SEO considerations when buying a multi-location business

[James Watt]

There's an interesting article by Andrew Shotland on Search Engine land about SEO considerations for investors, potential pitfalls, and just a general reminder not to ignore that side of things when buying a new business. I know not all of us work with business owners interested in acquisition and expansion, or that have investor friends, but these are all important things to consider along with the million other parts of evaluating the value of a business.

Sports Authority, the US sporting goods retailer with 450+ locations, recently announced it was seeking a buyer after filing for bankruptcy.

When it comes to acquisition deals like this, the buyer looks at a number of factors to help determine the value of the asset; however, they often do not consider the SEO benefits and risks as part of the equation. Perhaps it?s too small a factor when talking about billion-dollar transactions.

But once the deal is closed and the SEO goes south, it often becomes a huge distraction as teams scramble to undo the damage they have done while simultaneously trying to address the usually more high-profile non-SEO business priorities. As I like to say?

SEO is always the lowest priority, until it's not?
Read the rest of the article here

Most of the stuff in the article would apply to smaller businesses as well, and even to single location businesses.

Have you ever been a part of a new business acquisition? Any unexpected pieces to go along with that from an SEO perspective?