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 phone reporting? Doesnt cross state lines.
We have a branch in Toledo Ohio, which is close to the Michigan border. Cleary we get calls for direction from Michigan customers. However, our phone reporting does not cross the state line. Any ideas? This happens at other branches that cross state lines as well.
Reviews and Ratings | | bakergraphix_yahoo.com0 -
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 -
Respond to Google Review as Business or Individual?
Hello Moz World! My agency has never had a great strategy for reputation management, but have begun acquiring some Google reviews. We know it's best practice to respond – but I've never considered whether I should respond as an individual or with our company's GMB? The owner of our GMB is "Engenius" – a general admin account for our agency. I'm also a user on the account, as the "owner," but I'm technically not the owner of our company. Should the owner be added as a user and respond directly? Or is it okay to respond as "Engenius" (the brand)? Or can I respond as the "owner," though I'm not technically? I know ultimately it's probably not a huge deal, but any thoughts would be awesome! Thanks!
Reviews and Ratings | | brooksmanley0 -
Local Business Page Ranking Issue
**Concern:- **Please try to understand my concern. I'm not worried or talking about my ranking. #1. Business Name - Law Office of Paul M. Marriett
Reviews and Ratings | | jeenu_svs
Address - 308 West State Street #97 B, Rockford, IL 61101 #2. Business Name - Law Office Of Brendan Caver, Ltd.
Address - 308 W State St #96, Rockford, IL 61101 These are two business pages and both have different location as you can see in mentioned address. If #1 (Law Office of Paul M. Marriett) ranked on any keyword then #2 (Law Office Of Brendan Caver, Ltd.) does not appear anywhere in result. That's not for a single keyword. Issue is running for all keywords Approx (8-10). Keywords :-
DUI Lawyer Rockford,
DUI Attorney Rockford,
Criminal Lawyer Rockford,
Criminal Attorney Rockford,
DUI Lawyer Rockford IL,
DUI Attorney Rockford IL,
Criminal Lawyer Rockford IL,
Criminal Defense Attorney Rockford, Law Office of Paul M. Marriett ranked for upper mentioned keyword and you can see Law Office Of Brendan Caver, Ltd. is not appear anywhere in search.
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Keywords :-
Best Criminal Attorney Rockford IL,
Best Criminal Lawyer Rockford IL,
Best Criminal Lawyer Rockford,
Best Criminal Attorney Rockford,
Best DUI Lawyer Rockford,
Best DUI Lawyer Rockford IL,
Criminal Defense Lawyer Rockford,
Criminal Defense Lawyer Rockford IL,
Criminal Defense Attorney Rockford IL, Law Office Of Brendan Caver, Ltd. is ranked for upper mention keywords and Law Office of Paul M. Marriett is not appear anywhere in search.
Please check deeply and let me know.0 -
How to get the most reviews for in home service providers?
Most of my clients go to the clients home to provide their service. For example a plumber or a bed bug extermination. Most of my clients find it hard to ask for and get reviews even though they do a great job. Is there an app or anything else out there that makes the process easier and gets better results than just asking? Are there any review aggregator applications? Maybe an application that a client can write a review in one location and the review is pushed out to multiple sites like Google My Business or YP?
Reviews and Ratings | | PSLab0 -
Snap Pack & Yelp/Angie's list Page authority
Hey gang, First off thank you for any advice. I know we are all busy trying to make our money so I really appreciate everyone who chimes in. Links to studies and articles are also much appreciated. So. I am by no mean an SEO expert, I prefer to dabble in outreach and authentic link building campaigns. So you can imagine my frustration when I pull off a successful campaign, get about 4 or 5 great real links, raise in organic, but don't budge on the maps. I have noticed something. 1. My competition's yelp page has a couple more reviews than me (btw it's a locksmith site, I know it's a rather spammy industry, I don't do black hat...) BUT their yelp Page Authority is like 46! Same thing with their angies list, BBB, etc etc. MINE IS 1 across the board. Now I know the internet is changing. There is usually no reason for a locksmith site to have a viral blog. Google is looking toward more Citation based authority for local ranking factors. (Or at least that's what they say, I feel like their algorithm is not yet advanced enough to catch all the spammers.) So I am going to have an ethics meeting with my company and make sure we are alwyas treating our customers fabulously as well as sometimes intentionally asking for a review, not just on google, but across all of our web 2.0 platforms. BUT How do I get MY page authority on these directories higher? By back linking to them? DO you guys think these companies actually had campaigns to get links to these directories? Did they just PBN em'? Am I stuck in 2013!? Much love guys.
Reviews and Ratings | | Meier0 -
Yelp Jumps Into Home Services - Will You Jump With Them?
Hey To All Our Local Adepts 🙂 You know how Amazon, Google and Facebook have all been experimenting with how they can become the middleman between customers needing home services and companies that provide those services? Well, Yelp is getting into the game now, too. On the one hand, so many local business owners know the very real impact their Yelp profile can have on their bottom line. I've spoken to local business owners who have told me Yelp drives more phone calls than their own websites do. On the other hand, Yelp has not had an unblemished relationship with business owners or Local SEOs. This interesting tension between Yelp's dominance in the review world and their satisfaction track record in the business community makes me wonder how many people will try out their new leads program and whether business owners will trust Yelp less or more than Amazon, Facebook or Google. What do you think? Would you be interested in giving Yelp's new program a try? If you're advising clients, which of the four emergent home service programs (Google, Yelp, Facebook or Amazon) would you suggest first, and what would you base your recommendation on? Has anyone tried Yelp's program yet? How's it going?
Reviews and Ratings | | MiriamEllis4 -
Does advertising on Yelp help a business get more Yelp reviews?
I've gotten this question from a few clients. There seems to be a correlation in some cases between paying to advertise on Yelp, and the volume of reviews received. Of course, correlation does not necessarily equal causation. And I can attest to the fact that other clients who have at times advertised on Yelp did not even see a correlation. Has anyone else seen this correlation? And if so, can you speak to the possible causation or lack thereof?
Reviews and Ratings | | irapasternack0