Author Archives: DataPins

The (2024) Guide to Multi-Location Website Design (w/Insights)


Multi Location Website Design Blog Cover With Post Title

Multi-location website design presents various hurdles that require unique solutions. Businesses with multiple office locations often face extraneous challenges with their website, SEO, and digital marketing campaigns.

As a result, DataPins produced a guide to help you maximize your efforts.


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Key Takeaway

Brand consistency and content uniqueness are the foundational principles of a successful multi-location website in 2024.


As a business owner, you already know that scaling comes with serious challenges. 

Not least of these challenges is coming up with an excellent multi-location website design. In the following guide, DataPins arms you with vital information to create a fantastic multiple-location website.

You have to keep in mind certain aspects of your business to design an excellent multi-location website. You also have to keep your business goals at the forefront of your mind.

So read along as we break down some of the most essential principles for multi-location website design.


Components of Multi-Location Web Design

When developing a multi-location website, it is critical to maintain a hyper-local approach. Several tenants of local SEO apply more significantly to multi-location businesses.

Using these strategies virtually guarantees more tremendous success than otherwise possible.


Multi-Location Statistic Inographic Showing 50% of SMBs Have Multiple Locations

Location Pages

You need a location page for each city you service and each of your office addresses. Frequently, these two things overlap, and you can put your corresponding office address on the appropriate city page.

Still, you may also service nearby cities where you don’t have an office. In these cases, you still need to publish location pages to get business from those consumers.

For example, if your office is in Orlando, FL, you can create an individual city page for Altamonte Springs, FL, and assign pins to the location.

Be careful when publishing hundreds of city pages with similar content, as it may trigger an algorithmic filter that dilutes your website’s overall rankings.

Instead, the best strategy is to make each page as unique as possible.


DataPins

You might wonder how to diversify your location pages to satisfy search engines and their users. The answer is DataPins: a local SEO tool for contractors. 

DataPins allows contractors to drop pins at each job they perform and automatically publish them to the corresponding location page. The tool also sends review requests through email and text messages.

You’ll find that DataPins automates unique content by making sure only location-specific content appears on the appropriate pages.

The tool serves as a curator of user-generated content, social proof, and reputation.


Google Business Profile

While your Google Business Profile listing is separate from your website, they are connected to your online marketing strategy. The highest-ranking business listings have a complete website with content for each location.

Each office address should have its own Google Business Profile listing, which you can verify via postcard. You should connect your main website to each one of your listings in the GBP website tab.

Include images of offices, information on which areas you service, operation hours, and services offered.

It is also essential to keep this information accurate and updated. NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) information must remain consistent between your multi-location website and your Google Business Profile.

Having inaccurate or inconsistent NAP info hurts your rankings. Also, Google prefers to display recently updated content when it’s available, so update your Google My Business listing often. 


Multi-Location Website Principles

Aside from hyper-local strategies, your website must follow general best practices to increase conversions and appeal to visitors.

As you know, SEO is influenced by the user behavior on your website. Make an extra effort to present an ideal user experience to your target consumers.


HVAC Website Page

Brand Consistency 

Multi-location website design requires a strong brand. Focus on consistent logos, color schemes, and slogans for every page on your website, even different location pages. 

The customer wants to feel that some effort went into the page about their location, like the homepage. In other words, copying and pasting text and images from one location page to another is never a good idea.

Instead, the content should be personalized but still brand-consistent. 

One way to achieve this personalization is by including background images of local landmarks. You can also have a personalized quote from the regional office manager or a message to the specific community in question. 


Navigation

A good multi-location website design makes it easy for consumers to navigate the area pages quickly and easily.

However, consider that not all of your visitors will be directed to the specific area page. Instead, organic traffic will land on your home page or a blog post.

For this reason, developing an overview page is a good idea. Think of an overview page like a transit hub where multiple people can get to where they need to go via a central location.

Therefore, your overview page should have clear and prominent tabs for each area you serve. 

Consider embedding a map that displays all of your service locations. Include an option to click on each one and be directed to the corresponding page. 


URLs

With your different location pages, you have a unique and golden opportunity to make the user experience smooth for your visitors and to optimize for local SEO. Each location-specific page should have unique URLs containing the name of the city they correspond to. 

Make the URL format as consistent as possible, too. This will make it easier for search engines to index your pages accurately on relevant searches. 

For instance, a remodeling contractor in Miami and Key West should have clean URLs like “/key-west” at the end instead of “/contractor-key-west.”


Content 

Content for each of your location pages must be relevant and accurate. For example, one of your locations in Pagosa Springs may be running a promotion that your other locations aren’t.

