Opening up new location - Delay in ranking?

[JSammon512]

Hi All,

Thanks again for your help. We are in the suburbs of a city (very much outside of the city limits) and are opening up a new location downtown.

We've created a new GMB profile and have it verified. I'm sure it varies but how long does it typically take to see that new profile appear in local SERPS?

Our location in the burbs has a ton of reviews and I'm not sure I want to merge the two or transfer the reviews to the downtown location. We're just trying to stay patient and build up the new profile.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
John

 

[JoyHawkins]

Hey John,

Google won't allow you to merge the listings unless the first office no longer exists. New locations generally rank right away if a person searching is closely. The listing will have almost no prominence though so it won't rank well if the searcher's location is farther away. The best way to gain prominence is through reviews and links so that is what I would focus on.

 

[sixthcitysarah]

Hey John,

Google won't allow you to merge the listings unless the first office no longer exists. New locations generally rank right away if a person searching is closely. The listing will have almost no prominence though so it won't rank well if the searcher's location is farther away. The best way to gain prominence is through reviews and links so that is what I would focus on.

Do you think it could have anything to do with Possum? I have read that on a few other forums with similar issues. The office is downtown with similar businesses nearby.

 

[JoyHawkins]

If the listing is showing up nowhere it definitely could be filtered. It's hard to say without knowing any specifics.

 

[sixthcitysarah]

If the listing is showing up nowhere it definitely could be filtered. It's hard to say without knowing any specifics.

Hmm, ya that is hard to say. We are ranking organically well but nothing on the map, it's a marketing agency in downtown Cleveland: Google Maps

Listing was verified a little less than a month ago and we've been proactive in getting reviews, adding posts and photos, etc.

 

[JoyHawkins]

I'm not sure what keyword you searched but I tried "SEO Company Cleveland" from that zip code and I'm getting the other office location. I've seen this for a client recently where their old, established listing is ranking instead of the newer location that is closer to the location I'm searching. I'd suggest testing the landing page you're sending people to on the GMB listing. Currently, both listings go to the homepage - I'd see if you can get the new location ranking better by linking it to a location page instead.

 

[Yan Gilbert]

This seems to happen frequently where the algorithm will prefer to display the older established listing and ignore the newer listing. The only suggestion I can provide is to make sure the algorithm has as much data as possible about the new listing. For example, making sure citations are generated for the newer location.
I had never thought of it, but as Joy mentioned, maybe setting the associated website of the newer GMB listing to a specific location instead page might help as well.

 

[sixthcitysarah]

This seems to happen frequently where the algorithm will prefer to display the older established listing and ignore the newer listing. The only suggestion I can provide is to make sure the algorithm has as much data as possible about the new listing. For example, making sure citations are generated for the newer location.
I had never thought of it, but as Joy mentioned, maybe setting the associated website of the newer GMB listing to a specific location instead page might help as well.

Interesting! We have done our due diligence in getting all the local citations are in place and suppressing any duplicates/old business listings for the location, but the idea of a different landing page like Joy mentioned is interesting and definitely worth testing.

Thank you both for the advice!

 

[JSammon512]

Thanks Joy and Yan!