How Regional Brands Can Use Location Pages To Boost Their Local Marketing Efforts

Last week, we talked about the challenges of managing the online presence of a brand that has multiple locations.

We discussed the difficulties of organizing a website, setting up multiple brand profiles, and optimizing for local SEO. We also shared best practices for working through those issues. You can check out that post here: How To Optimize a Business Website When You Have Multiple Locations.  

Now, we’re going to dive deeper into the topic and look specifically at how brands with multiple locations can use location pages on their website to boost local SEO, support their marketing initiatives, and attract more nearby customers. 

What Is a Location Page?

When a brand has multiple locations -- say a food chain with five restaurants -- each location should have its own location page on their business website. A location page is a dedicated landing page that includes information specific to that location.  

If your brand has more than one location, you should create a location page for each place.   

Location pages are important because:  

• They help customers. Location pages make it easy for customers to find the relevant information they need -- such as the location’s address, phone number, hours, services, and photos. 
• They attract search engines. Search engines use location pages to gather details about the address of the business which supports local SEO and helps brands show up when customers search for businesses near them. 
• They support larger marketing strategies. When you have location pages, you can run promotions, display ads, and geofencing campaigns that drive audiences directly to relevant content about a specific location.  

What Is a Locations Page?

It’s worth noting that there are location (singular) pages and locations (plural) pages. A location (singular) page is described above.  

A locations (plural) page is a landing page that list all of the different locations for a brand. It is a type of resource page that helps users find the location closest to them. It also links to each individual location page.   

Depending on how many locations you have, this page may include a simple list of locations along with the address. Or, it may include a search function that helps users search for and find businesses near them. 

The 10 Things to Include on a Location Page

Now that you know you need individual pages for each of your locations. Let's look at what those pages should look include.

To get the most out of your location pages, include elements that optimize it for both users and search engines. Provide unique, location-specific content on each page.   

NOTE: It’s very important to not copy and paste the same location page over and over only replacing details like name and phone number. Search engines may see pages that are very similar as duplicate content. Duplicate content can cause pages to not rank, lose rankings, or even disappear from search. So create unique pages for each of your locations using the following elements.    

#1) One Target Location-Specific Keyword: Start by assigning one target keyword to each location page. The target keyword should fit one of the following formats:

• [Brand Name] + [Location]
• [Industry/Business Category] + [Location]

Location doesn’t necessarily need to be your city. It could also be your neighbor or region depending on who you want to target and how people talk about the area around your business.    

Conduct keyword research to see which terms local customers are searching for when looking for a business like yours. If you already have brand notoriety, you may want to target a keyword with the brand in it. If a lot of people aren’t searching for your brand, you may want to target a category-focused keyword.   

For example, Yogurtology is fairly well-known. They may target the keyword “St. Petersburg Yogurtology.” Whereas a smaller frozen yogurt business may need to target people generally searching for nearby yogurt with a keyword like “St. Petersburg frozen yogurt shop.”  

Once you decide on a keyword, use it throughout the page by adding it to the:    

• Page title 
• Meta title
• Meta description
• Image alt tag
• At least one subheading 
• Page URL
• Description of the business

#2) Unique Content About the Location: Search engines prefer to rank pages that are content-rich, so also consider adding more copy to the page. Add a description of the area, a list of team members, directions to the location, tips on parking or visiting the area, or details about what makes the location special.

NOTE: If you chose a branded keyword, also add keywords related to your industry to your extra copy to help show search engines what your business does and how it should be categorized.

#3) Location Details: Use bullets or call-outs to include relevant contact information and details such as the:   

• Physical address
• Phone number
• Hours

#4) Embedded Google Map: Further help Google connect your location to your physical address by embedding a Google Map.   

#5) Photos of the Location: Show the differences between your locations by adding a few images or a slideshow with photos.   

#6) Reviews About the Location: Include reviews that specifically talk about and reference the location.  

#7) Location-Specific Call-to-Action: A call-to-action drives on-site users to take the next step toward working with your brand. On each location page, add the call-to-action that would drive customers to take that next step toward working with that particular location. It may be to:   

• Schedule/reserve 
• Get directions
• Call/contact

Create location-specific forms or buttons that include the relevant links and information for the specific location. For example, if a hair salon is driving customers to schedule an appointment, link to the scheduling form for that specific location.

#8) Location Specific Products, Services, or Specials: If your locations offer different products and services, list them on the location page. If there are very different offerings, be sure to highlight what makes the location unique. Also, if you run unique specials or deals at each location, indicate this on the corresponding page.

You can see how Yogurtology lists which flavors are available at each location.

 

#9) Location Specific Social Media Icons: If you have unique social media profiles for each location, add links to those pages.   

Related: Guide to Managing Social Profiles for a Multi-Location Business

#10) Schema Markup: Schema markup is micro-data that can be added to the back-end of a location page. It helps search engines better understand the content on a page, and it can lead to rich search results. Schema has a specific markup for location-based businesses. Fill in your business information and add the data to your site to share additional information with search engines and boost local SEO even more. 

Improve Your Local Marketing Strategies

Now you know how to improve your on-site location pages to help customers, attract search engines, and support your larger marketing strategies.   

Get more tips to improve your local marketing strategies with our guides on:   

• Local SEO: How to Get Your Business To Show Up In Local Searches 
• If You're a Small Biz Owner, You Need to Know About SEO NAP Consistency
• How to Connect with Local Customers Who Live Around Your Business

And start connecting with local customers today by creating a FREE profile on MyArea Network. Make sure when customers go looking for the best things to do, see, and eat in their area -- they find your brand!