So you have to ensure that the promotional content is only present on the relevant area page. 

Relevant content also extends to the unique location content that you publish on each page. For example, community events, messages, images, and services should be tailored to the appropriate location page. 

This will not only enhance the user experience for your website; it’s also good for SEO. Besides, no one likes finding out that a promotion they are excited about isn’t actually being offered in their area. 


Final Thoughts on Multi-Location Business Websites

Multi-location business websites present challenges that complicate the digital marketing campaign process. However, with the right tools, companies can optimize their multi-location website for excellent results.

Using an experienced website designer, the DataPins tool, and a hyper-local content marketing strategy, your business website can reach all of your target customers throughout various towns and cities.


GPS Photo Tags for GMB vs. Schema Pins (Myth vs. Reality)


GPS Photo Tags Google My Business (Blog Cover)

Many SEO experts have examined the myth of GPS photo tags influencing Google Maps rankings. Here’s the reality: it doesn’t work. However, don’t confuse GPS photo tags with other kinds of SEO techniques, such as schema markup — which can, in fact, influence rankings.

Local businesses have been trying to gain an edge since SEO’s inception, and many myths, legends, and fairytales have come along for the ride.

Unfortunately, since Google doesn’t publicly release its algorithm, the industry has a history of guessing games, many of which lead people down a rabbit hole that wastes their time and resources.


What is Image Geo-Tagging?

Geo-tagging, also referred to as GPS photo tags, is the insertion of location information into the file data of any given image. The actual tags are the location information of the photo. 

For instance, one might geotag a photo by inputting latitude, longitude, and altitude information into the EXIF data of a given image.

You can then add the geotagged photo to your Google Business Profile to feed Google more information about the picture and the physical location.


SEO Alternatives To Geo-Tagging

While geotags don’t work for SEO, as Google strips the EXIF data from the image as soon as it’s uploaded, another SEO technique influences rankings.

Using schema markup for location-specific information can influence rankings.

Tools like DataPins automate this process by applying schema markup to “pins” that appear on your website.


What are Schema Pins?

Schema pins are pieces of unique map data, in schema form, generated by the DataPins app.

Just like with GPS photo tags, the basic principle is to create unique, location-oriented content for your website – or, in the case of the emphasis of today’s post, your Google My Business page.

The difference is that Schema Pins influence rankings. 

With the DataPins app, you can take a picture of the worksite, enter the location information, and have unique image and map content published to the relevant sections of your Google My Business page.

Schema pins display pins on the map where the service took place. Unfortunately, some confusion remains regarding schema pins and their relationship to geotags (none).

However, misinformation is floating around on YouTube and other forums, contributing to the bewilderment surrounding this topic.

Schema Pin Example (Screenshot)

Schema pins differ from “geo-tagging” by injecting schema markup for specific geo-coordinates.


GPS Photo Tagging Study

In one study conducted over one month, GPS photo tagging had a negligible effect on search engine rankings.

The study targeted 16 different keywords and involved 18 unique posts, each with its own geotagged image.

The study concluded that six keywords dropped in rankings (2 were actually displaced to the 51st position or lower), nine didn’t change at all, and only three improved rankings (likely unrelated).


Does Geotagging Photos Influence Ranking?

Geotagging photos does not influence ranking.

GPS photo tags for Google Business Profile aren’t effective. They don’t work at all.


Schema Pins Study

Schema Pins helped a local plumbing company reach an organic search discovery rate between 84% and 87%.

Customer reviews for the company also tripled across multiple platforms. Lastly, after a year of use, Schema Pins continually added fresh content to Molberg Plumbing LLC’s Google My Business page. 

While some still insist that GPS photo tags for Google My Business can help increase online exposure, there is no doubt that Schema Pins work. 


Molberg GMB Insights (Screenshot)

Do Schema Pins Influence Rankings?

Yes, schema pins influence search rankings by adding relevant content to a business website and increasing the frequency of customer reviews, both of which are confirmed ranking factors.

With the DataPins app, once a pin is added, a text is automatically sent to the customer with a link to a page to leave a review.

This automated review request process was shown in the same study mentioned in the previous section to be more effective than other methods for getting customer reviews. 


Get Started with DataPins

DataPins is all about sustainability and scalability. It can help expand your business by increasing its digital footprint.

The app is very user-friendly and automates many critical digital marketing processes. To learn more or get started with DataPins, give us a call or shoot us a message.


