Transfer Local SEO rankings to another domain

[Woofire]

The question is specifically about local rankings, not the organic ones.

My client recently acquired another Law firm. Acquired firm's website is ranking well in Google local and has a decent SEO authority. Its Google mybusiness page is also established and has a lot of positive reviews.

Client's main website is comparatively new and doesn't currently rank well in Google local. The Google mybusiness page is sort of incomplete and doesn't have any review. Both businesses are listed in local directories (client's main business is listed in lot less directories and has fewer citations).

The client wants to merge the newly acquired website with his main website, without losing Google local rankings the acquired website has. Or in other words, transfer newly acquired website's local rankings to his main site. Client wants to transfer the website to his main website in all cases while minimizing the damage.

I'd transfer acquired website's content to main website, properly map the pages and place 301 redirects. Regarding Google my business pages, what would you suggest?

I can either update main business NAP and Website address in Acquired business's mybusiness page, or transfer acquired business's mybusiness ratings to main mybusiness page via this form: https://support.google.com/business/contact/business_move_reviews

I've also heard that Google support can merge two business page, however not sure about that. I'd also need to update the business listings and citations.

Could you please suggest the best way of doing this? And have you practically tested it?

[Woofire]

Thanks Issa.

[Woofire]

Thanks Miriam. The links were helpful.

I think I need to research more on this.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Sachin,

I believe what you're saying, then, is that the second business is going to be re-branded under the original business' name and website. Unfortunately, there is a chance that rankings will be lost, whether temporarily or permanently. I've never personally conducted a re-brand of this kind, so the best I can do here is link you to some resources on this topic:

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!searchin/business/rebrand

http://searchengineland.com/rebranding-seo-important-considerations-184208

http://searchengineland.com/the-smb-guide-to-changing-business-names-seo-128939

http://www.localsearchforum.com/local-search/355-rebranding-name-change-problems-google-local.html

http://imprezziomarketing.com/seo-blog/google-maps/is-permanently-closed-killing-your-ranking-4-case-studies/

I hope these are helpful!

[Woofire]

Hi Miriam,

Thanks for responding. Both Law firms are in the same city. Acquired firm's address is no longer in use. The client wants to actually merge the newly acquired website with his main website without losing Google local rankings.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Sachin!

Are you saying that the business your client acquired is going to be re-branded? In other words, is your client, Greentree Law, going to rebrand their newly acquired business, Blue Lake Law as  Greentree Law and simply now be running two branches of Greentree Law out of two separate locations? I'm not quite certain if this is what you are describing.

[iQandil]

Hi,

I'm not the expert but I have dealt with Google Local listings many times. And no one is answering this question so I thought I could share what I know.

From my knowledge, you cant just change the name of the listing if the name is completely different. For example you cant change Yahoo HQ business listing to Google HQ, because the name is entirely different, but you can change the name from Yahoo HQ to Yahoo Main Office, or Starbuks to Starbucks.

I my solution to this would be not to close down these business listings, change the phone number and address. Let the landing page tell about the acquisition and move of business. Use a call to action to take people to the main website.

After all, having two or three active websites can capture a lot more traffic than one website. With the right way of leading users to one website, you could be achieving amazing results.

I hope this helps.

Issa