone else will handle the task. The result? Crickets. One solution is to centralize all marketing efforts at the corporate level. That way, the heavy lifting—like GBP updates—happens in one place, under one roof.
5. Execution Across Multiple Locations
If you think coordinating local SEO efforts for one location is tough, try doing it for 200. The sheer scale makes it easy for things to fall through the cracks. Take something as simple as responding to reviews on each location’s GBP. If every location averages five reviews a month, and it takes five minutes to respond to each, that’s about 100 hours of work monthly. Multiply that by your number of locations, and you’ve got a monster on your hands.
Five Tips to Crush Local SEO as a Large Enterprise
1. Optimize Every Location’s Website
Every location needs its own website. Period. Start with the basics: make sure the store locator page includes the city and state in the title tag, add clickable mobile elements, and implement local Schema markup. These might seem like small things, but they add up in a big way.
2. Manage Those Google Business Profiles
Your GBP is your lifeline in local SEO. Optimize each profile, regularly post relevant content, and constantly monitor for errors. Neglect this, and you’re leaving money on the table.
3. Build Those Links
Link building isn’t just for national SEO—it’s crucial for local SEO too. Yes, it’s time-consuming, and no, it’s not scalable in the traditional sense, but the payoff is worth it. Don’t skip this step.
4. Get Your Citations in Order
Citation management is another big one. Tools like Yext, Moz Local, and BrightLocal make it easier to manage and scale citations across multiple locations. Use them to clean up duplicates, correct bad data, and maintain your online presence.
5. Solicit and Respond to Reviews
Reviews are gold. According to BazaarVoice, 78% of online shoppers trust reviews more than word-of-mouth from family and friends. Encourage customers to leave reviews and make sure you respond—especially to the negative ones. How you handle a bad review can be the difference between gaining a loyal customer or losing one.
Conclusion
So there you have it. To master local SEO as a large enterprise, you need to be
Comments