Roofing Company Reputation Management Software for 2023

Review Software for Roofers Cover

Roofing company reputation management software is necessary for all roof repair businesses in 2023. While dozens of suitable options exist, DataPins is the only tool that offers both reviews management and Local SEO automation.

For local contractors, ranking in multiple cities is one of the most important parts of their online marketing campaign. Combining increased visibility with an enhanced reputation is a great combo.

Reputation Management for Roofing Companies

For roofers, reputation management is vital to maintaining and increasing consumer interest, trust, and retention. Because of how Google’s local search algorithm is constructed, reviews matter greatly to local SEO. Roofing companies that demonstrate credibility in a particular service area can rank on Google in those zip codes, even without their primary business address being located there. 

Aside from the SEO benefit of reputation management software, roofers with several positive reviews will also convert at a higher rate than competitors. Because consumers gauge trust based at least partially on review ratings, both the quantity and quality of such reviews matter. Aside from Google, reviews on Facebook and Yelp also matter.

Why Roofers Need Reputation Management Software

It’s easy to see why a good reputation helps roofers get more customers and keeps them returning when services are needed. But establishing such a reputation takes work, not just on the ground with your services but also online with your digital marketing campaign.

A series of tasks are required to both establish and maintain a roofing company’s standing in one or more communities. Software like DataPins makes these aspirations a reality and does so without you needing to get involved in the grind of internet marketing and reputation management. All you need to do is conduct pinning on job sites so you can rank everywhere.

Convert Roofing Customer Prospects

Finding a local roofer online is one thing, but trusting them enough to use their services takes us a step beyond. After all, a great website that is properly optimized can rank on Google for certain keywords. Still, to really convert leads at a high rate, the visitor must be able to verify your reputation through 3rd party platforms like Google Business Profile, Facebook, and Yelp.

It helps when reviews from these 3rd parties are integrated onto your company website so that social proof exists without the user having to go to each site to find out your reputation. With DataPins, you can display all of your reviews from 3rd party platforms like Google Business Profile directly on your homepage, review page, and local city page.

As visitors see that you provide the service they are interested in and have reviews from credible sources to confirm that these services have been performed within their area, they will convert.

Local Roofer GMB Reviews

Simply put, reviews impact conversion and can make up to a 275% difference, according to our internal estimates

Expand Your Service Areas

Roofers often ask digital marketing agencies about how to rank for keywords in multiple cities. If your business address is located in Pinewood, FL, but you’d like to rank in the larger area (Miami), it is critical that you establish credibility within the Miami city lines. Now how do you do that? Through pin technology through DataPins.

When you service a customer in the city of Miami, you will pin at their residence and take a picture of the job. This pin will be routed to your Miami city page on your company website, and when that same customer leaves a review, it will be verified as from Miami and also appear on your city page.

Your page gains authority as Google sees this user-generated content from a reliable and local source. While this is often thought about in large cities, it can be done for any location.

Roofing Areas Served Screenshot

The concept of Geo-reputation suggests that your brand’s authority changes based on each zip code

Improve Online Visibility

We noted that reputation and local SEO are closely related. Businesses that rank well on Google’s Local 3-Pack typically have a good reputation and an established presence in one or more service areas. Traditional organic search results can also be influenced by reputation, especially when the query has buyer intent and targets a local service (like a roofer).

DataPins software helps roofers appear more prominently online, where it matters most. As potential customers view your business entities (websites, listings, etc.), they are exposed to your brand. Leads generated through your brand exposure are far superior to leads you would buy from a 3rd party leads service.

Exclusive leads convert at a higher rate and also have a greater chance of becoming repeat buyers. The most efficient route to exclusive leads is through web presence and visibility. DataPins reputation management tool helps you achieve this goal.

Local Roofer Map Pack Ranking From Local SEO

An enhanced reputation is only as effective as your company’s overall visibility

Reviews Management for Roofers

Contrary to conventional wisdom, a perfect 5-star review rating is not ideal for roofers. Consumers suspect illegitimacy when they find any business with absolutely perfect reviews across the board. You’d rather sit between 4.5 and 4.9 on aggregate star ratings to achieve the greatest performance and earn the most trust.

Aside from the rating, reviews can be challenging to manage, especially for a full-time roofer. 

Review Responses

When someone leaves a scathingly negative review, someone must be there to respond to it in a calm and respectful manner. Review responses have value even for positive reviews. When potential customers see that you are responsive in both negative and positive cases, they are more likely to view you as a viable candidate. 

Negative Review Response

Review responses reflect your company’s attentiveness and concern for existing customers

Review Platform Diversity

Reviews are most effective when spread across multiple sites. It also gives your company more validity when people can see that multiple sources have formed a reputation rating on your service.

