Website Mods and SEO for Multi-Location Practice?

[WhiteboardCreations]

We're in the process of taking over a WordPress website within the next week for a 3 location medical practice. These are in 3 different cities. 1 location is in a pretty competitive market, while the other 2 are not.

The current site isn't bad for design and navigation and they don't have the budget for a full-redesign. Structurally, it is sound. It lacks a lot of content though and a blog. It is not responsive, should we convert to make it responsive?

At first glance you can't tell they have 3 locations and their content for each location and services offered is pretty weak. What other suggestions do any of you have for getting the main site to rank for all 3 locations? I know it'll take some time since they are no where to be found now, but just looking for any other tips you may all have. Thanks!! - Patrick

[AndrewAtMGXCopy]

Hey Patrick, wanted to clarify. When you say 3 locations, are you referring to 3 neighborhoods in the same municipality? Or 3 different cities?

[WhiteboardCreations]

Andrew, I updated my post. They are in 3 different cities. City A, City B, City C

[AndrewAtMGXCopy]

Hey Patrick —

I would start by making sure each branch has a dedicated page, and make sure each has its own set of directory listings.

Then, I'd make sure the home page had several mentions of each city that it's in (with exact match keywords including both the city and the type of practice they're in).

As you acquire links, I would focus them on one branch page at a time (pick the one with the most business value—maybe go with one of the low hanging fruit if it's worth it; or just tackle the big prize) until you rank where you want to be. That way your efforts are focused on each page.

— Andrew

[WhiteboardCreations]

Andrew,

I agree with you about the Home page including content which targets their 3 locations as well as having dedicated "location" pages as well. Rather than do overkill, the Location pages would include Schema markup (NAP) and with creating links for those locations to their G+ pages which all need to be verified, thus letting Google know that they are a true local business.

This practice is super behind on things. No social media profiles, G+ not verified, no other lcoal listings verified/setup, no blog, weak/thin content in all of their pages, no backlinks... the list goes on. I do know I'll be using https://moz.com/local/search. I'm looking forward taking over and getting them ranked finally! Thanks for your tips and response! - Patrick

[AndrewAtMGXCopy]

No problem—best of luck, Patrick!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Patrick,

I'll just reel off some suggestions here for best practices.

• Yes, do be sure there is a unique landing page for each practice

• Link to them visibly from the top level menu as well as from the text of the home page

• Be sure the first thing on these 3 landing pages is the complete business NAP, encoded in Schema

• Be sure the content on these pages is unique and make it as helpful and awesome as you can

• Build a unique Google+ Local page for each of the 3 physical locations

• Build a set of citations for each of the 3 physical locations

• Create a content development strategy so that the doctors, or a designated company blogger, can continue to publish local-specific copy over time

• Implement a review acquisition strategy so that all 3 locations are earning reviews

All of these are sound techniques for establishing good local rankings for the client. Hope this helps!

[WhiteboardCreations]

I can always take away a little nugget when you write an article or post a response! I love the "Review Acquisition Strategy" wording and idea behind it. I know they are important but getting clients to understand that can be tough, but just those words would help pack a punch to any client in any meeting. Thanks for that! - Patrick

[MiriamEllis]

Great to hear, Patrick! Good luck at your next meeting with the client. You might want to check out Get5Stars as this makes review acquisition easier and actually kind of exciting for the business owner!

[WhiteboardCreations]

There you go again! Thanks for that suggestion and I'll check it out tonight

[MiriamEllis]

You're welcome