Replace Native Search Engine Optimization when your small business strikes to a brand new location
Let's say a lot of people in your area are reviewing your store online and in store sales have skyrocketed thanks to your local search rankings.
Then comes a problem: you decide to move to a new place.
In addition to the logistical factors involved in moving your business, you also need to think about the successful local SEO strategy that you have worked so hard to build. Can you imagine having all of your efforts go down the drain and start a campaign from scratch?
This is where local search engine optimization comes into play. The goal of local search engine optimization is to rank companies for queries with a geographic component.
Let's go through the steps you'd like to take in order to maintain local SEO profits after moving your business.
Why is it important to update your local search engine optimization for a new location?
There is no magic potion that can carry over your local SEO gains when you move to a new location.
It might be easy to update the location on your Google My Business listing and expect the whole strategy to change automatically.
Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.
Google pulls information from endless sources on the internet. If you only update your company name, address and telephone number (NAP) in one place, you will create inconsistencies in your local search engine optimization as other sources are providing the wrong information to Google.
All local quotes about a company must be consistent on the Internet, as two different NAPs give Google the impression of two separate companies.
As a result, your local SEO efforts will be disrupted, potentially lowering your local rankings.
Additionally, customers searching for your business rely on NAP information. If it's inconsistent, you can lose them as they don't know exactly where to find you.
To avoid all of these moving issues, you should be proactive and take control of all of your local listings.
Take precautions for a new location
If your local SEO campaign is new when you move, you probably don't need to change many places in your information. Keep an inventory of all the websites your business is listed on to make sure the information is consistent across the board.
What if the campaign has been running for a few years?
Hopefully you already have this inventory to refer to. If not, you'll need to find all of the websites that list your business and keep that inventory as you proceed. Then you will know where to update your NAP and other information after the move and avoid inconsistent entries.
The good news is that you don't have to perform hundreds of searches to find all of your business listings. Tools like Moz's Check Your Online Presence can do the heavy lifting for you.
Check out these online presence results for Darling Advertising Agency in New York:
These statistics are made up as follows:
If your search is returning a lot of those red X's, there's still something left to do.
How to correct your local business listings
Moving your business can be hectic, but take some time to manage your local search engine optimization to maintain your rankings and help customers find you in your new location.
1. Update your website with new location information
Just as your new space will be your physical location, your website is your virtual property. Updating is critical to keeping your traffic going both online and in person.
Your NAP is likely listed on your contact us page. However, if it appears anywhere else on the site, you will need to update each instance. This information may also appear in the footer of your website. The good thing is that you can update it once and it will be correct on every page of your website.
You can also add a picture or two of the new location to your contact page so your customers know what to look for when they visit the new location for the first time.
Also, consider writing a short blog post about the move. You can insert more pictures here.
Don't forget the schema markup! Instead of digging through your website's code, you can check all of your website's structured data using Google's Structured Data Testing tool.
You may also want to add detailed instructions about the new business. The best way to do this is to embed a card in your contact page. Around 86% of people search for business locations on Google Maps. By embedding it on your website, your customers don't have to look it up themselves. Also, this can help make your contact page more attractive and useful, e.g. B. the website of Third Rail Coffee:
The more information you can provide to your website visitors and the simpler you can make things for them, the more likely it is that they will follow you to your new location.
2. Close the previous business listing
Unless you are moving to a brand new location, there is a chance that another company has previously occupied the location.
Look for old entries. You may be surprised to find that there are already multiple entries. This is quite common as small businesses often move as they grow.
You want to delete all of these entries appended to your new location to avoid confusion and to ensure that only your business will appear in searches attached to that location.
It is especially important to delete old companies. If you try to add a location that has already been verified in Google My Business, it won't appear because it's marked as a duplicate location in your account.
In this case, it will be listed as "Require Access". This indicates that another company previously checked this location.
Google has clear instructions on how to fix the situation. However, if all else fails, it might be easier to contact the other companies that have occupied this location and ask them to remove their listing.
3. Change your Google My Business address to the new location
After deleting all previous entries under your location, make sure your entry is updated.
Sign in to your Google My Business account and check the PIN tag to confirm it has been moved. In most cases it will be moved automatically. If it doesn't, Google may send a postcard to verify the new location.
4. Update all other entries in the new location
The older your business, the more listings it is likely to have, which means you will have to update more listings.
You can use a tool like Whitespark's Local Citation Finder to find and update dozens of entries:
Some companies have niche directories such as Healthgrades for Doctors, HomeAdvisor for Home Improvers, and Avvo for Lawyers.
These entries carry a lot of weight. If they apply to your business, be sure to keep them updated.
5. Review your entries for the new location
Check for duplicate entries that may have surfaced every few weeks. Mistakes happen all the time. Google can create a listing from old data. So stay on top of things to prevent such errors from affecting your rankings and confusing your customers.
What's Next With Your Local SEO?
Once you have settled in the new location and your local listings have been updated, you can go back to working on your local search engine optimization.
Request customer reviews, keep your website updated, and use keywords that match the new place. This is important when you have moved to a new city.
Connect with locals through your social media account to build rapport with your followers and attract local customers. People want to visit companies that are concerned with and care about their community.
Conclusion
Successful local search engine optimization is all about attention to detail. Keep track of your location information wherever it appears online and you will see less fluctuations in your rankings and foot traffic when your business moves.
You will also be better able to compete with companies around you. More importantly, people find your business and you hold onto those valuable customers.
Have you ever moved your business? Has it affected your local SEO?