DataPins helps roofers manage reviews on multiple 3rd party platforms, including Google, Facebook, and Yelp. Google is the most trusted and the most influential for SEO results, but each platform provides its own contribution to your roofing company’s presence.

Facebook Reviews Rating Screenshot

Diversifying your review sources (Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc.) helps enhance your reputation

Review Presentation

Since spreading reviews through multiple platforms is best for credibility and SEO, it makes sense to have a place where potential customers can view all of these reviews at their convenience.

With DataPins, that place will be your company website through the DataPins widget (compatible with WordPress and other CMSs.) Reviews are displayed as a form of social proof so that visitors are convinced that your company is trustworthy and credible. 

Social Proof Screenshot

SEO-friendly review widgets use API to pull authenticated reviews from Google and other sources

DataPins Reputation Management Tool for Roofing Companies

For an all-in-one software solution for roofers needing reputation management, DataPins is a must-have. In addition to the pins and display widgets, DataPins is the best reputation management software for roofers who are looking to rank for local keywords.

Local SEO is an integral part of the DataPins tool and really what separates it from most other software brands. Roofers can trust that this software will help them achieve all of their reputation goals.

SEO for Multiple Cities: The Ultimate (2024) DataPins Guide


Rank SEO in Multiple Cities Blog Cover

SEO for multiple cities has always been one of the most frustrating components of an online marketing strategy. Local businesses have an office address in one zip code and have trouble ranking for nearby cities that they regularly service.

Considering the amount of work these businesses do in the nearby areas, it doesn’t seem fair.

This frustration was the impetus for creating DataPins, a Local SEO tool that helps contractors rank in multiple cities throughout their service areas.

DataPins wraps schema check-ins, geo-coordinates, original images, and captions into a “pin” that gets published to the most relevant local landing pages.



Since the inception of SEO, small businesses have consistently faced the problem of ranking for keywords in multiple cities. This is especially challenging to Service Area Businesses (SABs), which often serve a wide range of areas and communities.

Although their office address (or home office) may be located in a small suburb, they can travel 10 minutes to reach consumers in a much larger metro area. But how are these consumers going to find them?


Here’s what we know about ranking for multiple zip codes in 2024:


Google Maps Results Favor Address Proximity

Many local SEO experts have demonstrated that Google Map Pack rankings favor the local listing whenever possible. The location data is based on the verified address of your Google Business Profile.

If you are a roofer whose business listing is set in Plano, TX, you will have trouble showing up for terms like dallas roofer, or roofer near me when the searcher’s device is pinged within a Dallas zip code.

See an example below:


Dallas Roofer Local Search

Plano roofing companies will have a very difficult time ranking for queries containing “Dallas.”


Organic Rankings are Based on Other Factors

Generally, local SEO city landing pages will only rank if A) they are endorsed through links from other relevant entities within that community or B) they have original content (like user-generated reviews and pins) that validate a business’s credibility within a specific geographic radius.

With DataPins’ technology, reviews and pins are added to location pages (automatically), which allows the page to rank in a city that your business has serviced but is not actually located in. See an example:


Plano Roofer Organic Search

It’s easier to rank outside of your address city on traditional organic results (with city pages)


Google Business Profile Service Area Challenges

Google Business Profile is an essential tool for marketing your business. It makes it easier for people who need your services to find you. But what if you are a service area business?

Ranking outside your main zip code is notoriously difficult because Google prioritizes local searches based on which businesses have a physical address within the specified area.

And, the further you venture out from your physical address, the more competition there is. You may only have ten or so competing businesses within your own zip code, but that number balloons to dozens the further you go out.

Google is always trying to enhance its user experience, and location specification is a big part of that. That’s why it has been so difficult for service area businesses to get ranked in the areas that they serve. 

The following guide examines the challenges related to Google Business Profile service area ranking. We will also discuss some ways you can overcome those challenges and be seen by more people outside the city where your business is physically located


Google Business Profile Areas Served

Google Business Profile used to have a feature that allowed businesses to set their physical location and then an “areas served” radius that surrounded that centralized location.

It was a nice and convenient feature, to be sure. But people started abusing it. Businesses were frequently exaggerating their service area radius just to show up in more searches even though they didn’t really work in those areas.

So naturally, as part of Google’s ceaseless quest to make their users happy, they struck this feature down. Now, it isn’t so easy to rank using the Google Business Profile service area feature, as many businesses have found out. But as Google shut one big door, they opened a window at the same time.


