As a digital marketing agency or an independent agent, what do you do when your client opens a new office or location? This question is one of the most common ones we see here at Local Brand Manager. A new office or location audit isn’t a lengthy process, however, you should be aware of the two important steps to take. The first step is to ensure that your client’s Google Business Profile is set up within the boundaries of the city or area being targeted by their business.
For example, if your client is a law firm that’s opening a new office in Chicago, then you want to make sure that the office is physically located within the city limits. This means that you’ll need to confirm that the mailing address is, in fact, located in the city and not just associated. You’ll have a hard time with Google Maps if the mailing address is located outside of the target city.
While it is possible to rank a business in a city that it isn’t located in, it can be harder to achieve it. You can save yourself and your client the stress associated with this process by eliminating this stumbling block and instead ensuring that they are located within the area where they wish to rank.
The second part of the process is the “Possum effect” awareness. Our Local Brand Manager knowledge base has a comprehensive article that explains Possum effect phenomenon in detail. However, on the surface, you should be careful of listing an address that has another business doing the same thing or offering a similar service. This is because Google Business Profile has a standing rule that allows only one business in a given address to rank at any given time.
The nightmare of this Google Business Profile peculiarity is that your client may struggle to get their ranking up, especially if they share the same building with another business that offers the same or similar service(s). The uphill battle will require you to first outrank the existing business in that location before you get the visibility that your client requires. The entire process may take a long time and a lot more effort than you’d have invested in a different situation. The solution to this problem is to avoid an address that has your competition in it.
If you are up to speed with your client’s decision to open a new location, it may be worth it to warn them ahead of time. This will improve your chances of delivering quality results and ease the difficulty of ranking their new Google Business Profile listing. If your client does not seem to understand why you have advised this, we have a video on our Local Brand Manager YouTube channel that you can show to them on why it’s the best decision for their business.
