Multi-Location SEO: Sites vs Pages

[the-coopersmith]

I just started with a new company that requires multi-location SEO for its niche product/service. Currently, we have a main corporate website, as well as, 40+ individual dealer websites (we host all).  Keep in mind each of these dealers consist of only 1-2 people, so corporate I will be managing the site or sites and content strategy. Many of the individual dealer sites actually rank very well (#1-#3) in their areas for our targeted keywords, but they all use the same duplicate content. Also, there are many dealer sites that have dropped off the radar in last year, which is probably because of the duplicate and static content. So I'm at a crossroads...

1. Attempt to redo all of these location sites with unique and local content for each or
2. Create optimized unique pages for each of them on our main site and redirect their current local domains to their page on our site

Any advise regarding which direction to go in and why. Why is very important. It will be very difficult to convince a dealer that is #1 with his local site that we are redirecting to our main site, so I need some good ammo and reasoning. Also, any tips toward achieving local seo success will be greatly appreciated, too!

Thank you!

[SErOb]

It's tough to give an answer w/o knowing specifics.

If each dealer is truly unique and not just a "branch", then go for unique sites w/ unique content.

Otherwise, follow the standard corporate website structure and create a page to each location.

[TakeshiYoung]

Redirecting sites that are already ranking is almost guaranteed to result in a rankings drop, at least in the short term. However, managing 40 sites is a ton of effort, especially if they're all using duplicate content, and they don't benefit from the domain authority of your main corporate site.

Why don't you start with moving over the dealer sites that aren't ranking onto your main site. That way they will benefit from the domain authority of your main domain, and you can clean them up a little with some unique content to improve their rankings. The sites that are already ranking, you can leave alone until they run into any roadblocks. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

[the-coopersmith]

They are not very unique. Same product and service just in a different regions.

1. How would you respond to a local dealer that has a site ranking #1 for targeted keywords?
2. Any outstanding corporate websites with good location structure you would recommend?

[the-coopersmith]

"If it ain't broke, why fix it?" Haha! True. Pretty sure that is the exact response from one of my dealers.

Another variable I failed to mention is that the dealer sites are running on a very old CMS version, and their current template is not compatible with updated version. Outdated CMS has resulted in a few security issues. Meaning, I am forced to make a decision.

[SErOb]

Is being #1 bringing in traffic and $?  If so, Takeshi's answer below might be worth looking into.  The only problem with "If it aint broke don't fix it.", is that once it's broke, you're left w/ nothing....or worse.  

REI and Cabela's do a nice job.

This Mozinar from last year is really good-

http://moz.com/webinars/be-where-local-is-going

[the-coopersmith]

Thank you for sharing that webinar! Great stuff!

While they are getting decent traffic, I do not want to think short term. Like you said, we could be left with nothing. Many locations have seen the drop in rankings, so probably just a matter of time. So I'm going to switch over to the unique local pages on our site and redirect their pages to the main site. Much more manageable solution with less risk of duplicate content. (ahhh...)

If I redirect their old homepage to their new local page on our site and each product page on their site to that product page on our main site we should benefit from that link juice right both nationally and locally? Their is some value in acquiring those ranking URLs, right?

[TakeshiYoung]

I would still start with the sites that aren't ranking first. The more things you try to do at once, the less predictable the outcome is and the greater the risk of a negative impact.

Start by moving over a few sites that aren't ranking that well. Gauge the impact. Do their rankings increase or drop? What about a month after you've made the move? Once you have a better idea of what the impact will be, you can move over a few more sites, and repeat the process.

A piecemeal approach may take a little longer, but it reduces your risk and gives you a more predictable outcome. It also will allow you to perfect the process of moving sites before you get to the moneymakers that are already ranking well.