Local Business: Chiropractic Services & Massage Services - HOW TO BRAND
-
Hello!
I have a client who has a chiropractic business and has started offering massage services. Client has registered a DBA For the massage component of the business. Client doesn't want to cross contaminate reviews and doesn't know whether or not he should brand the two businesses in one name or separately.
Currently client has inconsistent business listings for the business and is unsure of the proper way to brand and optimize for local search. Example would be:
- Chiropractic AAAA
- Dr. John B - Chiropractic AAAA
- Massage BODI
- Chiropractic AAAA & Massage BODI
- Background info:
- Main business is one entity and second is registered as DBA.
- Right now, Chiropractor is a sole practitioner. in the past has had other chiropractors working in the office.
- Has only 1 website promoting both services
- Both operate out of the same location.
What is the best way to optimize for local search for both services and what is the best way to brand without cross contaminating reviews online. If recommendation is to target local search separately for the services, should the client has 2 websites since these services target 2 different industries.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
-
So glad to have you here, Brent, asking good questions like this one
-
Thank you guys!
-
Thank you very much!
This is a great response. This all makes sense, and I will go with your recommendation. Thanks for answering.
-
Hey Brent!
Great topic. And a complex one due to several factors:
-
First, it's really important for you scrutinize with exceeding sharpness Google's guidelines: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en. In particular, pay attention to the guidelines for names and practitioners, but read the whole thing a couple of times, if you've not already done so.
-
Google can handle more than 1 business being located at the same location, BUT
-
They must each have a unique phone number; no shared numbers
-
They should each have their own website, with completely unique content - your client should definitely not be mentioning two businesses on the same website, nor attempting to put 2 business names on the same GMB listing, as he is risking the NAP consistency of both by doing so
-
Even with the above precautions, there is some danger here; read on
-
Google is very clear that they don't want you to build out separate GMB listings for different categories of a business. In other words, an HVAC company should not build a GMB listing for its heating services and another GMB listing for its cooling services. This is completely forbidden. The danger here is that, technically, Google might view the chiropractic and massage services as actually just being 2 services belonging to the same business (like the HVAC example). Seeing them both located at 123 Main Street might cause Google to suspect that this is really just 1 business trying to spam them by appearing to be 2 businesses. I'm not saying that this WILL happen, but it's important to know that it could, and that, should you build out 2 separate websites and GMB listings, it could still end up getting red flags. Or, Google might decide that the massage business is simply renting space within the chiropractic office and is therefore not eligible for its own GMB listing (see Ineligible Business section of the guidelines as it relates to 'an ongoing service, class or meeting). Upshot here is, there are some risks to what the business is doing here, even if they are legitimately running 2 businesses out of the same building.
-
An alternative to this might be found in the fact that your client is a solo practitioner. Instead of promoting 2 businesses, your client would be eligible to build 1 GMB listing for his chiropractic company and use chiropractic categories for it, and built a solo practitioner listing as well, but use massage-related categories for it. If he's not in too competitive of a city, this could lead to some business for his massage services as well as his chiropractic ones, without any concerns about DBAs, 2nd websites, etc. It would be vital for the business to build up the single website with lots of good content for the massage service as a category of services being offered in addition to the chiropractic services. So, important to know that this option exists.
So, a lot of factors to consider here. If this were my own client, I'd be hesitant to advise them to go this route of the DBA existing in the same office, but if they really wanted to go forward with that, I would take every possible step to the differentiate the 2 businesses with unique phone numbers, unique websites, unique citations, etc ... but only after fully advising the client of the risks.
Hope this helps!
-
-
Hi there
I would suggest first finding what exact business name your client wants to use. I would then go through cleaning up unnecessary business listings, updating relevant business listings, and creating business listings that are relevant to the service area as well as the industry itself.
From there, I would make sure that contact information is properly listed on the websites with Schema markup so that crawlers can verify your information. Take a look at these resources as well:
- How to Perform the Ultimate Local SEO Audit (Moz)
- Local SEO: How To Rank Your Local Business (SEL)
- The 2015 Local Search Ranking Factors (Moz)
All of those should help get you get on the right track!
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google My Business right had side block disapeared for a brand search
Hi Just redeveloped my site and went live end of April Since then whenever i do a branded search the GMB 'pack' has always shown on the right hand side whenever i do a branded search but it has disapeared as of the last couple of days. Any ideas why this can happen ? and is it anything to worry about or just a google 'glitch' that should right itself soon? If not any ideas how to fix ? (accounts and website all properly linked) etc When i go to GMB dashboard and click 'View on Search' it does show up as it should, but not when i go to do a google search for the brand name !? All Best Dan
Reviews and Ratings | | Dan-Lawrence1 -
Does having a Google My Business website help my local seo?
Everybody says it's important to put as much information as you can into your Google My Business listing. I'm wondering if it helps to take Google up on it's offer to give you a free website in addition to the website I already have of my own.
Reviews and Ratings | | KenLapp1 -
Not showing up in Google Local Pack despite being #1 ranked for keyword
Hey everyone, This has been an on-going problem that we've been having for a select location of ours. We've been #1 ranked for the keyword "dog groomers near me", however we don't show up in the Google Local Pack (top 3 locations box). We have a high 4.9 rating with 20+ ratings, and the other locations that DO show up have a 2.4 and 3.6 rating with less reviews! I've exhausted every resource and have even geo-tagged our specific photos on our landing pages. I'm not sure what to do anymore as we're already #1 ranked on every similar keyword. Thank you, Anthony
Reviews and Ratings | | anthonydegalbo0 -
It's been over a year of going back and forth with Google My Business team
It's been over a year of going back and forth with Google My Business team regarding my GMB page. It was active for 2+ years prior with over 20+ reviews. I email GMB weekly to find out the status of the page and they keep saying it is a technical glitch and they are waiting for an update. Would love to get any advice on how to resolve my business page so it appears again on the Google maps or who I can contact to resolve this issue. This is our third time creating a new G+ business page https://plus.google.com/+LocalSEOSearchToronto
Reviews and Ratings | | LocalSEOSearch_john0 -
What's the best way to keep Google My Business reviews when the business changes names?
I work with an interior designer who is re-branding and changing her business name to focus specifically on windows. Can she keep her GMB reviews and just change the name of her business, then reverify with Google? She doesn't want to lose her current local pack ranking.
Reviews and Ratings | | obkommy1 -
How to address reviews that show up in Google but come from a business's own website?
One of my clients has a competitor who has a fairly poor reputation based on reviews on Google and Yelp. But, this competitor allows people to review them on their own website, and their "4.8" rating based on 250+ "reviews" show up in search engine results. I assume they are using schema markup to encourage that. My question is whether there is anything we can do to report this to Google, or otherwise make sure the general public is not fooled by these reviews?
Reviews and Ratings | | irapasternack2 -
How useful is Google Plus to a business?
Is Google Plus really very beneficial to a business, as our experience is that this is where difficult customers or even competitors can write bad reviews?
Reviews and Ratings | | CostumeD1 -
What are some powerful reviews websites for online-only businesses?
Looking for a small handful of places that I can lead customers to, following a transaction with my dot com (i.e., no brick and mortar presence) business, so that they can leave reviews Chiefly interested in the sites that Google is most likely to notice Thanks! 🙂
Reviews and Ratings | | ntcma0