Top 20 Tips for Franchise SEO in 2021
While we all have an idea of what SEO is, franchise SEO may be something that may be foreign to you. According to discussions on the same over at runrex.com, franchise SEO is SEO for any business with a network of locations. If you run such a business, then here are 20 tips to help you smash your franchise SEO in 2021.
Make sure you have a quality website
As pointed out by the gurus over at guttulus.com, just like is the case for any other business or industry, franchisors need to make sure that they have quality websites that are mobile-friendly and deliver accurate, relevant, and unique content about each franchise location to be successful with franchise SEO in 2021.
Be specific
As is outlined over at runrex.com, if a franchise provides services, for example, that brand would be best served making sure that it specifies those services. This means having a unique page detailing the specifics of each service. Avoid listing all your services on one page as both searchers and search engines are looking for more detail and specificity.
Utilize a single domain
You should also make sure that you have all your content and location on one main domain if you are to be successful with franchise SEO in 2021. This, according to the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com, will allow you to focus on optimizing one domain instead of potentially hundreds of domains which can be very expensive, not to mention extremely taxing.
Avoid duplicate content
Duplicate content in franchise businesses has always been an SEO concern. Given that Google wants to see unique content, avoiding duplicate content is crucial in 2021. Avoid being in a situation where each franchise mini-website is just a copy-paste of another franchise mini-site, with nothing but duplicate content.
Have a social media presence
Part of a successful franchise SEO campaign is making sure that you maintain your social media presence. Additionally, when you publish things via social media, make sure that you occasionally include URLs that go back to your website as this will help search engines see that there is some social media buzz around your brand’s website, boosting your rankings.
Take a team-oriented approach
Remember, as articulated over at runrex.com, franchise SEO is a team effort between corporate and individual franchisees. The corporate team needs to stress awareness and the importance of SEO to its franchisees and get them to participate in SEO efforts such as getting their GMB system running, engaging on social media, and creating unique content, and so forth.
Keep your website up-to-date
A key franchise SEO tip in 2021 is making sure that you keep your website up-to-date and fresh. As the gurus over at guttulus.com point out, make sure that it doesn’t have any dated information or content. Always update your content and information to ensure that everything is up-to-date.
Follow the rule of three
This rule states that individual franchise websites should have a minimum of three pages. Avoid the mistake many franchises make by having just a one-page landing page as discussed over at runrex.com, as this will restrict you in terms of your ranking potential for your location.
Focus on local SEO
Local SEO is indispensable for franchises these days and it should be your main focus in 2021. This is because this type of SEO enables them to access all customers who are local to them, enabling them to boost their site traffic while also enabling them to get target audience members to visit them in person.
Google maps
Google Maps can do a lot for franchises, especially smaller ones that want to take things to the next level. By mentioning your various locations on your Google Maps listing, you allow target audience members who want to locate physical stores to find you.
Claim your Google My Business
Given the benefits that are there to be had by mentioning your franchise’s locations on Google Maps, if you have a franchise location that isn’t accessible through Google Maps, the gurus over at guttulus.com recommend that you do something about it promptly. This means creating a Google My Business account and claiming it, as once you are done, you should be able to pinpoint your business’ location via Google Maps.
Watch out for suspicious linking
Many franchisors link to their franchise locations from their main website, and while this is done in good faith and with the good intention of helping people find the location near them, Google can misinterpret it as trying to game the system as revealed over at runrex.com. This is because links from one site to another are a major factor for Google when it comes to determining rankings, and when the search engine sees many sites linking to one another, it can appear to Google as an unauthorized link exchange, which can lead to penalties.
How to deal with suspicious linking
As is articulated by the gurus over at guttulus.com, to avoid the situation described in the previous point, you should remove simple links to other branded franchise websites or make them Nofollow links. You can then replace these links with a more sophisticated tool for helping users find local franchise locations such as plugins.
Beware of the impact franchisees have on SEO
It is not uncommon for franchisees to engage in shady SEO practices when handed the keys to their own website, which may damage the entire brand. This is why it is recommended that you retain some level of corporate control over franchise websites and, at the very least, monitor these websites to prevent such behavior.
Hire someone to manage your franchisees’ websites
If you don’t have the time to keep an eye on everything and your franchisees manage their own websites, then another tip for 2021 is to make sure that you hire someone to examine them for risks and challenges and fix them as soon as they detect such issues.
Take advantage of broken links
Earning high-quality links to your franchisor website is very important in 2021 as explained over at runrex.com. One of the ways you can do this is by finding broken links on other sites and convincing them to link to you instead, a strategy that can be very effective in helping you build more links and improve your rankings.
Bring online reviews under corporate control
Customer reviews are a huge factor both for local search ranking and a franchise’s reputation as per the experts over at guttulus.com. This is why you should have a solid strategy for getting, monitoring, and responding to them. If you. therefore, don’t already use one, your corporate team should implement a CRM system so that reviews can be managed by franchisees or the corporate team.
Set clear expectations and report on your activities regularly
When it comes to franchise SEO, it is easy to lose track of what a partner or a corporate team is doing for you as articulated over at runrex.com. This is why you must start by reporting on your activities, successes, and failures right from the start.
Have an individual website for each franchise location
Instead of having listing pages, a dedicated page on the franchisor’s website, or a local mini-site for each franchise location, you should have an individual website for each. This is because individual, localized websites provide the best opportunity to capture the most reach in each community.
Don’t forget about directory links
While directory links have a reputation for being lousy for SEO as they are so easy to get, they are still very useful. In 2021, to squeeze as much value as possible out of them, you should aim for a variety of them from different types of sites including major directories such as Yelp and Yellow Pages as well as niche directories which are directories that are specific to a town or city.
As always, if you are looking for more information on this wide topic, look no further than the excellent runrex.com and guttulus.com.