Local SEO can be difficult for corporate brands. Because that means understanding how to perform “national” SEO, Google Business Profiles, and learning how Google handles preferred search queries in different markets.
This means that local SEO presents a myriad of challenges for enterprise search marketers. So what are the most common challenges in enterprise local SEO?
1. Know whether to prioritize local or national SEO
One of the biggest challenges companies face is knowing when to focus on a “local” SEO strategy instead of a “national” SEO strategy and vice versa.
This is understandable, as it may not immediately be clear if the priority is properly served by one or the other. It can be difficult to tell if your target top keywords have local intent.
However, it is very important to the success of the overall strategy as it will greatly affect how well the initiative will serve the business goals.
Understanding which terms Google considers local can help you develop your keyword strategy and decide how to approach and support your SEO investment.
You may lose a lot of traffic due to poor site design or poor keyword strategy.
Understand local search intent
So what exactly does local search intent mean?
Understanding search intent tells you what features appear in search results and what content should be prioritized.
There are four main types of search intent to focus on in this discussion.
- Domestic search queries.
- Search for queries in Seminational.
- Search query with local intent.
- Search queries for hyperlocal purposes.
The features you see in the SERPs tell you what type of intent your search query falls under. For example:
Queries with national search intent
SERPs do not have state/city specific pages or map packs (example).
Search screenshot [newspaper article]Google, September 2022The fact that there are no “local” results in this SERP probably means that Google is completely unaware of the local intent for these queries.
The moment most searchers start redoing this query with geolocations like “Pleasanton newspaper article”, the SERPs will likely shift to results with local results, which…
Queries with sub-national search intent
The SERP does not have state/city specific pages, it contains map packs (examples).
Search screenshot [bank]Google, September 2022A semi-national query like [bank] Map packs may be included because local and national clicks are the same. This could mean that some users are looking for nearby bank branches, while others are looking for the bank’s main homepage.
Queries intended for local searches
SERPs feature some or all state/city specific pages and map packs (examples).
Search screenshot [plumber]Google, September 2022About terms like [plumber], Google will feature a map pack of nearby plumbers, and the rest of the page 1 results will be filled with location pages. Google predicts that you intend to find plumbers near your current location.
Queries with hyperlocal intent
Hyperlocal keywords are where a searcher’s location is most important and has a large impact on SERP results (example).
Search screenshot [Auto insurance near me]Google, September 2022For hyperlocal intent queries, the distance between the user and the business matters most. We can see that Mappack dominates his SERP real estate for this query. So Google probably thinks: [Auto insurance near me] You want hyperlocal results that are useful to your users.
How to identify search intent
- Analyze current SERP results in different regions.
- Examine the SERP of the map element.
- Check your state or city specific page.
- Check the title and URL.
- Analyze consistency and determine intent.
How to build a strategy for different types of search intent
national strategy
A nationally focused strategy involves a large amount of content When Authority.
If you determine that your target keywords are in queries with little or no local intent, you should invest the most of your SEO budget in your main website. This will help you get that ranking by generating backlinks.
Quasi-local strategy
Semi-local keywords need one more focus to build content and authority for the main site. Semi-local keywords generate map packs, so you should optimize your Google Business Profile listing.
local strategy
Site structure becomes very important when Google decides to treat your keywords as local. You can increase your search volume by creating a directory of your state or city pages.
hyper-local strategy
If your high-priority keywords are very local, we recommend creating a directory of state and city level pages and optimizing for nearby keywords, including special location pages.
The layers may look different depending on your industry, but at a high level they look like this:
- Locator index page.
- state page.
- City page.
- location page.
2. Have a single authoritative source of location data
With the advent of local listing management companies like Yext and Uberall, this is no longer an issue.
However, you will not come across a multi-location business that does not have a “single source of truth” for all their location information.
If you don’t have this yet, please place it.
3. Optimization of store search
Many brands outsource their store locator to third-party vendors. There’s nothing wrong with this in theory, but there are a few ways this has been found to go wrong.
Search-only store locator
For SEO, an effective store locator should be a basic set of links for state, city, and location pages that bots or users can easily click to navigate to all pages. However, many brands often create store locators on a locator page with a search box to find your location.
A few years ago, when we looked at the locators of the top 100 US retailers, we found that if you were using a search-only locator, you would rank for around 50% fewer keywords than you could link to. rice field. State > City > Location Architecture.
So make sure your locator architecture is built like this.
Location page content
Brands often budget to build a locator on their site, but leave nothing for content.
There’s nothing wrong with a basic location page containing business name, address, phone number, product/service category, etc. SEO performance.
This is where Location Manager comes to the rescue. Successful brands often use location manager surveys to source their own local content.
Other sources may include local customer reviews, syndicated local points of interest data, and popular products in a particular market.
Preferred category
Most ecommerce queries these days display local search results near the top of the SERPs.
Brands that win local packs often link to key categories from their location pages.
Think of this as letting Google know that your location is associated with these categories.
4. Manage and optimize your Google Business Profile
A Google Business Profile (GBP) is actually not difficult. So this is just a simple series of yellow pages lists, but there are countless ways your business can go wrong.
Here are some GBP challenges and opportunities:
Please be aware of duplicate listings
Amazingly, GBP still has duplicate listings, but I just spoke with a service area business that is having ranking issues. It was easy to see that the list of GBPs was duplicated.
As soon as I removed the duplicate listing, my main keyword I was targeting jumped 15 ranks. So keep an eye out for them.
Monitor GBP list
The GBP list is always in a state of flux. Users are adding photos and reviews.
Google may overwrite your data if it trusts data from third parties more than you.
GBP is not a “set and forget” thing. Create a system that periodically monitors GBP page changes.
You can see many changes in the GBP Dashboard, but not all of them. This is one of the reasons we created this free and open source tool to monitor image changes to GBP.
GBP Post Scaling
A GBP post is a short announcement that you can attach to your GBP. These are inexpensive ways to generate high-converting visits to your site. Posts can include text, photos, or videos.
A challenge we often see is that companies are often not set up to create content for each location. Implement a system that allows you to create and post marketing materials.
This often involves creating a GBP size version (400 x 300) of the approved marketing image and a copy of the GBP as part of each new promotion.
We also recommend tagging links from GBP posts with tracking parameters to measure performance.
5. Build a local search presence for SAB and Marketplace
Not all local enterprise brands have a presence.
There are many local marketplace brands like Yelp, DoorDash, Zillow, and service area businesses (SABs) like plumbers and roofers that target local search queries but don’t show up in local packs. This is because the target market does not have a physical location.
This means you are missing out on a lot of potential clicks and revenue.
This isn’t true for all brands, but for brands with the right business model, creating a “store within a store” at partner brand locations is a great way to increase awareness of your local pack. It’s a way.
The FedEx OnSite service at Walgreens is a great example of how this works.
Google Search screenshot, September 2022Of course, if the lead value is high enough, you might consider opening a physical location in a specific region to rank higher in the local pack.
As mentioned at the beginning, there are countless local SEO tactics that corporate brands can deploy.
As you roll out new tactics, be sure to test, measure, and iterate as you would any other marketing channel.
Other resources:
Featured Image: GaudiLab/Shutterstock
