2023 Expert Case Study To Optimize Local SEO For Multiple Locations
As we all know, Google changes their algorithms almost daily. So, keeping on top of searches can be a challenge. This can be even more difficult when it comes to multi-location businesses. Now we have a 2023 expert case study to optimize local SEO for multiple locations.
The conventional wisdom and advice had been to use one URL and create a starting or home parent page for each location. Then build a sub website using the same URL for each location if necessary. The structure being localbusiness.com/location-one/page and localbusiness.com/location-two/page, etc.
This structure makes sense when there are many locations, or the locations are in the same city.
However, if there are only two or three locations, this is not the best practice. I will explain.
When putting up any new location, regardless of URL, the priority is to get the content to the top of searches. If your brand is a household name then this is obviously very easy since people will search for you by name (IE: McDonalds, etc.) But most businesses don’t have that luxury and must be located by the keywords related to their product or service.
What many experts and digital marketing agencies don’t talk about much is the use of AMP and Structured Data. Google gives great deference to this and especially if done through blog posts.
When people think of blogs they think of stories and articles but there is much more. Blogs can actually be categorized by types using Structured Data. The main categories are blog post, article, or news article. If the blog post is created with a separate AMP then this will be seen as more important content to Google. This is especially true if this is an event or news. Remember indexing is generally done mobile first and people will use mobile devices for most searches.
When properly created, these blog posts will rank much better than other relevant content. Additionally, if the URL is submitted manually through the Google Search Console, the content will appear in SERPs almost immediately. Most people don’t realize that mobile AMP is delivered by Google through a separate CDN.
Now back to why the multiple URLs for the other locations is a better practice. Sitemaps are set up with only one page for posts. You can write articles outside of this structure, but they will not be seen as blog posts. Therefore, there is only one posts / blog page for each URL (domain property). Using the single URL approach takes away the ability to use the AMP and Structured Data combined capabilities for separate locations.
Here are two case study examples:
SALT7, a high-end Modern American Restaurant and Steakhouse started in Delray Beach in 2012. They opened a second Fort Lauderdale location in 2021. Originally, they utilized the single URL with subpages, following traditional wisdom for local SEO. It soon became clear, despite the Fort Lauderdale location getting more clicks on its subpages, it never ranked well compared to Delray Beach.
Recently in 2023, we added a second URL for the Fort Lauderdale location. After just a couple of blog post posts with AMP and Structured Data, the ranking improved dramatically within weeks.
Mango’s Tropical Café, a Restaurant and Nightclub, focusing on live Latin music, started in Miami in 1991. They opened a second Orlando location in 2015. To this day they utilize the single URL subpage approach, despite only having just two locations.
Here, different than SALT7, the two Mango’s locations operate totally different. Miami is open 7 days a week with live entertainment from 7 pm till closing. Orlando only has live entertainment as a dinner event running from about 7 pm – 9:30 pm. They are only open 4 days a week. This alone would make separate URLs more sensible given the different business operations.
The impact of the single URL has resulted in very limited visibility for the Orlando location. Additionally, there are no blog posts in use for the main URL. The consequence is a huge lost opportunity to gain ranking on many relevant keywords. Maybe they wouldn’t be closed 3 days a week if they changed strategy ?
At Blue Island Digital we are experts in digital marketing and advanced SEO technology. That is why we have many household names as clients. Our track record and longevity speak for itself.