How do you handle local SEO when a business has had multiple names?
-
Hi,
Here is a quite simple question... that comes from a real life example.
When a local business, with one phone number and one business location, has been promoting itself with up to 4 different names over the years. How do you handle local SEO?
Do you try to update all pages (and directories) on the Web to the new name? Do you keep the existing records as they are and find some ways to show Google - and people - that those are all the same business?
Thanks,
Adrien O'Leary
-
Hi Adrien,
There are no two ways about this, in my opinion: consistency is all. Telling Google that a single phone number relates to 4 different business names will almost certainly kill the business' chance of earning good rankings because merged and duplicate pages will sap all the strength of the profile. Tell the client that they need to pick a single name and go with it and that citation cleanup will be critical to you getting them in the clear with Google.
In your further discussion with Matt, you ask:
Yet I wanted to discuss some avenues to give a business all chances to indicate to the engines - and to people - that some business names used in the past belong to them.
The only way I would recommend doing this would be on the website, in non-indexable text (such as image text). If you put it in markup, Google will index it, thus confusing their ability to understand and trust the NAP of the business.
So, if it's essential to have Bob's Plumbing (formerly known as Bob's Kitchen Repair and Bob The Bathroom Guy) explained someplace, put it somewhere on the website in non-indexable text, but not any place else and not in any format that can be crawled.
That would be my best advice.
Funny thing about Google....in the real world, businesses do have situations like the one your client has, but Google's system is not designed to handle this type of complexity. They want 1 name, 1 address and 1 phone number. Anything else is too convoluted for them.
-
Matt, I appreciate the feedback and I'll keep you posted if we were to experiment with the options I've mentioned here... and I'm pretty sure that we will end up doing it the "right" way... even if the client is afraid to be penalized for updating her listings (with old names that were keyword rich) to her new brand name that doesn't contain any keyword. Time will tell!
-
I'm not sure how "Branchof" schema will work on a business in the same location - never actually tried that. I understand why you would want to and there are things to look at, but I think ultimately, there are two solutions: the best and the possible. We know what the "best" is - I guess to me, anything else is not going to be the best answer, which makes it a band aid on a problem that will still need to be solved later.
If you do branchof and brand schema, I'd love to know how that works out. It's an interesting idea for businesses in the same location but I think the problem will be them not actually being a "branch" will work against you. Instead of having 3 "branchof" coming into the main domain, you'll have one - from the same location. I'm not sure how sophisticated Google's schema reading will be for a "trick" like that but yeah, definitely interested.
-
Matt, I appreciate your answer... and I do agree with it 100%. Yet I wanted to discuss some avenues to give a business all chances to indicate to the engines - and to people - that some business names used in the past belong to them. An idea was to specify the old names as additional fields on Google Places. A different one was to use the branchOf or the brand attributes with microformats from schema.org - on the business site - to present old names as brands or subsidiaries. I'm curious. What would be your take on those points?
-
We've seen that the most important thing in Local is consistency. That said, I'd take the longer but more profitable road. Update everything - do searches on the old name, searches on the phone number, searches on the biz address, etc. just to find everything you can possibly change. I'm sure there are ways around it but realistically, doing the work will be the best in the end.
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
-
Right hand side Google Local profile image pulling from 3rd party site
Hello! When googling our company's name, the Google Local profile comes up on the right hand side with the reviews, address, phone number, etc. Those are all fine but the main photo being used is not the one specified in the Google My Business profile but it seems to be pulling from a 3rd party site that recently added a link and an image to our website. Why is this happening and can we specify the image that shows up? Your help will be very much appreciated!!!
