Testing the Market in Local Regions

[Larry Linson]

I am forced to move from my office of long standing. My law practice is in a large metropolitan area. So I have lots of choices in new office location, surrounded by suburbs of some population density. I am wondering if there is a way to explore which suburbs might be the most fruitful for any office relocation. Obviously, grabbing a PO Box or virtual office in a target city is a bad idea. These are the only ideas I can come up with:

1. Create service area pages for the target suburban cities then run google ads restricted to those cities and compare traffic
2. Look at who is coming up in 3 pack for those target cities. If google is serving up GBPs that are not quite on target (not in the target city OR firms for whom the GBP category is a poor match - like a "family law" attorney coming up for a personal injury lawyer search)

Any other ideas on how I could assess the likelihood that I would show well in the 3 pack for different metropolitan area cities? Thanks so much!

 

[ElizabethRule]

Using a grid tracking tool will be essential in this process. You want to see how you are currently ranking in these areas pre-move. If you rank there now, you will most likely rank there if you move closer.

You also want to see how competitive each area is by doing a small audit of the businesses currently ranking for the keywords you are targeting. How many reviews do they have, how old (approximately) are the listings, how well optimized are the listings, how well do they rank in the surrounding area. Again, a grid tracker will be your best bet to check competitor listing rankings (I recommend Local Falcon).

You also want to be aware of the location filter, so you do not go too close to a competitor and get filtered. Is Your Google My Business Listing Getting Filtered? - Sterling Sky Inc