Google+ Address Problem: Can We / Should We Change Our Physical Address?

Question. I was hoping you could help me with a quick question. If I were to change my address on my google local business page would that hurt my SEO? I ask because I am a realtor and another colleague seems to have our current office on lock down. We have moved to a new office so I am thinking of tackling this as I have over 30 5 star reviews but I still do not rank compared to people with none! If it won’t hurt my SEO I want to change as I think 2 people with a lot of reviews competing is not helping me.

Answer.

Yikes! Google+ Reviews are a “train wreck,” as Google has done a terrible, rotten, no good job of organizing this process for both consumers and businesses…  So I can’t say with 100% certainty what will happen, but let me point out some issues, warn you so you go in “open eyes.”

#1 – CHANGE OF ADDRESS. Anytime you change your PHYSICAL address, you run a very strong risk of losing ALL your reviews. This does not always happen but it does, and can. At that point, you’ve reset everything… and you are back to square one. So be very careful before you change a physical address with reviews! Check relevant searches, and see if you show. If you do… I advise you NOT to change the physical address.

#2 – IF IT AIN’T BROKE DON’T FIX IT. If it’s working…  then do NOT change your address / leave it alone.

#3 – CONSIDER HAVING TWO ADDRESSES as a transition. You can create a NEW address if you have really moved and keep your old address temporarily.  Then once the new address shows with new reviews, etc., then you can try to call their tech support and beg / plead that they combine reviews. Sometimes they will do this.  This prevents problem #1.

All the other things apply – meaning

NAP consistency – have consistent NAME / ADDRESS / PHONE across Google, Yelp, etc.

Cross-link your website to/from your Google listing.

Inbound “local” links.   You can check out the list of local ranking factors – lots of food for thought there.