Key takeaways
- Brand searches, service searches and neighborhood searches each need a different place to land.
- Searches about owning or working at a franchise look like brand searches. They are not customers.
- Give every high-intent search one landing page, so your own locations do not compete with each other.
- Check your franchise agreement before bidding on the brand name in local ads.
The keywords for a multi-location franchise fall into three groups: searches for the brand near a location, searches for what you sell near the searcher, and the questions people ask before a first visit. Each group needs its own landing place. Some searches with your brand name come from job seekers and would-be franchisees, so the map needs a block list too.
How customers search for a multi-location business
Customers search in one of five patterns, and the pattern tells you where they are in the decision. In the table, [brand] stands for your brand name and [service] for what you sell.
| Search type | Example pattern | What the customer wants | Where it should land |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand plus place | "[brand] near me", "[brand] [neighborhood]" | Has chosen the brand, is picking a location | The location's profile and page |
| Service plus place | "[service] near me", "[service] open now" | Is choosing between brands | The profile, then a location page that names the service |
| Location facts | "[brand] hours", "[brand] prices", "[brand] menu" | Is checking before going | The location page, with this location's details |
| Comparison | "[brand] vs [competitor]", "is [brand] worth it" | Is deciding | A service page or the brand's FAQ |
| Problem or question | "how to [the problem your service solves]" | Is early in research | A guide or service page, usually on the brand site |
The first three are where a franchisee wins or loses the new customer. The last two are often handled by the brand's national site. Agree with the franchisor who covers what, so you are not writing pages the brand already ranks for.
High-intent vs research searches
| Question | High-intent search | Research search |
|---|---|---|
| What they want | To book or get a quote | To learn, compare or price |
| How it reads | A service and "near me" | "How much", "how to", "which is best" |
| Where to send them | A service page with a call button | A guide that answers the question |
| In paid ads | Worth bidding on | Usually a negative keyword |
High-intent vs research searches
High-intent searches name a place or a time. Research searches name a question.
"Near me", "open now", "today", a neighborhood name, "hours" and "directions" all mean the customer wants to go somewhere soon. These belong to the location: its profile, its page and, if you advertise, its ads. "What is", "how much", "is it worth it" and "vs" mean the customer is still deciding, and a helpful answer earns the visit later.
Most of your customers plan the visit, so the facts searches matter more than in an emergency trade. A customer comparing two locations checks hours, prices, parking and what the first visit involves. A location page that answers those beats one that only shows a map.
Repeat customers search differently. They type the brand and the location, or tap the saved listing. They already know you. Whether you pay for those clicks in ads is a budget choice worth making on purpose, location by location.
Building a keyword map
- Pull the real words. Export the queries for each location page from Search Console (Search Console), the search terms report from any local ads, and the phrases staff hear at the counter and on the phone.
- Sort them by type. Use the five patterns above.
- Give each search one landing place. A location page, a service page, an area page or the profile. One page per search, so two of your locations' pages are not competing for it.
- Split neighborhood searches by location. A neighborhood name goes to the location that serves it, and only one.
- Agree the split with the brand. The national site keeps the research and comparison searches. Location pages keep the place searches.
- Record it. One sheet: search, type, landing page, location, who owns the page.
- Revisit it when a location opens. A new location takes neighborhood searches from its neighbors. Reassign them the same week.
Negative keywords for ads
Block the searches that contain your brand or service but come from people who will never buy from your location.
- Franchise opportunity searches: "franchise", "franchise cost", "franchise fee", "for sale", "how to open a [brand]". These are prospective owners. The franchisor's development team handles them.
- Job searches: "jobs", "careers", "hiring", "salary", "application".
- Corporate support searches: "customer service", "corporate office", "login", "app", "gift card balance".
- Places you do not serve: neighborhood names that belong to another location's territory.
- Services this location does not offer.
Negative keywords do not stretch to close variants the way normal keywords do, so add plurals and common misspellings yourself (Google on negative keywords). Match types decide how widely your positive keywords reach, so check them before you add the list (Google on match types).
Many franchise agreements and brand standards also set rules for bidding on the brand name and using the trademark in ad text. Read yours before you add the brand to a campaign. The Google Ads keyword guide for multi-location brands goes further on the paid side, and the area pages guide covers the pages that neighborhood searches land on.
How VETS Growth Marketing helps
We build the keyword map for every one of your locations from your own search data and customer language, agree the split with the brand where needed, and set up the block lists for any ads you run. The sheet, the pages and the ad accounts stay in your name. Projects carry dates, and reports show new customers per location, not search volume. Book a growth consultation to see the map for your locations.
Sources
- About negative keywords, Google Ads Help
- About keyword matching options, Google Ads Help
- Google Search Console, Google