Although Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be a very profitable way to drive traffic to a company's website or blog, it can also be quite a challenge for franchises and franchisees.

Many franchises have multiple brick-and-mortar locations with multiple managers, differing products, and promotions at different stores targeting different audiences. So on top of these franchisees who have their own marketing strategies and local issues, there's also marketing on the corporate level.



Because the structure of a franchise is comprised of a heavy brick-and-mortar presence digital marketing becomes an attempt at reconciliation. Reconciliation between the online connection with their customers and the intention of driving them to go visit a physical location to make an in-person purchase. This reconciliation is especially tricky when compounded by the competing aspects that were previously mentioned.

So the problem is that while the brand of the franchise itself, may have a well-known online presence, it becomes difficult for individual franchisees to forge their own online identity and rank high on local search engine results.

As a franchisor/franchisee, it becomes imperative to ask how to structure the web presence of a brand with multiple brick-and-mortar locations.

There are several strategies multi-location franchises can utilize to increase their page rankings on local search engine results. Here are a couple ways to make sure potential customers can find the correct information and LOCATION of your business so those inquiries can turn into visits both online and offline.

Create Location Landing Pages
If each location is to dominate the local search results, individual pages should be created separately and optimized for each business location. A big mistake that franchises make is including all of their information on one main landing page.

Developing individual landing pages for each location, that are extensions of the primary brand's domain, gives the franchise the ability to rank higher on local search terms. These landing pages are there for individual franchisees to expand on and create relevant, relatable content for their audiences.

For example, the URL can be structured as follows:
www.yourdomain.com/locations/location-a
www.yourdomain.com/locations/location-a/directions

The content, meta descriptions, and title tags should also be optimized with keywords that are specific to each location. Also if each page is marked up with a local business schema displaying business hours and other important information it will appear, along with the business hours, in search results.

Understand The Digital Marketing Channels Needed
The key word to be emphasized is needed. There are several channels involved in helping local search rankings. There are also platforms within these channels, so it is important to know which ones should be utilized for each location. By understanding these different channels you will be able to tell which franchise location needs the most help and which channel(s) would be the most beneficial.

The top, most utilized digital marketing channels available are:

1. Search engine marketing (SEM) which is achieved through the website or more specifically the content of the website.
2. Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC) which includes both search and display.
3. Social media which can also include video posts.
4. Email marketing and
5. reporting and Analytics.

A Sound SEO Foundation
It is safe to say that giving each business location a sound SEO foundation can be very beneficial to the overall health of the franchise. But just as important as the landing pages and marketing channels themselves are the keywords used and the placement of those keywords. For a better understanding of how to place keywords check out this link https://www.tom-johnston.com/seo/franchise/.

Conclusion
Having a digital marketing strategy that focuses on helping individual franchise locations get highly ranked on local search results will give your franchise the competitive edge it needs. With that said this is by no means an exhaustive list of SEO strategies.

This is just the beginning of creating ways to reach those highly coveted first-page search results. A foundation to build upon. Because with a sturdy foundation, you can capture the attention of online visitors and turn them into offline customers.