5 Things to Consider Before Purchasing A Local Listings Solution

Local listings and online visibility go hand in hand. Local listings are one component of Google’s ranking factors, and they also provide consumers with valuable information about your multi-location business. Rather than having to go to your locations’ website or local pages and search for your hours of operation or contact information, consumers should be able to find everything they need to know about your business within its local listings. With so many options available, finding the local listings solution that’s best suited for your multi-location business can seem overwhelming. This blog is here to help. We break down the top five things you should consider when purchasing a local listings solution for your multi-location business. 

1. The Ability to Claim Listings at Scale 

As a multi-location business, one of the first things you should consider when choosing a local listings solution is whether it can scale your listings across business locations. With 100s or even 1,000s of business locations, a solution that would require your marketing team to create and update each listing individually is out of the question. Scalability and the ability to streamline are crucial. As mentioned, local listings are one of Google’s ranking factors, and to increase each business’s visibility online, individual listings are a must. For more insight on what your business can be doing to boost its online visibility, check out our guide, Top 10 Things You Should be Doing in Local SEO Now. 

While claiming your local listings is something to take into consideration, you should also look at whether or not removing duplicate listings is a possibility. Finding a solution that will remove duplicate listings is an added benefit and will save your business time and effort without doing it manually. 

2. Lead Generation Tracking

Adding calls-to-action (CTA) and implementing lead generation tracking is something else to look for in a local listings solution for your multi-location business. Including a CTA Including helps convert a potential customer without leaving the listing. It’s also an excellent tactic for collecting leads. For instance, if you’re a fitness brand and allow members to register for a membership for your gym online, including a “Sign Up Today!” or “Request More Information” CTA is helpful for both your business and the potential customer.

Once the CTA is added, it’s essential to make sure you can track the leads you receive by potential customers clicking on it. Some listing solutions allow lead generation tracking through phone numbers and UTM codes to help your business track revenue growth. If your business doesn’t include and track CTAs on your local listings, think of all the opportunities you could miss. 

3. Partnerships With Directories 

When purchasing a listings solution for your multi-location business, another item to keep in mind is which directories they partner with. While listings on platforms like Google Business Profile, formerly known as Google My Business, and Facebook are essential, it’s vital to ensure the solution you’re choosing can create listings on other platforms. For instance, does the solution have a partnership with Yelp that allows you to create Yelp listings? Are platforms such as Bing, Foursquare, and Google Maps supported? A listings solution developed for multi-location businesses should be able to do most, if not all, of these things. Finding a solution that allows you to create and manage listings across various platforms ensures that you’re getting complete coverage, increasing your visibility among your target audience. 

4. A Local Focus 

While coverage across numerous platforms is essential, a local focus is also critical. Your business should have local listings for each business location, not just for your corporate office. As mentioned previously in this blog, the ability to scale your listings across business locations is critical, but the ability to include local business information is just as important. While finding a solution that allows you to add basic business information should go without saying, finding a local listings solution that allows your business to include as much local information as possible is critical. For instance, can you add local photos of your business? Do you have the opportunity to highlight whether your local business offers curbside or takeout? What about adding CTAs? These are things to consider when choosing a local listings solution. 

5. Consolidation Opportunities 

Last but not least, when choosing a listings solution for your multi-location business, you should also consider whether or not the platform can solve any of your other localized marketing needs. Many local teams don’t have the time to log into various marketing platforms, learn how they work, and think about the strategy behind the marketing efforts. A consolidated platform that allows you to manage all aspects of your localized marketing strategy within a single login is a great way to get buy-in from local teams. When choosing a local listings solution, consider whether it can also support your business’s local social strategy or online reputation management efforts. The less time and energy teams have to think about the tools needed to execute their localized marketing strategy, the better.

Now that you have the information needed to select the best local listings solution for your multi-location business, it’s time to get started. If you don’t know where to begin when looking for listings solutions, consider SOCi Listings. SOCi empowers you to manage your business listings at scale and optimize your online presence and local search rankings effectively. From syncing, updating, and managing your local listings to custom audits and profile recommendations to the flexibility for local managers to make their updates with corporate oversight, SOCi Listings covers every step of the process to propel your listings to the top of search results. 

It’s also worth mentioning that SOCi is the marketing platform for multi-location brands. If you’re looking to consolidate your marketing efforts into a single platform, SOCi has you covered. SOCi has the tools needed to create a winning localized marketing strategy from social to reputation management to ads, listings, and beyond. For more insight into how SOCi can help you crush your localized marketing goals, request a demo today!