Advice on website and SEO for 2 small business in separate cities

[djxput]

I want to minimize expenses and work

- Currently have a website I built via Wix and use their premium service; there is pretty good SEO for this site. I build this site 6 years ago using Wix template and havn't really touched it since. My knowledge for website building and SEO is very limited.

- I would like to open another small business in a town 1 hour away and I'd like to save on the cost and work of using 2 websites and premium Wix plans.

Is there a way too:

link the new business with the other website?
Is this going to be a problem since the name of the first website is linked with the other city?
How would I work the SEO then?
any way to do this and use the same website and have SEO at both places?

or is it better to use a whole new website and SEO for it?

Or ... should I try changing the first websites name to accommodate both businesses in each city and just somehow incorporate them both into the website?

thanks

 

[AHarvey]

Does the business name contain CITYX or is it just the URL?

Personally, unless it's a dedicated service to that area I'd always avoid putting location names in the URL. I wouldn't bother with 2 websites, it's double the work.

You have 2 real options:

What you can do is it just leave the name in URL, then update the existing website to state that you're expanding to a new location. Go through the site and update anywhere that states the locations you cover. You'll also need to update Google+ My Business page, change it to a multi-location business and add in the second location as well, this will mean you appear on map results for local searches. Update any social media to show you're now working in 2 areas.

The second option, a brand new website using a new domain minus the location. Target both new locations with new content and a new SEO push. Always good to have updated content and again, google mybusiness page and social media presence.

The first option will work minus the domain name but will need you to spend some time redoing content. This is the cheapest option, just your time and the existing monthly outgoing to Wix.

New site could possibly be the better option but it's going to take longer and cost a lost more, but, gives you more freedom outside of the wix software.

What SEO do you currently have in place @djxput ?

 

[crghsam]

Why not just add a landing page to the website dedicated to the new location. Just ensure that you don't plagiarise your own copy as Google hate duplicate contnent

 

[djxput]

Does the business name contain CITYX or is it just the URL?

Personally, unless it's a dedicated service to that area I'd always avoid putting location names in the URL. I wouldn't bother with 2 websites, it's double the work.

You have 2 real options:

What you can do is it just leave the name in URL, then update the existing website to state that you're expanding to a new location. Go through the site and update anywhere that states the locations you cover. You'll also need to update Google+ My Business page, change it to a multi-location business and add in the second location as well, this will mean you appear on map results for local searches. Update any social media to show you're now working in 2 areas.

The second option, a brand new website using a new domain minus the location. Target both new locations with new content and a new SEO push. Always good to have updated content and again, google mybusiness page and social media presence.

The first option will work minus the domain name but will need you to spend some time redoing content. This is the cheapest option, just your time and the existing monthly outgoing to Wix.

New site could possibly be the better option but it's going to take longer and cost a lost more, but, gives you more freedom outside of the wix software.

What SEO do you currently have in place @djxput ?

thanks for the reply AHarvey,

So right now My business is called (City)business - (placeholder) and my website has the same name. The SEO is just through WIX I think but have a lot of back links; the SEO is pretty good for the area that has some decent competition.
Id really hate to lose my SEO ranking and google reviews (hard to come by).
But I agree I would like one website to cover both places but not sure that will give me what I want.

I could add a landing page as crghsam suggested on my current site; just not sure how SEO would work for that area etc ...

... ill add more tomorrow late atm ...

 

[AHarvey]

If you wanted you could start a brand new site with domain name but then forward the old site via redirects to the new site so all search traffic comes to you. Although, I'm not sure if Wix would allow that, I'm not sure on the best way of doing it.

You may be able to change the google account name to a new business name and hence transfer the reviews which would resolve that issue, it's not something I've tried but should be possible

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3039617?hl=en-GB
Types of Edits > Business name


You could start a subdomain if Wix allows it but I'd imagine they would charge for it so it'd would be www.newtown.citybusinesss.com for instance, and you could post info under that. A landing page could work but you could just add a locations page and post the locations you cover there while still linking to all the services you offer.

It'd be easier if you posted the URL

 

[djxput]

If you wanted you could start a brand new site with domain name but then forward the old site via redirects to the new site so all search traffic comes to you. Although, I'm not sure if Wix would allow that, I'm not sure on the best way of doing it.

You may be able to change the google account name to a new business name and hence transfer the reviews which would resolve that issue, it's not something I've tried but should be possible

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3039617?hl=en-GB
Types of Edits > Business name


You could start a subdomain if Wix allows it but I'd imagine they would charge for it so it'd would be www.newtown.citybusinesss.com for instance, and you could post info under that. A landing page could work but you could just add a locations page and post the locations you cover there while still linking to all the services you offer.

It'd be easier if you posted the URL

Surbitonchiropractic.com is my site and business - So I am going to open a new business in a city about an hour away. In reality originally I would have liked to not have my website named after the city so I could just add the new business to it like many places do.

Im thinking about using my name to describe the new business website but then again as you mentioned I'd have 2 websites to run and 2 costs involved, and am told that google doesnt like it if I copy content even thou its my content.

My SEO ranking is decent for surbiton used to be a lot better but competition rolled in over the past 2 years. And I have those google reviews I want to keep. I also have numerous links with insurance companies and what not where I go by that business name.
any help posting these specific details? - thanks again for your advice