SEO for a business with several locations

A business with several locations needs three things for local search: one Google Business Profile for each real, staffed location; one page on your website for each location, with details that are genuinely about that place; and the same name, address, and phone number for each location everywhere it appears. Link each profile to its own location page, and link every location page from one locations page. Don't make pages for towns where you don't have a location just to rank there.

Which locations get a profile

Each place where you serve customers in person, with staff during its hours and signage, gets its own Business Profile. Some common cases:

• Shops, branches, offices, restaurants: one profile each.
• Service-area businesses (you go to the customer): one profile for the office you work from, with service areas set on it, not one profile per town you cover.
• Virtual offices and mailbox addresses: not eligible. A co-working space only counts if you have signage, staff there, and receive customers during your hours.
• Departments that deal with the public as distinct businesses can have their own profile, with a name different from the main business and their own category.
• Practitioners such as doctors, lawyers, and real estate agents who see clients directly can have their own profiles alongside the practice's.

Use the same business name on every profile, unless a location's real-world signage is different.

Source: Google: Guidelines for representing your business on Google.

Managing many profiles

• Business groups let several people share access to a set of profiles, without sharing a login. Set one up before adding locations.
• Bulk verification: with 10 or more locations of the same business, you can ask Google to verify them together using a spreadsheet, instead of verifying each one. Service-area businesses and agencies managing several brands aren't eligible.
• Hours per location: set regular and special hours on each profile. Holiday hours often differ by location, so check each one before every holiday.

Sources: Google: Business groups, Google: Bulk verification.

For setting up each profile, see Set up and optimize your Google Business Profile.

Give each location its own page

Each location page is where that location's profile links, where people land when they search for "your business + town", and the page that tells search engines about that place. Make it the most useful page anyone could want about that location:

• Name, address, and phone number, exactly as on the location's Business Profile
• Hours, including when they differ from your other locations
• A map, with directions, parking, and nearby transit
• Photos of this location: the outside (so people recognize it), the inside, and the team
• Who's there: the manager or staff, with photos
• What's offered here: services, products, or departments, especially if they differ between locations
• Something only true here: the neighborhood, the year it opened, local projects, events at this location
• A way to act: call, book, or a contact form that goes to this location's team

Link every location page from one Locations page, with a list or map, and link to it from your main menu or footer.

Avoid near-copies

Google's spam policies name "doorway" pages: pages aimed at specific cities or regions that are near-copies of each other and exist mainly to rank. Five location pages with the same paragraph and the town name swapped look like that. Each location page should earn its place with real, different details. Pages for towns where you don't have a location are risky for the same reason; if you serve a wider area, describe it on the location page that serves it, and write separate pages only when you have something real to show for that area, such as projects you've completed there.

Source: Google Search Central: Spam policies, doorway abuse.

Keep name, address, and phone consistent

Customers, Google, maps apps, and directory sites all compare your details. When they disagree, people call the wrong number or drive to an old address.

1. Keep one master list (a spreadsheet works) of every location's name, address, phone number, hours, and page URL. It's the source of truth.
2. Write each address the same way everywhere: "Suite 200", not sometimes "Ste. 200" and sometimes "#200".
3. Give each location its own local phone number if customers call the location directly, and use it on both the profile and the location page.
4. When a location moves or closes, update the profile, the location page, and directory listings (Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp, industry directories) the same week. Mark a closed location's profile as permanently closed, and redirect its page to the nearest location or the locations page. See Set up a 301 redirect.

Structured data for each location

Structured data tells search engines a page's facts (name, address, phone, coordinates) in a form they can read without guessing. Google's documentation for local businesses recommends marking up each location as its own business, with its own address and details. Google doesn't promise to show anything special for it, but it removes ambiguity about which details belong to which location.

Source: Google Search Central: Local business structured data.

Reviews for each location

Reviews belong to each profile, so every location needs its own review link. Give staff at each location their own link or QR code, so a happy customer reviews the place they actually visited. Reply to reviews on every profile, not just the busiest. See Get and respond to Google reviews.

Measure each location

Each Business Profile has its own performance figures: searches, calls, direction requests, and website clicks. Compare locations monthly. A location with many profile views but few website clicks may have an unhelpful location page, or the profile may link to the home page instead.

In Google Search Console's Performance report, filter by each location page's address to see which searches find it. See Add your WordPress site to Google Search Console.

If your site runs on Dirigible

• Location pages: Dirigible Locations gives each location its own page (at /locations/location-name/ by default) with its address, phone, email, website, social links, and a map, plus any content you add in the block editor below them, such as hours, photos, and staff. Group locations by Regions and Types. See Dirigible Locations: Overview.
• Locations page and store locator: the Locations, Location Map, and Location Search blocks list every location, show them on a map, or let visitors search by US zip code. See Add locations and a store locator map.
• Structured data: each location page tells search engines its name, address, phone, and links as a place. The theme's site-wide business details (from Footer & Contact → Contact Information) describe your main business, so fill those in with your head office or main location. See Structured Data for Search Engines.
• Hours: Dirigible Hours holds one weekly schedule for the whole site. If locations keep different hours, write each location's hours on its own page.
• Events at a location: the Events by Location block shows the upcoming events at one location on that location's page. See Events by Location.
• Search titles: give each location page its own search title and description, naming the town. See Edit the SEO title and meta description for a page.