Local SEO is a fairly intricate challenge. There are numerous aspects that differ from an organic enterprise strategy. When dealing with franchises and Local SEO, complexity increases since the question of "who is in charge of local SEO" often lacks a clear answer.
This piece will explore the difficulties enterprises and franchises encounter with local SEO.
First, let’s consider this: Why do enterprises often treat local SEO like a grocery checklist?
In essence, local SEO falters when businesses lack a comprehensive plan. Misconceptions such as, “If I complete A, B, and C, then my local presence will improve,” or “If we’re doing traditional SEO, local will fall into place,” are common.
These ideas are incorrect!
For local SEO to succeed, businesses must clearly define what success looks like and devise a sustainable, scalable plan. Businesses of any size can fall into this mindset, but large enterprises and franchise systems are particularly at risk.
5 Challenges Enterprises/Franchises Face When Planning A Local SEO Strategy
Large businesses, irrespective of the channel, inherently have advantages like money, people, access to industry tools, and specialization. However, these resources, if not managed well, can lead to the disadvantages outweighing the benefits, especially concerning local SEO.
1. Budget
A recurring complaint in discussions with enterprises and franchises is that tactics like XYZ aren’t within the budget. For example, you might have an efficient way for local managers to upload pictures to a Google Business Profile, addressing a significant issue they recognize. However, when it comes to financing, they may prefer to allocate funds to something like AdWords since SEO tasks often lack a direct ROI correlation.
The tendency is to maintain the status quo without upsetting good-looking numbers. #politics
2. Ignorance Is Bliss
If no comprehensive strategy is in place, gaining commitment from others becomes challenging. This is common in many organizations. If there’s a loosely defined strategy and undefined roles, stakeholders might pass the buck, leading to continuous uncertainty.
3. Slow Decision Making
Large enterprises tend to be less flexible than smaller companies. Decisions get delayed by involving many people who may not be directly related to the issue. Politics can further complicate this. Decision-making can be slow, with social media teams making local decisions simply because of internal relations, for instance.
Tasks that should be straightforward, like claiming local listings, can take months, leading to regret when listings aren’t claimed on time, affecting traffic and potentially violating compliance with platforms like Google Business Profiles.
4. ‘Bystander Effect’
Without defined roles, responsibility diffusion occurs, leading to finger-pointing. A common example is review management—deciding who should respond as roles are unclear.
Franchisors often face these issues more than others due to different franchise systems. Whether the franchisor controls marketing, allows franchisees to handle their marketing, or shares a marketing pool, clarity in roles is critical.
5. Scalability
Volume is a significant hurdle. Managing elements like the Google Q&A feature across many locations can become extremely time-consuming.
A clear plan can overcome these challenges and create a successful, scalable local SEO strategy. Before diving into actionable plans, start with these overlooked steps:
-
Define what success means for local SEO with objectives like increased foot traffic, store locator page views, clicks from Google Business Profiles, sales, or call conversions.
- Establish clear roles and responsibilities within your team, alongside documents and workflows for data management, decision-making powers, and budget allocation.
5 Local SEO Best Practices For Enterprises/Franchises
Implementing the practices below can help achieve business goals. Each section is split into:
Basic Practices
Typically, these should be implemented as a baseline, as some enterprises might stick with just basic practices rather than advance to competitive strategies.
Competitive Edge Practices
These strategies help separate businesses from competitors, often because many companies only apply basic practices.
1. On-Page Local SEO
Basic Practices include incorporating city and state in title tags, ensuring store pages are indexed, and using local Schema markup.
Competitive Edge Practices include creating a plan for local content opportunities, embedding unique content on store pages, and maintaining an ongoing content production plan.
2. Google Business Profiles
Basic Practices involve setting up profiles, updating store information, uploading images, and selecting relevant categories.
Competitive Edge Practices involve utilizing tools like GatherUp for review notifications, creating content calendars, uploading images regularly, and ensuring compliance with competition analysis and spam reporting.
3. Local Link Building
Basic Practices caution against ignoring local link building due to location volume, which is critical for success.
Competitive Edge Practices involve leveraging community involvement for links and focusing on local rather than national strategies. Building cohesive processes for managers to explore sponsorships and community engagement is essential.
4. Citation Management
Basic Practices include setting up a Google Business Profile and using tools for store citations.
Competitive Edge Practices require ongoing oversight, ensuring accurate store information, and employing tools for verification and optimization, like Yext or Moz Local.
5. Reviews
Basic Practices to avoid include ignoring feedback and having no proactive review acquisition plan.
Competitive Edge Practices prioritize review management, asking all customers for reviews, and responding to all feedback consistently.
Summary
When in doubt about local SEO, focus on tasks that provide value and resolve customer issues. This is crucial. Ensuring everything from store hours to contact information is accurate will foster better consumer relationships and enhance performance.
