Local SEO for Multiple Branches - Not sure what to do

[BrownSugar]

Hi Guys! I have a question about Local SEO for a business that has multiple locations

I have set up unique location pages for each branch of the business on the website. I also setup different branches on Google My Business. I then pointed each Google listing page to each of the location pages. Now here is where I am struggling: should each location page on my website have a separate name for the business to reflect the location?

So for example we have 2 locations in New York and I listed one on Google as "XYZ of Bronx" and the other "XYZ of Brooklyn". Should I then have the same name on the location page and also reflect that in the Schema tags ? And when I am building citations, should I keep using this same format on Yelp and others?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[emp]

So for example we have 2 locations in New York and I listed one on Google as "XYZ of Bronx" and the other "XYZ of Brooklyn". Should I then have the same name on the location page and also reflect that in the Schema tags ? And when I am building citations, should I keep using this same format on Yelp and others?

Yes, yes, and yes.

::emp::

 

[Blackman]

How easy do you find ranking for local keywords for offline businesses? I'm playing around with the idea of building sites targeting specific businesses in very localized areas, but I really hate the fact of relying on Google for traffic. Obviously, this is not a kind of a site, where you could do some social bollocks due to the nature of the site, i.e. very specific local business interest only, so mega limited traffic - we are talking 300-500 searches/month.

Once ranked, you could collect names/numbers/emails and sell the leads to those businesses for x price, assuming you can agree all the terms and preferably meet face to face to discuss everything with your clients?

I've done a bit of digging searching for local keywords + different businesses and I see some rubbish EMDs with 10-20 pages ranked in top 3 for all the terms.

My assumption is that no one really cares about local SERPs SEO-wise, because the most you see that is ranked are real genuine sites of local businesses, however they are very basic, so even very thin "optimized" sites/blogs easily outrank them.

I'm simply trying to convince myself that if I build a decently optimized EMD Wordpress blog with highly relevant local content, then that would mean 80% of the work is done to be in top 10. Then possibly a few quality contextual backlinks from solid sources and I'm at #1?

Plus, no need for regular link building, constant maintenance since no one cares about these local keywords, no negative SEO from tech-savvy affiliates and all the associated crap of Internet marketing...Meaning, the rankings could actually be reliable and consistent, without you having to worry every day, thinking if Google slapped your site or some other SEOer copied your content and posted on his PBN, etc.

Sounds too good to be true, so if anyone is involved in local SEO, I would love to hear your feedback.

 

[John Aquino]

Adding a city onto the business name is against Google Guidelines, unless it is really included in your registered name. You must only use the legal business name for each of your location page, and all your citations. Google has done a real bang up job of confusing folks here because about a year ago they said it was okay...which lasted all of 6 months.

 

[Broland]

True, adding city on to the end of the biz name is against the guidelines - but also many people get away with it and it can help you rank. If you want to stay safely within Google guidelines you can use the legit name on Google but add the city modifier on the end in the website title of respective pages, biz directories etc - brand it everywhere else online that way.

For future reference, get profiles on all the main business directories first then set up the Google business page for speedier verification and ranking results.

Also since your in the competitive NYC market - Use multiple unique descriptions on your biz profiles around the web, multiple photos, keyword tag/caption the photos etc - SEO those things the way you would a main site, pumper site or any other linkbuilding for lots of extra added punch. And updating them with some additional or new content every so often helps a lot too. Just because they are "citations" doesn't mean they aren't linkbuilding.

One more tip.... brand name anchors on your citations where possible, just do it.

@Blackman Local packs are like regular organic SEO, and rankings rely heavily on that but with many added factors - so in many perspectives much harder. It can be quite competitive and there are tons of people and businesses that make a full time living at it. Those mom & pop small sites you see ranking all over... Google is very good at keeping those ranking based on added brand and local prominence type factors. These added factors also give those who know a lot of extra things to play with and take advantage of. If you want to read up check out the Google patent about scoring (might be ranking) documents based on local prominence as a starting point - moderate to high reading comprehension level required. If you go the EMD route, also try to brand that EMD as the biz name - one thing many people fail to see with local and EMD's is that they are branded, it's the entity branding of the keyword domain more so than the fact that it is just a keyword domain.