My pleasure, Carla! So glad to help.

Hi Carla,

Here's a shortie-but-goodie from Barry Schwartz on this topic:

http://www.seroundtable.com/google-one-site-locations-15454.html

Note the quote from Goolger, John Mu, on that one.

http://www.seroundtable.com/google-one-site-locations-15454.html

And here is Google and Your Business forum Top Contributor Linda Buquet's educated opinion on this:

http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/local-search/8993-can-we-create-multiple-websites-services-same.html

What the client needs to understand is that:

1. Their local business can have only 1 Google+ Local listing, linking to a single domain. If Google finds the business name attached to multiple websites, Google will be confused and lack 'trust' in the data cluster they create for the business. Similarly, if any other element of the business' core NAP (name-address-phone) is found on more than one website, this will cloud Google's understanding of the business. This can lead to accidental duplicate listing creation and ranking problems.

2. Your client will be splitting up their authority across multiple domains instead of building great authority on a single domain, where every action taken goes toward strengthening the brand.

3. Let's not forget Google's big recent targeting of EMDs. Though we didn't see drastic effects from this in Local, we all have received fair warning from the EMD penalty that Google is down on thin content, exact match domain sites. What I see in Local is a single business owner publishing thin and duplicate content on a set of domains like sanfranciscoplumber.com, sanjoseplumber.com, sanrafaelplumber.com, etc., and I believe Google has made it pretty clear that this type of activity is under scrutiny. I think there are definite risks associated with a multi-site approach.

4. And let's consider how this looks to the most important audience - potential customers. All local businesses must work to develop an authoritative, memorable brand that comes to mind instantly when a service is needed. If my hot water heater stops working, what is that brand, that domain name? Is it sanjoseplumber.com, sanrafaelplumber.com??? I can't remember. But if it's StanislovPlumbing.com - an honest representation of the business name that matches branding - and I've used their services before, my chances of remembering/recognizing them is much higher. To me, this is a very strong argument against splitting up brand/authority across multiple sites.

These are just a few reasons. I could likely come up with more, but honestly, I can't think of a single instance in which I would recommend that a small local business owner try to operate multiple websites. It is completely possible to rank well for a variety of service/geo terms with a single website with the right approach. Good luck in educating your client about this, Carla. Feel free to share this post with him, as well as the links I've provided.

Good discussion going on here, and thought I would add, if the business is Local in nature, rather than virtual, I strongly recommend against a multi-site approach. I wanted to clarify this in case members take a look at this thread and own a local business.

I'm reading Christopher's explanation a little differently. Christopher, are you saying you have a single business (a flower shop) that you originally listed at something like your home office address, but that the flower shop is now moving and you want it to be listed at its new location? If so, this is the procedure:

1. Edit the existent Google listing to show the new address. This may require re-verification and may result in ranking loss, at least temporarily.

2. You may also lose your reviews. However, if you have the new Google Places for Business Dashboard, the good news is that it is possible to request that Google moves your old reviews to the new location. Read Googler Jade's explanation of this here:

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/business/3IyA72bx3o4

If you have the old dashboard, you cannot do this and will likely lose any reviews associated with the old address.

3. Launch a citation cleanup campaign in which you discover and edit all mentions of the business across the web and update them to reflect the new address. This includes mentions on your website of the old address.

If you are saying that you are also changing domain names (not sure if this is what you meant) you need to change this everywhere, too.

You may experience some fluctuations in rankings, but hopefully you can keep working towards building authority over time.