Today, nearly 46% of all Google searches are conducted by customers looking for information about products, services, and businesses nearby. More often than not, searchers find the information they need to make a decision without ever visiting a website—in fact, our own research has shown that just 1 in 60 local pack views results in a click. As Google increasingly becomes the transactional layer between brands and the customers they serve, enterprise marketers are wondering how to build visibility and improve rankings where it matters most: in local search. In this post, we share the 10 enterprise local marketing questions most commonly asked by multi-location brands looking to substantially improve local performance.

Don’t see your question below? Get in touch and our local search experts will be happy to help you out.

Why is local listings management important?

Managing, monitoring, and optimizing your brand’s local listings is critical to each of your location’s discoverability in search. What’s more, the quality of your local listings can have a major impact on the customer’s experience and even convert them from search to sale—or deter them from visiting. Read 5 Ways to Win More Customers with Local Search Optimization to learn more.

How is enterprise local listings management different?

Managing local listings at scale comes with its own unique challenges. Local search is an integral part of each customer’s overall experience with the brand and at the local level. Brands need the technology and expertise to not only present the right information to each searcher but to engage, convert, respond to reviews—and then to measure the outcomes of those interactions. You’ll find more insight into how brands can compete at the local level here.

Which factors have an impact on our local search rankings?

Google My Business signals, inbound links, local reviews (quantity, ratings, velocity, recency), on-page SEO, social signals, citations, personalization, and behavioral signals all impact your brand’s rankings at the local level. Read 8 Most Impactful Local Ranking Factors for Brands to learn how Google is currently determining rank in 2020.

Does organic SEO have an impact on our local search rankings? 

Different types of search queries trigger different types of Google search engine results pages (SERPs)—appearing prominently in both organic and local search results is important. 

The good news is that many organic and local search efforts go hand-in-hand. Local pages, an optimized Locator, custom local content, local photos and more all support both your organic and local presence. Learn more about how to use organic SEO to improve your MapPack rankings here.

How can we improve our local reviews strategy?

Managing and responding to local reviews is a challenge for enterprise brands, but also a massive opportunity to both engage customers and improve local search visibility. The knee-jerk reaction may be to scale back resources during a crisis or times of economic uncertainty, but this is when customers need you to be most proactive and responsive. Follow these 10 best practices for enterprise local review management and learn how to pivot your reviews strategy during a crisis here.

How can we tell if one of our location listings is suspended by GMB?

Historically, brands needed to monitor for listings suspensions. Now, Google will send an email notification when a business listing is suspended. However, only EU businesses will receive a notification of an account suspension. Brands still need to monitor local listings across the search ecosystem for inaccuracies, duplicate listings, and other issues that negatively affect customer experience and search visibility. 

How does inaccurate information override our location data?

Google and other search engines are constantly updating search results with new information, and that comes from a variety of sources. Data aggregators, social networks, directories, Local Guides, and more all inform what appears in local listings, and Google is looking for consistency across these diverse sources. This is why brands need a single source truth for their local listings, and why automated monitoring is necessary for managing listings at scale. 

How can we update store hours or other key business information across a specific subset of locations?

This is one of the most common needs for enterprise local brands—when weather, political unrest, holidays, a pandemic or other circumstances dictate that locations close early or otherwise change operations quickly, how do you ensure this information is reflected in search results for products and services like yours? Local listings management is one important component of local presence management in times of crisis and unrest. Check out these other best practices for managing local listings in an unpredictable world.

Do we need a local listings management partner?

Enterprise brands have unique local listings management needs due to the scale and complexity of their listings. A local listings management partner can provide the technology, expertise, and support to make meaningful gains in rankings and conversion even in the most competitive markets. 

According to Mediahub, for example, the benefits of an experienced enterprise search partner include:

• Access to a dedicated resource to help the brand understand the platform and the company’s place in the larger local search ecosystem.
• A single sign-on dashboard with seamless integration of local marketing solutions, with no complicated workarounds or integrations required.
• The technology to monitor local listings across search engines, directories, and networks at scale and in real-time.
• Customizable alerts and workflow to ensure no opportunities fall through the cracks.
• Access to reporting at a very high and also granular level.
• Local search expertise and manual intervention for complex listings issues.

With so many aspects of local presence optimization, how can we be sure we are investing in the right tools and tactics?

Start with a local presence audit. This detailed, customized analysis of your brand’s local presence highlights your most lucrative areas of opportunity and those in which you may have the greatest opportunity for growth. You’ll have the opportunity to review your results with a local search expert.

Want to learn more about growing your local presence across the brand?

• Check out local marketing resources designed for enterprise brands like yours
• Sign up for an upcoming expert local marketing webinar
• See how other brands like yours are seriously moving the needle at the local level