James Dooley: Hi. So today I’m joined with Luke Baston, who is an absolute legend when it comes to franchise SEO and local SEO strategies. Luke, you’ve worked in franchise SEO for years. Let’s jump straight into it. How can a multi-location business start scaling rankings quickly?
Luke Baston: Hi James. Thanks for having me on. Franchise SEO is quite different to other forms of SEO like e-commerce or B2B SaaS. In many industries, SEO is layered on top of the business. With franchises, it is far more contextual and depends on how the franchise operates and how much freedom exists at local level.
Luke Baston: I have worked with franchises where head office gives full control and says, tell us what to do and we will do it. In those cases, the biggest drivers are Google Business Profiles and branded entity consolidation. In most local markets, the majority of leads come from Google Business Profiles. That is a given now.
Luke Baston: Franchises add an extra layer of complexity because you have the corporate brand and then multiple local entities. Using an example like Roto-Rooter, you may have several locations in the same city. Each one is a separate local entity operating under the same corporate brand. Differentiating those entities correctly is a huge part of success.
Luke Baston: You also need to understand the operational constraints. Some locations use their own local SEO agencies. Others rely on a central marketing team. That means strategies often need to be concession-based. You cannot always do everything you would ideally want to do, so flexibility is critical.
Luke Baston: Brand recognition and knowledge panels are also extremely important. Strengthening the parent-child entity relationship between the corporate brand and each location helps capture brand-led searches where users may not specify a city but still intend to find a local provider.
James Dooley: When it comes to structure, do you have a preference between subdomains and subfolders for franchise websites?
Luke Baston: You can make both work. The real question is risk. It depends on where accountability sits and how much control head office has over local SEO. If local franchises control their own marketing, subdomains can be safer. If one location causes problems, it is less likely to impact the main domain.
Luke Baston: Another risk consideration is whether the site runs on the root domain or [www](http://www). If issues occur on the root, recovery can be difficult. Using www can sometimes add an extra layer of protection.
Luke Baston: If the strategy relies heavily on on-page SEO, subfolders often perform very well because they benefit from domain-wide authority. Some franchises even use hybrid approaches. For example, they may have subfolders on the main site and separate branded domains for each location.
James Dooley: When franchises use separate domains, are they heavily interlinking them?
Luke Baston: In the cases I’ve analysed, not usually. They often rely on brand naming rather than explicit linking or schema connections. The relationship exists more at an inferred entity level rather than through direct technical links.
James Dooley: How does internal linking usually work when everything is under subfolders?
Luke Baston: Internal linking is largely handled at national level. Location pages receive links from the homepage, locations hub pages, state pages, and relevant national service pages. Locally, you can also build additional pages such as areas served pages or local blog content to strengthen relevance.
James Dooley: What about off-page SEO. Citations, digital PR, guest posting. How does that work for franchises?
Luke Baston: It depends heavily on the business model. If each location has a physical address, then citations and Google Business Profiles usually point to the individual location page. If it is a service area business without a public address, citation opportunities are more limited.
Luke Baston: In many cases, you treat each location as a standalone entity. That includes its own Google Business Profile, citations where possible, web 2.0 profiles, and video assets. Video is especially powerful for introducing teams and answering common questions.
James Dooley: If a franchise is watching this and wants help fixing performance issues, how can they get in touch with you?
Luke Baston: The easiest way is through my website, lukebaston.com. I’m also active on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, but the website is the best starting point.
James Dooley: Perfect. Anyone watching this who runs a franchise or multi-location business, Luke Baston is one of the best in the space. He goes deep into structure, entities, and technical SEO. Luke, thanks again for your time.
Luke Baston: Thanks James.
Luke Baston: Hi James. Thanks for having me on. Franchise SEO is quite different to other forms of SEO like e-commerce or B2B SaaS. In many industries, SEO is layered on top of the business. With franchises, it is far more contextual and depends on how the franchise operates and how much freedom exists at local level.
Luke Baston: I have worked with franchises where head office gives full control and says, tell us what to do and we will do it. In those cases, the biggest drivers are Google Business Profiles and branded entity consolidation. In most local markets, the majority of leads come from Google Business Profiles. That is a given now.
Luke Baston: Franchises add an extra layer of complexity because you have the corporate brand and then multiple local entities. Using an example like Roto-Rooter, you may have several locations in the same city. Each one is a separate local entity operating under the same corporate brand. Differentiating those entities correctly is a huge part of success.
Luke Baston: You also need to understand the operational constraints. Some locations use their own local SEO agencies. Others rely on a central marketing team. That means strategies often need to be concession-based. You cannot always do everything you would ideally want to do, so flexibility is critical.
Luke Baston: Brand recognition and knowledge panels are also extremely important. Strengthening the parent-child entity relationship between the corporate brand and each location helps capture brand-led searches where users may not specify a city but still intend to find a local provider.
James Dooley: When it comes to structure, do you have a preference between subdomains and subfolders for franchise websites?
Luke Baston: You can make both work. The real question is risk. It depends on where accountability sits and how much control head office has over local SEO. If local franchises control their own marketing, subdomains can be safer. If one location causes problems, it is less likely to impact the main domain.
Luke Baston: Another risk consideration is whether the site runs on the root domain or [www](http://www). If issues occur on the root, recovery can be difficult. Using www can sometimes add an extra layer of protection.
Luke Baston: If the strategy relies heavily on on-page SEO, subfolders often perform very well because they benefit from domain-wide authority. Some franchises even use hybrid approaches. For example, they may have subfolders on the main site and separate branded domains for each location.
James Dooley: When franchises use separate domains, are they heavily interlinking them?
Luke Baston: In the cases I’ve analysed, not usually. They often rely on brand naming rather than explicit linking or schema connections. The relationship exists more at an inferred entity level rather than through direct technical links.
James Dooley: How does internal linking usually work when everything is under subfolders?
Luke Baston: Internal linking is largely handled at national level. Location pages receive links from the homepage, locations hub pages, state pages, and relevant national service pages. Locally, you can also build additional pages such as areas served pages or local blog content to strengthen relevance.
James Dooley: What about off-page SEO. Citations, digital PR, guest posting. How does that work for franchises?
Luke Baston: It depends heavily on the business model. If each location has a physical address, then citations and Google Business Profiles usually point to the individual location page. If it is a service area business without a public address, citation opportunities are more limited.
Luke Baston: In many cases, you treat each location as a standalone entity. That includes its own Google Business Profile, citations where possible, web 2.0 profiles, and video assets. Video is especially powerful for introducing teams and answering common questions.
James Dooley: If a franchise is watching this and wants help fixing performance issues, how can they get in touch with you?
Luke Baston: The easiest way is through my website, lukebaston.com. I’m also active on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, but the website is the best starting point.
James Dooley: Perfect. Anyone watching this who runs a franchise or multi-location business, Luke Baston is one of the best in the space. He goes deep into structure, entities, and technical SEO. Luke, thanks again for your time.
Luke Baston: Thanks James.
