Expanding Your Service-Based Business: Navigating SEO and Location Challenges
As a small service-based design partnership, establishing a strong local presence is vital for growth. Recently, we made a move to a new city, aiming to tap into a market that’s more centrally located for our operations. However, we still maintain a satellite office at our original location, which we’ve been using as our official address on Google My Business (GMB). The challenge now is to strategically broaden our reach in our new city while preserving the valuable connections and visibility we’ve built in our old location.
Our priority is to effectively engage with the local community in our new area, potentially joining local business associations and chambers of commerce. However, these memberships often require a genuine local business address! This raises a significant concern: how can we introduce a new address without jeopardizing the existing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefits we have established with our original location?
Understanding GMB and Service Area Business
Many experts suggest creating a separate GMB listing for each location, but as a service-oriented business without a permanent physical storefront, it’s imperative to navigate this process carefully. Our clients typically don’t visit a physical location; our services are delivered on-site at their homes or businesses. This complicates matters, as we strive to avoid the confusion of listing two separate addresses online.
Currently, we have been diligently applying general SEO strategies for service-based businesses—developing city-specific landing pages, optimizing our website for search engines, and fostering partnerships that enhance our visibility. Still, the main concern looms overhead: if we were to enroll in local associations and utilize a new address, how would it impact our SEO? Could having two addresses online lead to inconsistencies that affect our ranking?
Possible Solutions to Consider
One potential avenue we could explore is reclaiming our business address by fully transitioning the GMB listing to our new city. This would allow us to focus entirely on our new market while still keeping communications going in our original location. However, this means relinquishing the established presence we have—one that has been fruitful for many years.
Alternatively, we could consider the option of renting a desk or a small office in our new city purely to establish a legitimate local business address. Although it seems excessive, having a bona fide location could reinforce our credibility with local associations and improve our local SEO without disrupting our existing setup.
For those who share similar dilemmas, it’s essential to weigh the long-term benefits and consequences. Relationships