Five Smart SEO Tactics Every Franchise Needs to Use

Effective digital marketing for a franchise all comes down to getting the right eyes on your website and driving traffic to your physical location. People may already know that your brand exists on a statewide or national level. What they may not know is that it exists right in their own neighborhood. That means that you’re going to want to put energy into being as local as possible when building an online presence and crafting marketing content. What does this look like? Using SEO to make your franchise location rise to the top of search rankings all comes down to using geographical keywords wisely and making your brand alive and active on the Internet.

Create a Domain Based on Your Location

Having a URL with the name of the city that your franchise is located in is going to automatically make your business easier to find. This is the first move to make if you’re serious about SEO. In addition, people searching for your business won’t have to visit a corporate website and search through the directory to try to discover if a location is available in their area.

Be as Local as Possible

While branding your franchise based on its geographical area is key, simply interjecting the name of a town or city into the content on your franchise’s website isn’t going to cut it. People are looking for personal, local experiences when they seek out businesses in their area. Adding keywords that demonstrate your franchise location’s unique connection to a town or city is a great way to engage your audience. Getting down to the exact neighborhood and street where your franchise is located is preferred over simply mentioning the city or town. You’ll want to utilize your business address, phone number and hours of operation as tools for differentiation.

Maximize Mobility

Most people are already out of the house and on the road when they’re looking up the address of a business in a town or city. This is why optimizing a website for mobile usage and using keywords that heavily utilize a franchise’s street location are essential. Include features like maps, photos, landmarks and directions that make the location of your franchise very easy to navigate to for someone who is in a hurry.

Seek Customer Reviews

A big part of your online and mobile energy should be focused on getting reviews from actual customers. Getting five stars and some nice words can instantly make your franchise seem more appealing when people come across your presence online. A highly reviewed company that shows up on a search engine makes people more likely to click on your website to learn more and actually consider choosing your business.

Be Social With the Neighborhood

Don’t rely on a corporate Facebook page or Instagram account to draw traffic to your neck of the woods. A franchise should have its own social media presence that has a unique personality. Visibility comes with activity on platforms like Facebook. Updating as often as possible can increase visibility for a franchise. What’s more, the customers who interact with your social media pages are actually doing most of the work for you because friends who are likely to also live in the local area will see your franchise’s postings when they are liked, shared or commented on. It’s important to have the name of the city that you’re located in as part of your title on any social media platforms you use. Social media should be used to highlight sales, events and daily happenings at your franchise location.

Alex Alexakis is a UI Designer, SEO addict that helps businesses with their branding and SEO through his business PixelChefs. After hours he likes good food, Weimaraners, and toy robots. He has boldly build digital businesses by designing for conversion and offering a no-nonsense approach to internet marketing.