by Brian Lawrence

Adaptation is key to staying relevant and competitive when ranking on search engines. Sometimes, this means rebranding or changing the location of your business to reach your customers better while taking advantage of the city-center points Google establishes. Making these changes can have a significant impact on your online presence and your overall SEO strategy.

In this blog, I’ll explain how adding keywords to your business name and changing location can affect your Google Business Profile (GBP) and rankings.

Understanding the Impact

Before exploring the process of changing your business name and location, let’s explore why these changes can affect your SEO. Search engines like Google rely on various factors to determine the relevance and authority of a business website. Some of these factors include a business’s name and address. Any changes to these details will change how your business appears in local search results.

Update Online Listings

It’s essential to update all online listings when changing your business name or location, maintaining consistency. This includes directories, review sites, and your GBP. Failing to update listings might lead to confusion and negatively affect your search rankings.

Finding the Right Location

Changing your business location provides an opportunity to optimize for local SEO. Consider establishing a physical location even if it means subletting space and putting a foothold in satellite locations.

When you update your GBP with a new address, you signal to search engines that your business is located in a different area, potentially attracting customers looking for new products or services in your new vicinity. Inserting location-specific keywords into your GBP and website content can help boost your visibility in local search.

City-Center Positioning

Google has established a city center and a general area surrounding the center. Perform a search for your city name, and identify the three-pack map results from Google Maps using your main keywords. Use this information to establish your location within that zone.

If you change your business name, develop a comprehensive strategy that accounts for your online and offline presence. Including one of your keyword terms in a new business name can positively affect your SEO. Identify the new phrasing you want to use and pull keywords from your primary category. The keywords you use should be relevant to your business in addition to Google’s algorithm. A new business name could include a reference to physical location as well.

Once you decide on a new name, file a new business name or a Doing Business As (DBA) with a county clerk or local Secretary of State office.

Note: Keyword-stuffing Q&A sections or any other section of your GBP can harm your SEO and affect user experience. In addition, avoid including keywords that aren’t a part of your business name because Google sees this as spam. Keyword-stuffing or spamming in your GBP will lead to penalties, including losing access to major search features like Top Stories and Discovery.

Monitor and Evaluate

After you’ve changed your business name and location, monitor your website’s performance closely. Keep an eye on your search rankings, website traffic, and customer inquiries to assess the effect of the changes. Analyzing performance metrics will give you a better idea of what actions you can take to fine-tune your SEO strategy.

Authenticity and accuracy are the cornerstones of a successful GBP and SEO strategy. Changing your business name and location may play a larger role in influencing your profile’s visibility in search. Just remember to avoid keyword stuffing and spamming on your GBP to maintain the authenticity that will drive your GBP’s success.

Contact us to learn more about how we can optimize your Google Business Profile to improve your SEO.