Ranking For Branded Local Searches: A Guide

Are you a local business owner in Manchester struggling to get all your locations to show up in branded Google searches? I feel your pain – it’s a common issue that can be incredibly frustrating to solve. But don’t worry, I’m here to share my personal experience and expert advice on how to rank for those coveted branded local searches.

You see, I was in a similar situation not too long ago. Our agency, MCR SEO, was working with a multi-location counseling business in Austin, Texas called Just Mind Counseling. They had two locations in the city, but when people searched for the brand name, only one of the locations would appear in the local pack and on Google Maps.

After doing some digging, I realized there were a few potential reasons this was happening:

1. Proximity

Google’s ranking algorithms strongly consider how close the searcher is to the business locations. So if someone is searching from near one of the locations, that’s likely the one that will show up.

2. Relevance

Google wants to provide the most relevant results possible. If one of your locations has more robust information on its Google Business Profile or website, Google may deem that the most relevant option.

3. Prominence

Businesses that are more well-known, either online or offline, tend to rank better in local search. So if one of your locations is featured more prominently, it could get the nod from Google.

Now, the client had already taken a lot of the basic steps like creating individual location pages and linking to them from their Google Business Profiles. But even after waiting over 8 months, they still weren’t seeing both locations show up consistently.

That’s when we decided to dig a little deeper. We started by recommending some updates to their Google Business Profiles, like:

• Adding the full address, including city and state, to the title of each profile
• Filling out the “Service Areas” field to show they serve a wider geographic region
• Ensuring all other profile information was 100% accurate and up-to-date

We also made some tweaks to the location pages on their website, like:

• Incorporating the brand name and location details directly into the page titles and headers
• Adding more detailed, location-specific content and visuals
• Improving internal linking to make it clear there are two separate locations

And to back all that up, we made sure the right schema markup was implemented on each location page.

According to Google’s own guidelines, these types of optimizations can help your business rank better in local search results. And you know what? It worked for our client.

Within a few months of making these changes, both of the Just Mind Counseling locations were consistently appearing in branded searches, regardless of the searcher’s proximity. The client was thrilled, and we were pretty proud of ourselves too.

Of course, there are still some limitations to keep in mind. Local search ranking factors like reviews, citations, and personalization can also play a role. And sometimes, if the locations are just too close together, Google may still only show one.

But overall, I’ve found that taking a comprehensive approach to prominence and relevance signals can make a big difference in getting all your locations to appear in those coveted branded local searches. And that’s key for driving foot traffic, online conversions, and other important business goals.

So if you’re a local business owner in Manchester struggling with this issue, I’d encourage you to try some of the strategies I outlined. And if you need any help along the way, you know where to find us at MCR SEO. We’d be happy to lend a hand.