Image & Video Optimization | | uniseo10 -
Looking to hire an SEO for a Technical Review of my site
Hi I am new to SEO. I am the photographer and blogger behind the photography blog ShootTokyo. I am looking to make sure my site is optimized the best it can be for SEO. My site is a hobby for me but has really grown. I am looking make sure I have best practices implemented. I am not looking for quick fixes or try to cheat the system but to make sure I have a good solid foundation in place for SEO. I don't have a lot of experience nor a lot of free time so I want to make sure whatever free time I spend on this is really productive. I am looking to initially hire someone to do a technical assessment of my site and identify any fundamental issues I should address first. Once I have the assessment I am looking for advice on putting together a work plan on what I need to do and the best way to approach it. How can I best use the tools Moz is offering me? Which things are higher value that I should work on first, specific to my site? For more technical things I might hire this person to implement them or teach me how to implement them. If this is your business can you please let me know what your qualifications, experience, a link to your site and give me a range of what you might charge for something like this (you can email me details if you don't want to post here). If this isn't your business but have a recommendation I would love one. I am Tokyo based so ideally someone either in Asia, Europe or West Coast of US as it makes it easier to connect live if needed. Thanks Dave
Image & Video Optimization | | ShootTokyo0 -
Local Optimization for ATM Machine
I was curious if an ATM in a building or its own enclosure can be locally optimized as a branch if it has a physical location, it doesn't seem spammy by any means.If anyone has suggestions or an opinion I would love to hear them.
Image & Video Optimization | | kparada0 -
Easy Local SEO NAP Question
Hello, Does differently listed phone numbers matter? For example, 208-998-9988 vs (208) 998-9988 vs 208.998.9988
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Local Listings for a Virtual Product
My company sells very geographically specific products online. We have local offices in cities connected to the product and they are labeled with terms such as "florida widget". Could I use local SEO and add my website link to Google maps, etc... with the local address or is that not allowed since the products are not sold in the physical local office but rather online?
Image & Video Optimization | | theLotter0 -
Local listing | Virtual office
Hi Miriam (and all Local SEO mozers), I read a couple of your answers where you advice people in different situations not to consider a virtual office when creating their Google Places listing and I would like to know if you would apply the same advice in my case. This is the scenario: I have a client who's in the limousine service in Orlando, he just bought the URL and registered the business with the City using a "virtual office" in Orlando. This virtual office provides him a physical address, local area phone number, 411 listing, a listing for the businesses in that building and an office to have his meetings. This is the part where it gets confusing when I read your answers and I will give you an example. You said here:
Image & Video Optimization | | echo1
_The requirements in order to qualify for a Google Place Page are that you have: __1. A legal business name__2. A local area code phone number__3. A physical street address (not a P.O. box or virtual office) to which customers either come to do business with you or from which your employees depart in order to serve customers at their locations (think chimney sweep, landscaper, etc.)_Number 3 says "A physical street address (not a P.O. box or virtual office) to which customers either come to do business with you".
My client is going to rent one of those virtual offices, which does have a physical address, on as-needed basis. This office actually does exist. Why would Google have anything against it?
One of the reasons why he chose that location is because he is running the business from home and he does not want the clients to see it.
Another reason is the image he wants to create for his company by having a different address where he can hold meetings and such. The phone number will be either a local land-line or a local cell phone number, in any case, it will be a _local area code phone number. _
So this is where we stand: he dispatches the cars from home (he does not have a garage, the cars stay with the drivers 24 hours) but he meets his clients and business partners at the other address. There is nothing fake about it, he does have a legal business name, a local area code number and a real place where customers come to do business with. Which address should I use for his Google Places listing?0 -
Local SEO, identifying citations
Hello, How do I identify free local citations to target for bobweikel(dot)com I want to rank first for several local results such as nlp boise life coach boise personal coach boise and related terms. Thanks!
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Is there an easy way to see how competitive a local search term is?
Is there a quick and easy way to see how competitive local search terms are? I am looking at helping my clients show up on the local search results. Some times all I have to do is claim a listing and they move right to the top. Sometimes I claim a listing and nothing happens so I get links and I get reviews and it takes awhile. I want to be able to put an accurate price point on the service I am offering. I have looked at the search volume and it hasn't been the best indicator because some industries are more competitve than others. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Image & Video Optimization | | jimmyseo0