Location pages, Google Business Profiles, NAP consistency and reviews — how to rank in the map pack for every branch without creating duplicate content.
Multi-location local SEO has one structural problem: you need a page for every branch, those pages are inevitably similar, and similar pages compete with each other. Solving that is most of the work.
One page per location, and make each one different
Every location needs its own indexable page with its own URL. The mistake is generating them from a template with only the address swapped — that is thin, duplicative content and it will not rank.
Give each page something genuinely local:
- Photos of that branch, not stock imagery
- The actual team, with names
- Parking, transport links, nearby landmarks — genuinely useful and inherently unique
- Opening hours including local holidays
- Reviews from that location's customers
- A Street View tour of that branch, which is unique by definition
Google Business Profile is the main event
For local search, the Business Profile does more work than your website. Per location:
- Verify it. Unverified profiles barely rank.
- Pick the primary category carefully. It is the strongest single relevance signal. Secondary categories help; padding them dilutes.
- Complete every field. Hours, attributes, services, description, photos.
- Point the website field at the location page, not the homepage. This is the most commonly missed win.
- Add photos regularly. Activity is a signal.
NAP consistency
Name, Address, Phone must match exactly everywhere they appear — your site, your profiles, directories, everywhere. "Street" versus "St." is a genuine inconsistency to a machine. Audit it once properly, fix it, and keep a canonical record so future entries match.
Reviews are the ranking lever most businesses under-use. Volume, recency and response rate all matter, and they matter per location. A branch with fourteen recent reviews will out-rank a branch with two from years ago, other things being equal.
Structured data per location
Mark up each location page with LocalBusiness schema — name, address, geo coordinates, opening hours, phone, and the URL of that location's Business Profile. It is not optional at this point; it is how the page tells search engines what it is.
Reviews at scale
- Ask at the moment of satisfaction, not weeks later by email
- Make it one tap — a QR code at the counter linking straight to the review form
- Respond to all of them, including the good ones. Response rate is visible and it signals an active business
- Never incentivise reviews. It violates Google's policies and risks the whole profile
Measuring it
Track per location, not in aggregate — an average hides the branch that is invisible:
- Business Profile views, searches and direction requests
- Calls from the profile
- Organic traffic to that location page
- Map pack position for your two or three core queries plus the town name
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the same content on every location page?
No. Near-duplicate location pages are the most common reason multi-location SEO underperforms. Aim for at least a third of each page being genuinely specific to that branch.
Do I need a separate Google Business Profile for each location?
Yes, one per physical location with staff and its own opening hours. They can all be managed from one account, and larger chains can bulk-verify.
Should location pages be in subfolders or subdomains?
Subfolders — /locations/manchester/ rather than manchester.example.com. Subfolders inherit the authority of the main domain; subdomains largely start again.
