Opening a new location is a visibility opportunity.
You have something local media can understand and nearby customers may search for. That is why a new-location press release can do two jobs at once.
It can help local journalists see why your expansion matters. It can also support local SEO by creating clear, consistent signals about where you are, what you do, and who you serve.
The trick is not to treat the release like an announcement that says, “We opened. Please care.”
Most people do not care that a company opened a new office, store, clinic, studio, warehouse, or restaurant. They care about what changes because of it.
Are you bringing jobs to the area? Serving an underserved neighborhood? Giving local customers a faster option? Moving into a community where your founder has roots?
That is the story.
The location is the news peg. The local impact is the reason anyone pays attention.
Why new locations make strong press release topics
A new location is one of the cleanest business updates to pitch because it is concrete.
There is a real place. A real date. A real community. A real reason for the expansion.
Local media need timely stories that matter to their audience. A business opening can fit that need when the release answers the basics clearly:
- Who is opening?
- Where is it?
- Why this location?
- What does it bring to the community?
- When does it open?
- How can people visit, attend, or learn more?
Those same details help your business appear more credible online. When your name, address, service area, opening date, and local relevance appear consistently across the web, you create a stronger local footprint.
A press release will not magically move you to the top of Google Maps. That is not how local SEO works.
But it can support the bigger picture. It gives your new location a public record, creates useful website content, can earn local mentions, and gives journalists and community sites a clean source to reference.
Start with the local angle, not the company angle
The most common mistake is making the release too company-centered.
You see this all the time:
“XYZ Company is excited to announce the opening of its newest location.”
That may be true. It is also forgettable.
Try this instead:
“XYZ Company will open a new service center in Harrisburg this month, adding 18 local jobs and cutting delivery times for central Pennsylvania customers.”
Now the story has a place, a benefit, and a reason to keep reading.
The best new-location releases usually include at least one of these angles:
- Local jobs
- Better access for nearby customers
- Investment in a downtown, neighborhood, or commercial district
- A founder or company connection to the area
- A grand opening event the public can attend
The angle does not need to be dramatic. It needs to be specific.
A bakery opening downtown, hiring locally, and hosting a fundraiser for the community food bank gives a local reporter something useful to work with.
Build the release around search-friendly basics
For a broader format walkthrough, this guide on how to write a press release for a small business covers the structure reporters expect.
Local SEO rewards clarity.
That means your release should not be clever at the expense of being findable. Use the city, neighborhood, and service clearly. Include the address if the location is open to the public. Mention nearby areas served, but do not stuff the release with every suburb within 40 miles.
A strong local press release should include:
- Business name
- New location address
- City and state
- Opening date
- Services or products offered there
- Hours, if relevant
- Grand opening details
- Contact information
- Website or location page URL
- Local quote from the owner, manager, or community partner
That last point matters.
A quote should not say, “We are thrilled.”
Everyone is thrilled. Use the quote to explain the decision.
For example:
“We chose Lancaster because many of our customers were already driving 45 minutes to reach us,” said founder Maria Lopez. “This location lets us serve them closer to home while hiring from the community we are now part of.”
That quote explains demand and ties the business to the place.
Create a location page before distribution
Before you send the release, make sure your website is ready.
At minimum, create a dedicated location page that includes the same name, address, phone number, hours, services, and local details from the press release.
Why?
Because the release should point somewhere useful.
Do not send readers to your homepage and make them hunt. Send them to a page built for that location.
That page can include photos, service areas, staff names, opening event details, booking links, and a short explanation of why you opened there.
It also gives you one clean URL to use in the release, your Google Business Profile, social posts, email announcement, and local outreach.
Consistency matters. If your address differs across places, you create unnecessary friction.
Use the release as the center of local outreach
If you need a deeper primer on getting your company in the local press, start with the basics: make the story local, specific, and useful to the reporter.
A press release should not be the only thing you do.
Use it as the center of a simple local launch plan.
Send the release through a credible distribution service. Then follow up personally with the most relevant local contacts: business reporters, community editors, TV assignment desks, chamber newsletters, downtown associations, local bloggers, and trade reporters covering your industry.
The follow-up does not need to be long.
For example:
“We just opened a new location in Boise and are adding 12 local jobs. I thought it might be relevant for your business or community coverage. I’m happy to send photos, answer questions, or connect you with the founder.”
You are not begging for coverage. You are making a useful local story easy to evaluate.
Give reporters what they need
Local media often need visuals and facts.
Have exterior photos, interior photos, staff photos, founder photos, or grand opening images ready. Offer them in your pitch. Link to a media kit if you have one.
Also prepare a few facts: square footage, number of employees, opening date, why the neighborhood was chosen, and any public grand opening activities.
Do not overpromise SEO results
This is important.
A press release is not a local SEO shortcut. It is one piece of a larger visibility effort.
You still need a complete Google Business Profile, accurate directory listings, customer reviews, location pages, local links, and a real presence in the community.
But a press release can give that work a strong start.
It creates a public announcement. It gives people something to reference. It helps local media understand the story. It gives your team a shareable asset. It connects the physical opening to the digital footprint.
That is the real value.
The practical takeaway
When you open a new location, do not just announce the address.
Explain the impact.
Why there? Why now? Who benefits? What changes for the community? What should people do next?
A strong new-location press release is part media pitch, part local search asset, and part public record.
Done well, it helps you show up in two places that matter: in front of nearby customers and in front of the local media that can help your story travel.
That is one move worth making.
Mickie Kennedy founded eReleases.com in 1998 after watching PR firms charge small businesses a $20,000 minimum for a single press release. For 27 years, he’s been closing that gap — distributing 150,000+ releases via Cision PR Newswire, serving 30,000+ clients including Manscaped, Squatty Potty, and 40+ Shark Tank brands, and generating $132M+ in earned media. A sought-after podcast guest and two-time Amazon bestselling author of Beginner’s Guide to Writing Powerful Press Releases and The PR Strategy Manifesto. Mickie holds an MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University. Based in Baltimore, MD. LinkedIn