As a franchisee or a franchisor, you may not have thought of your business as “local” since the overarching brand may be widespread. But each individual branch serves the community it’s located in, giving you local presence.
Key Takeaways
- Franchises should treat each location as a local business since 46% of Google searches have local intent
- Local SEO increases visibility in “near me” searches and drives more foot traffic and conversions
- Each location needs a fully optimized Google Business Profile to appear in the map pack and gain more traffic
- Effective local SEO includes location pages, service pages, and consistent business information across directories
- Customer reviews and responses build trust and improve rankings and conversion rates
- Local SEO supports growth by helping new locations gain visibility and strengthening overall brand presence
So as a local business, local SEO (also called local search engine marketing or local search) should be included within your digital marketing strategy. Why? Because 46% of all Google searches have local intent. Ignoring it could mean ignoring your most valuable audience.
If you haven’t considered the possibility of your business being local and therefore haven’t put much thought into local SEO, don’t worry, it’s not too late to start.
Let’s walk through the basics of local SEO for franchise businesses like yours.
[Related: Top Strategies for Marketing a Franchise Online]
Why local SEO is important for franchises
Just like organic SEO, local SEO helps your business be more visible online when people search for your products or services. But local SEO specifically helps you show up when prospective customers in your area search for your products or services online. For example, “dog grooming near me” or “dog groomer in [your city].”
By adding local SEO to your digital marketing, each of your franchise locations can show up in those kinds of local searches. That pet parent searching for grooming will know immediately that you have a physical presence right down the road.
This can mean a rise in foot traffic and leads for each location. If someone is looking for a service in their immediate area, their intent to purchase is higher than someone just doing a general, “does my dog need to be groomed?” search. Based on the research, 76% of consumers who search for “near me” visit a business within a day.
Additionally, when you establish yourself as a local presence, you’re no longer a large, faceless chain—you’re a member of each community you serve, which is a huge trust-building factor.
[Related: What Is Local Search Marketing?]
Key local SEO strategies for franchises
Now that you know how local SEO can be impactful for your franchise business, your next question might be, “ok, how do I start doing local SEO?” So, let’s talk about the five key local SEO strategies that you should begin with.
1. Google Business Profiles for every location
When it comes to ranking highly and earning clicks on the SERP (search engine results page), a Google Business Profile is an absolute must. Without it, your local business won’t show up in the Google Local Pack (or map pack).
To make sure that it’s your business, and not a competitor, earning all that traffic and all those clicks, calls, and directions requests, every franchise location should have its own Google Business Profile.
Those GBPs also need to be fully filled out and kept active. This includes things like:
Name, address, phone number (NAP)
- Business description
- Primary category
- Photos and/or videos
- Hours of operation
- Products and/or services
- Reviews
- Posts
- Q&A
2. Location pages on your website
After a Google Business Profile is created, your focus should move to creating location pages on your website. Search engines (and prospective customers) like consistency. If your GBP profile says you serve a specific location, your website should as well.
You can further expand those pages, and send even more local signals, to Google and other search engines by creating location + service pages. For example, a page dedicated to “dog nail clipping in [your city],” one dedicated to “dog ear cleaning in [your city],” etc.
Local marketers agree that one of the most significant local organic ranking factors is a dedicated page for each service.
3. Customer reviews and responses
Just like location pages, your online reviews strategy is two-fold—reviews are helpful for potential customers and also a key ranking factor for local search, which is why they’re the next step once your location pages are in place.
Think about it: when someone searches for a service nearby, they’re not just looking for the closest option, they’re looking for the best one. Reviews help you stand out by showcasing real experiences from real customers in the community you serve.
The first part of your reviews strategy is encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews for their local branch, not just the brand as a whole. The more positive, recent, and relevant reviews each location has, the stronger its local presence becomes.
But collecting reviews is only half the job. The second piece is responding to them. When you respond to both negative and positive reviews, it shows that each location is active, engaged, and cares about feedback. Plus, consistent responses send additional trust signals to both search engines and prospective customers. The data confirms it, with 89% of consumers saying they’re more likely to choose a business that responds to all reviews—whether positive or negative.
4. Consistent business listings across directories
Another foundational piece of local SEO is making sure your business information is accurate and consistent everywhere it appears online.
This includes directories like Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, Bing, and dozens of others. Across all of these platforms, your name, address, and phone number (NAP) should match exactly for each location.
Even small inconsistencies—like “St.” vs. “Street” or an outdated phone number—can confuse search engines and affect your rankings. More importantly, they can frustrate potential customers trying to reach or visit your business. Around 56% of people find inaccurate information about a business online at least once every few months. You don’t want that to include one of your branches.
For franchises, this can get complicated quickly. Managing listings across multiple locations and platforms takes time and attention to detail, but it’s essential for maintaining strong local visibility.
Curious about your current listings? Use our free Business Listings Scan tool to instantly see how your information appears across the web.
5. Local content creation
Creating locally focused content helps reinforce your presence in each market you serve.
This could include things like blog posts about local events, partnerships with other community businesses, or even highlighting customer stories from specific locations. The goal is to show that each franchise isn’t just operating in a community, it’s part of it.
Additionally, local content gives you more opportunities to naturally include location-based keywords, which helps search engines better understand where your business is relevant.
Over time, this kind of content builds stronger connections with your audience while also boosting your visibility in local search results. In fact, companies with blogs produce 67% more leads per month than those without blogs.
[Related: All the Parts of Local SEO [Infographic]]
How Local SEO supports growth for franchises
Now you’ve seen how local SEO plays a role in improving visibility for individual locations, but remember that it also plays a major role in supporting a franchise’s overall growth.
When a new location opens up, one of the biggest challenges is getting that location discovered.
Unlike an established branch, a new location doesn’t have reviews, local content, or a strong digital presence. Local SEO helps bridge that gap. And 94% of top-performing brands have a local marketing strategy in place.
By setting up optimized Google Business Profiles, creating location pages, and ensuring consistent listings from day one, new locations can start appearing in local search results much faster. That means less time waiting to be found and more time bringing in customers.
Local SEO also strengthens your visibility in each individual market. Instead of relying solely on brand recognition, each location builds its own presence within its community. That allows you to compete more effectively with other local businesses, not just national chains.
And as your franchise continues to expand, these efforts build on each other. Each optimized location adds to your overall digital presence, helping your brand show up in more searches, in more places, more often.
To put it simply, local SEO isn’t just a marketing tactic—it’s a scalable growth strategy that supports both new and existing locations as your business evolves.
[Related: 3 Tips to Drive Local Brand Awareness for New Franchisees]
Elevate your franchise’s digital marketing with Hibu One
Now that you’ve learned all about the role local SEO plays in a franchise’s growth, you’re probably convinced enough to begin executing. But learning about local SEO and executing it are two different things.
That’s where Hibu comes in. Where you’re an expert at running your business, we’re the experts in digital marketing strategies. Partner with us and Hibu One, our all-in-one digital marketing platform, and we’ll handle everything for you.
Hibu One makes marketing simple by bringing everything together in one smart, integrated platform:
- Take control of your business info online
- Manage your reviews and reputation
- Maximize your online visibility
- Turn online traffic into real business
- Never miss another lead
- Save time and effort
Ready to learn more? Call us at 877-237-6120 for a free, no-obligation consultation or request a Hibu One demo today!
