Moving your business to a new location is an exciting step in the growth of your company. The extended hours and hard work have finally paid off with a larger office or store. Most of the physical labor will involve the packing and hauling of belongings. Although you have taken great care of your physical belongings, an often overlooked step is moving your business online. If your business fails to update its current information, search engines may get confused and your search rankings may see adverse effects as a result. Updating your business online may seem daunting at first, but it does not have to be if you follow these helpful tips.
Your Website
This is something you can control, or have the manager of your website control. Make sure the contact page has been updated to display the new address and phone number. If you have inserted a map onto your page for visitors to know the positioning of your location, verify that the map also reflects the change. This check-up does not end at the contact page, the header and footer of every page should be adjusted if the address is displayed.
Over time consumers have become familiar with your old location. In order for them to generate the same recognition of your new location, post content relevant to the move. Place photos of the new location for them to re-establish the recognition. The photos should picture what the store looks like from the inside and outside. You may want to hire a professional photographer to capture eye-appealing photographs using the right lighting and angles.
Once the website has been corrected, it is time to focus on your social media profiles. Change the address on each platform. If you did not have the address listed before, take the time to list it now. More and more consumers are becoming influenced by social media with their purchase decisions. Have the address listed so these users can easily find you.
Check Your Digital Presence
Unless the new space was recently constructed, it most likely belonged to another company before you. Perform your own searches to find the old business or businesses. Take the search a little further to assure that all their listing is labeled as closed. If they aren’t listed as closed, you may receive an unhappy guest. To assure they are listed as closed, contact the directory on which the listing is displayed.
Perform searches on your company. Do the listings reflect the move-in location? It is important that all of your listings reflect the change in location. By having incorrect information on your listings, other online directories may pull and publish further incorrect information. When a site like Google notices that the address is different on a couple of listings, Google may not show any of them because it doesn’t know which listing is correct. Not to mention, customers may view the incorrect listings and go to the wrong location.
Once you have completed updating your information with the major online directories, be sure to check the local directories as well. For businesses that can be classified in a very specific market (Doctors, Lawyers, etc.), it is necessary to check the smaller niche directories. This should be done to remain competitive in the market.
Google Maps
By updating the address in Google My Business, your address in Google Maps should update. This will give consumers proper GPS directions and the proper location marker. Your reviews will transfer as well, but only if you update the information in Google My Business.
At first, Google Street View may not have your business at the street mode and it may require some time to update. Your business may receive a notice from Google to the new address verify the information.
Check Your Records
If your business requires you to have a business license, search on your state’s Secretary of State’s website for it. Is the address listed the new or old address? For directories that are looking to start up, they usually target these sites because they are credible.
For any other businesses that you expect to receive shipments from, reach out to notify them of your recent move-in location. You will not want your delivery to be delivered at a site that you no longer operate from. Any invoices should be sent to your new location or avoid any fees.
Keeping Track
After the website, social media, listings, records, and other smaller tasks have been taken care of, it is important to periodically check to ensure the transition was a success. Keeping track will provide short-term benefits and continue to yield benefits in the long run.
Take aggressive action to ensure that the move was a success online if you do not want your rankings to slip. This cannot be put at the end of the to-do list. Just as you may hire a professional moving company for the physical moving of locations, you should hire an SEO specialist for the online moving of locations.
At Creative Click Media we are here to carry the load the online portion of your business’s move. We have the tools to correct duplicates and suppress the ones that display incorrect information. With our expertise in web design and social media, we take online marketing management off your to-do list.
