Your Brand’s Online Reputation Depends on Local Websites

BrandMuscle | May 22, 2018

As a global or national brand, you work tirelessly and invest major dollars in protecting your brand at the corporate level, but poorly built and off-brand local websites managed by your local business partners cause you to completely lose control of what’s out there with your logo tied to it. A corporate-driven site with local websites and microsites cannot be an aspirational item on your to-do list. LocationBuilder® helps you check it off the list with well-structured, branded microsites for your local business partners that will actually get found in search engines.

Yet, all brands are different, as well as their corporate-to-local relationships. So we wanted to address two myths surrounding local websites/microsites.

“My local businesses already manage their own websites, so we have a local presence already.”

Present does not mean relevant. Close examination of the typical local business partner website reveals the sites they have built are very poor quality, in terms of maximizing SEO potential, and not brand compliant. Additionally, we find corporate has little to no control over brand, promotions, data collection, analytics, etc. Sites not meticulously constructed for search engine performance and mobile-responsiveness miss the mark in signaling trust with Google, and consequentially are dropped algorithmically in rank. Simply swapping out copy (business name, address, phone number etc.) from one local site to the other does not provide the true value of having a unique local presence. Content on each site should be customized to that location to connect with the local consumer, improve overall rankings and eliminate duplicate content from the corporate site.

In our 2018 State of Local Marketing Report, 40% of local business partners admitted being absent from the first page of Google search results. If your local sites cannot be readily found, you have a missed opportunity that will be felt on both the brand a local level bottom lines. LocationBuilder has proven to skyrocket organic search for local businesses, resulting in higher search engine rankings.

“My local businesses are independent and sell competitive products/services, so an additional website/microsite is not needed.”

This is nothing new to us. We find that most of our large clients have local business partners who also sell competitor products and services. LocationBuilder was built to solve this issue, driving preference for your brand. Independent partner sites shouldn’t be held captive to an either/or mentality. Allowing the independent partner’s site to co-exist with a corporate-driven partner brand site provides a winning relationship on both fronts. The partner sees an increase in traffic, and that traffic is in preference for your brand. LocationBuilder microsites are brand-compliant and highly analytical, giving you control back of your brand with the added benefit of insights with real business value. Your local business partner (and you) reap the benefits of the microsite, while your partner retains their own website with their full suite of offerings.

Want a more interactive look at how LocationBuilder works?

Check out the video below or contact us for more information.

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