Creating an effective database of canonical location data can be done by discussing ideas with stakeholders across the board. Speak not only to salesmen and marketers about the data, but talk to other departments such as Human Resources as well. Find out what their thoughts are with regard to the canonical location idea, and input these into a spreadsheet. This will form a strong foundation to build from.
Next, the website must be optimized to show store locations, as this is a major factor in Google’s ranking algorithm. All local marketing strategies must include the development of a store locator, as this tells Google each and every one of a company’s branch locations, allowing these results to show for hundreds of searches across the world with accurate results. If the individual locations have not been outlined on the store locator page, Google will not be able to tell venezuela phone number list all search users that there is a branch near them, as it will have no location data to work from.
In order to best implement store locations, follow the guidelines below:
Implement all technical basics into the store pages (name, address, contact information, brand name, Google Map, etc.)
Include a set page for store location searches only, which will make it easy for customers to do an internal search once on the site.
Publish all locations as a KML file, with the address of the KML file as part of the XML sitemap.
Use split testing to determine what works and what doesn’t.
Statistics show that nearly 7 billion searches are made each year with local intent, meaning that 7 billion searches are made with the goal of finding a local company. This is a large number to tap into, and must be done diligently to see results.
The next step is to determine which online portals customers are using to find your pages. Learn which search engines or social media platforms are producing the most searches, and focus on optimization for those platforms specifically. Ideally, most of your customers will be using Google, as studies show the search engine offer an average of 14 times more customer impression and visits than any other search platform.