How Your Multi-Location Business Can Dominate in Local Searches Using Social Media

Does your business have multiple locations? How can you get people to know about them? You might have a website but making use of social media and integrating it into your local brand’s SEO strategy can allow you to reach more people and increase awareness of your brand and your business’s many locations.

Whether your business is opening up its second store or its fiftieth, knowing how to manage your social media campaign so that each of your business locations can be found in local search results is crucial.

Use the best social media platforms

Using the best and most commonly used social media platforms can help boost your local SEO. These include Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Google+. Two other popular social media platforms that aren’t as commonly used, but you can make good use of, are Snapchat and Quora.

You can utilise Snapchat’s On-Demand Geofilters for the purpose of promoting your brand and then using local press, public relations and social media campaigns to generate buzz and links. As for Quora, you can help elevate your brand by answering questions that are within the expertise of your business while linking back to a page on your website or blog that goes into more detail about the topic in question.

Have a social media page for each location

Each of your business locations should have its own social media page. Maintaining the same profile photo for each local page can add a touch of unity to your brand and help users know which pages are official. For posts, each location can share different content based on what’s happening at that location, but you can also post the same content to all local pages to keep your brand consistent.

When marketing and sharing content for a location, have someone at the local level help provide the content and speak to the local community. Location-specific social media pages allow you to connect with your local community in a more intimate way. They also enable your brand to post more niche and hyperlocal content, including job openings. Individual locations will be responsible for implementation and determining content for their own social media page, with the goal of keeping customers informed of happenings in their local area.

Include relevant content

When targeting local attention, include relevant topics in the content of your posts. They must contain location-specific keywords, such as nearby malls, parks or landmarks, and information that explicitly applies to the targeted regions. Search engines can then pick out this content from your social media pages for the purpose of creating relevant search results to match common queries.

Talk about local events in your posts

Popular local events will most likely be highly searched and publicised by consumers in your area, so including them in your social media posts could bring more rankings to your brand. When your city decides to hold a charity fundraiser, for example, consider including information in your posts about how you plan to get involved. This will improve your rankings and enhance your local image.

Offer local coupons

Many people frequently search for local discounts, so if you’re in the entertainment business, for example, consider offering coupons for local entertainment venues on your social media pages. Search engines can pick up on both the coupons and the number of people that visit your page on a weekly basis, and then put all that information towards your overall rankings.

Fix your profile

Your social media profiles are important for local search rankings, as these are what will be in the top results when consumers search for your brand. This could also make your brand come up during a general search for products or services in a certain location. On your social media pages, include information that could generate local traffic, e.g. company name, description of the company, address, contact information, founders and pictures.

Optimise business listings

With Google My Business, you can import and verify a business locations list. You’ll need to verify the NAP data (name, address, place), which is your business’s digital thumbprint. Keep your NAP data consistent for each location so that people can find the exact same information on directory sites like Google, Bing and Yelp. NAP consistency is essential to outranking your competition, particularly when it comes to your Google My Business ranking.

Update listings with search directories

If you’re changing your store’s opening and closing hours due to the holidays or closing one location and opening another one nearby, then update your listings with local search engines like Google My Business, Yahoo! Local and the Bing Business Portal. Also update phone numbers, coupons, descriptions, categories, images and mobile page links, if necessary. Updates regarding changes to business hours, moves to new locations, etc. are critical when it comes to dominating local search.

Overall, optimising your social media pages to match local search queries can boost your rankings. And if potential customers can find your business online, they’ll know that you have a nearby location and will do business with you instead of your competition.