Multiple Location Local Directory Submission

The following post is meant to be a combination tutorial (How to Submit Multiple Locations to Local Directories) and case study of my current project, the Right Step Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers.

Step #1 Client Information Checklist

Create a client information checklist for the client to fill out and return. You will then be able to copy and paste from this document when submitting each location.

The following sample client information checklist is a compilation of the info requested by the local directories for each location:

Business Name: (exactly as you want it to appear):
Street Address:
City, State:
Full Zip Code: (all 9 numbers)
Telephone Number:
Fax Number:
Toll Free Number:
Payment Options: (circle all that apply)
VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Diners, Discover, Debit
Cash, Check, Other: ______________________________
Up to 5 Products or Services you provide in order of priority:
Up to 5 Product or Service Brands:
Up to 5 Specialties:
Languages Spoken:
Year Founded:
Number of Locations:
Number of Employees: (not published):
Business Hours:
Special Offer or Local Listing Deal:

Please provide at least one photo for each location. (Maximum: 10)
You may also provide at least one video for each location. (Maximum: 5)

Optimization

Many of the above including product or service names, brands carried, and specialties provide additional opportunities to legitimately use keywords in your listings. You will also want to optimize the file names of the photos and both the file names and the titles of the videos.

Services:

Alcohol treatment, alcohol treatment center, alcohol counseling, alcohol recovery, drug treatment, drug treatment center, drug rehab, drug rehabilitation, drug counseling, substance abuse treatment

Brands:

The Right Step, Spirit Lodge, The Next Step, TRS Behavioral Care

Specialties:

Detox, residential treatment, intensive outpatient, sober living, aftercare

Step #2 More Optimization -Optimize the location business names

Make sure that you have the correct optimized business name for each location. If, for example, they are already listed in any of the local directories, chances are pretty good that many of the locations will be listed using different business names. Work with the client to arrive at optimized business names for each location. By optimized in this case I mean names that include either a primary key phrase or an appropriate geographic descriptive keyword, or preferably both, as in the following examples that are part of the Right Step multiple location link building campaign I’m working on now:

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Houston

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Dallas/Fort Worth

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Plano

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Austin

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Hill Country in Wimberley

The Next Step for Men Drug and Alcohol Treatment DFW

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Clear Lake

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Fort Bend

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment North Houston

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Northline

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment NW Houston

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment San Antonio

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment The Woodlands

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment West Houston

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Baton Rouge

The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Houma

I would have preferred to have added the word Center, for example,
The Right Step Alcohol & Drug Treatment Center Baton Rouge, but that would have exceeded the number of characters allowed in the name of the business for many of the directories.

Step #3 Description & Tagline

Write a 200 character description and a business tagline if they don’t already have one and add them to the client info document so that you’ll be able to easily copy and paste from a single document.

Description:

Alcohol and drug treatment center provides residential and outpatient solutions to alcohol and substance abuse. End addiction and begin a new life with The Right Step. Most insurance accepted.

Tagline:

Providing compassionate, comprehensive substance abuse care

Step #4 Create Optimized Coupon Offer

Please call 1-877-627-4389 to arrange a Free Evaluation by a licensed drug & alcohol addiction professional.

Step #5 Set-up Email Addresses

In order for your listings to be accepted, verified, and published, you will need a unique street address, local telephone number, and email address for each location. More than likely the individual street addresses and telephone numbers in most cases will already exist. If the unique email addresses don’t already exist, you’ll need to create a master gmail account along with an individual gmail address for each location. In the above example I used rightstepd1@gmail.com for the master account email. The individual email addresses already existed and were not being used, so I forwarded them to the master gmail address. That way I was able to verify the email addresses on my own without having to rely on 21 different people to click the verification links from the directories. Also, by using a generic email address for the directory account user IDs, all the submission data can easily be handed over to the client simply by giving them the gmail account.

Step #6 Document

Create an Excel spreadsheet for the project to keep track of the directories, completion dates, and directory user IDs and passwords when applicable,
which also makes it a piece of cake to provide the client with all the info connected with each submission.

Step #7 Submit

Here’s a link to the list of local directories I submit to. In part two next week, I’ll add tips and comments for each of the individual local directories.