Service Area Businesses (SABs)

Service area businesses were thrilled when Google unveiled its new service area features. While it’s not as easy as expanding your area’s served radius on a map, it increases the quality of search results, which, in the end, is better for your business.

There is now a Google Business Profile wizard that helps you specify all of your unique areas served. And while it can be a bit tedious (especially if you operate in a lot of cities), it is really very simple.

There is now a “Where do you Serve Your Customers” section of the Google Business Profile setup process.

You can list as many areas by name as you want in this section. The city names you enter will then appear under the Overview section of your Google Business Profile.


Zip Code SEO Rank

Business owners operating in large cities like Los Angeles and Dallas may encounter another challenge with their Google Business Profile service area. Cities like these are massive and have multiple zip codes within their specific areas and neighborhoods.

The problem is that these smaller areas are still covered under city names like Los Angeles and Dallas. So, business owners in these types of areas haven’t been able to let their customers know that they serve their specific area until recently.

In addition to including city names, Google has made it easier for businesses in large metropolitan areas to be found by searchers. You can now enter specific zip codes for areas that may not have their own specific name.


Adding New Service Areas to GMB

Another way Google has made it easier for businesses to manage their Google Business Profile service area is by not locking them into one area after they set up their profiles.

You can go into your Google Business Profile dashboard and change the Storefront Address and Service Area sections as needed.

This is a great feature for growing businesses and frequently adding new cities to their service coverage area. 


Projecting Future Google Business Profile Updates

The challenge of ranking outside one’s own zip code is just one in a series of many more. As Google endlessly finds ways to improve its service, there will surely be more changes to frustrate business owners and DIY marketers alike. 

It’s important to understand these challenges as they arise so that you can find ways to overcome them.

Here at DataPins, we must stay abreast of all such changes in ranking criteria and other marketing trends. Our software was designed to address these service area challenges specifically.


Can You Have A Google Listing With No Address?

So, can you be listed on Google Business Profile with no physical address? The simple answer is no. You cannot set up and verify your Google Business Profile with no physical address given. This is because a physical address is an important part of the Google Business Profile verification process.

To verify you as a real business, Google uses the physical address you give to send out a verification number. Once you confirm this verification number with Google, your listing will be verified.

So the simple answer is no, but once you verify your address through Google, you can mark your listing as a Service Area Business (SAB), which allows you to hide the verified address from the public.


GMB Hidden Address

You must verify your physical location with Google, but you can then hide it from the public


You Can Still Use Google Business Profile

Using the examples mentioned earlier in this post, you may run an online business or operate your business out of your home.

Using Google Business Profile is critical for service area businesses because it lets your customers know that you operate in their area.

Yes, you do have to give some physical address for Google to verify your business, but the good thing about the verification process is that the address you give doesn’t have to be a storefront address.

In other words, you can give Google your home address if your business doesn’t have its own physical address.

But what if you don’t want to give out your home address?


Hiding your GMB Address

The process of listing your home address on Google Business Profile but keeping it invisible to the public is actually very easy:


  • Navigate to the dashboard of your Google Business Profile
  • In the top right-hand corner, click the button that reads “Manage Now.”
  • Provide the business name information it asks for during the prompts
  • Once you have filled out your business name information, you will be prompted to list an address for your business. 
  • List your home address or the residential address you wish to use
  • Check the “I deliver goods and services to my customers” box
  • Then, check the “Hide my address (it’s not a store) box 
  • Complete the setup process as normal

See? We told you it was easy. Now, your business can be verified, and your home address won’t be available for the public to see.


Service Areas

Now that you know how to set up your Google Business Profile listing without using a business address, it’s time to list the areas that you serve. Listing service areas on GBP is absolutely crucial for service area businesses.

When people click on your Google Business Profile, they will see whether or not you operate in their area under the overview section. In fact, 97% of people will use online resources like Google Business Profile to research local businesses. 

So, you simply cannot afford to omit this step. Luckily, the process is pretty easy, if not a bit tedious.

Google My Business now allows you to enter as many individual locations as you want when you set up your listing. In the setup wizard, you will see a section titled “Where do you serve your customers?”

In the field they provide, you can type in the names of the cities that you service. You can also enter zip codes if you want/have to be really specific.


Need More Answers?

We hope you have found our post helpful. Always remember that you don’t have to be pigeonholed or hindered in any way if your business does not have a storefront address. Arm yourself with the answers and resources you need to thrive.

DataPins software is designed to improve SEO for multiple cities and help SABs rank in multiple zip codes throughout their service areas.