How To Have A Flawless Location Move Online
So your business is moving. It’s bound to happen, and oftentimes, a location move means your business is growing. So while it’s easy to get bogged down in the stress of moving everything over (physically and online), don’t forget to take a minute and enjoy your success!
Now that I’ve got you all pepped up, let’s talk strategy. Local SEO is built around the fact that Google needs to have a solid understanding of where your company lives. NAP (name, address, phone number) consistency online is crucial in creating this understanding, so it makes sense that you’d want to update as many links as possible to ensure your traffic doesn’t suffer — right?
WRONG.
It would be largely impossible (and honestly, a waste of time) to try and update every place your current company address is listed on the web. So how do you know which places to update? How do you make sure your traffic doesn’t tank after the move? Read on as I highlight the steps we take here at Adster when one of our clients moves to minimize impact on organic rankings, Local SEO rankings, and overall organic traffic!
1. Update the Big Guns
These are the main citations that have a lot of authority in Google’s eyes and are seen all over the first page of search results. Examples include:
- Google My Business
- Industry Canada
- Yellow Pages
- Yelp
Some of these are easier to update than others, but updating these few will populate other listings across the web that scrape data from these bigger sources.
2. Check Analytics
Check out your top 10 referral sources of traffic in Google Analytics. If they are sending a good amount of traffic to your site, it’s worth checking out to see if your address is listed on the site, and if so, trying to get it updated.
3. Check Search Console
Google’s Search Console is another great place to check for links that should be updated with your new address. Who is linking the most? Are you able to update the information they have? If links are showing up here, you know they’ve been indexed by Google and therefore, play a role in your online authority. Look at taking the top 10-15 linking domains here.
4. Check the Search Results!
Lastly, open an incognito window and do some classic internet sleuthin’. You’ll want to search for a few of your brand name variations. Adster Creative, Adster Creative Inc, and Adster Creative SEO & Marketing might all give you slightly different results in Google. Note any links that show up on the first and second pages. These are the first things people are going to see when they search for your brand, so it’s important that these have accurate information if possible.
Once you’ve gone through the above steps, take a look at your list – you’re sure to see a lot of overlap. Once you’ve removed any duplicates you’ll end up with a list of anywhere between 15-50 links. These are the places where you should be spending your time trying to update your address as they are indexed by Google, sending traffic, and showing up for potential customers.
No System is Perfect
While Google is getting better at understanding that a healthy dose of NAP inconsistency is normal, the system is far from perfect. No matter what process you follow, results will always vary client to client. The goal of the above process is to ensure we are spending our time wisely by updating the citations on the web that people (and Google!) are most likely to find. By using this method, we’ve been able to successfully navigate many client moves without seeing any decrease in organic traffic or rankings.
Do you have tips to help ensure a smooth location move? Share them in the comments below!
Planning a move and need help? Contact the pros at Adster Creative today!