Listing multiple locations on Facebook for local business and top platforms for local SEO

[wpsoule]

What is the easiest way to register multiple locations for a business to Facebook local?  I'm sure we've all had the challenge of multiple local business listings for a client.  The set up is just busy work, but the verification can be an issue with some busier or less organized locations.

I'm interested to see if anyone has a more eloquent solution to achieve this.

I also have a second question as far as local listings go -  how would you rank the most influential local listing platforms?

Thanks,

Bill

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Chad!

One thing to be aware of  is that Facebook and Google have totally opposite requirements for multi-location businesses.

Google wants you to use only the real-world business name on all of the listings.

By contrast, Facebook won't let you create more than one listing with the same name on it. In other words, you can't have 5 Facebook Places for Bill's Repair Shop. You have to have Bill's Repair Shop Chicago, Bill's Repair Shop Boston, Bill's Repair Shop Denver, etc.

It's kind of a difficult scenario, because then your Facebook Places won't match your Google My Business data (nor your other citations if you go with the real-world business name on them). On the other hand, your competitors are all in the same boat with this one, so the negative impact of it is pretty much moot.

Hope this helps!

[cbizzle]

This conversation happened a couple of years ago now. Are there any updates on the issue of creating Facebook pages for businesses with more than 1 location? Thanks!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Bill,

I found this post to be on the eloquent side http://mashable.com/2012/05/17/facebook-page-businesses/

But does it answer your question? If not, please let me know.

You can create a single page with tabs for the different locations, or create multiple pages. See:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/?ref_type=sitefooter

Regarding local listings platforms, Google is clearly the big cheese, but beyond that, it's going to vary by industry/geography. Yelp is enormous in many verticals, of course. Check out these two resources from GetListed.org:

https://getlisted.org/static/resources/local-citations-by-city.html

https://getlisted.org/static/resources/local-citations-by-category.html

Hope this helps!