Please advise on GMB and citation building - 1 owner, 2 businesses, 1 address + 1 phone no.
-
Our client has an established driveways business, "A", that has been servicing higher end customers. This business has GMB and citations built. He has now started another driveways business, "B" that targets mid-class customers. This second business operates out of the same office with the same phone no. A Google rep has advised that the 2nd business will not be able to have a GMB of its own if it's operating out of the same address as the 1st business.
How would you actually tackle citation building and creating a GMB for this second business?? Would appreciate any advice!!
-
Hi Gavo,
The Google Rep is right - what you're describing about the second business has all the earmarks of a listing that would get flagged and removed by Google, and this could actually hurt the work you've done for the first business. What are those earmarks?
-
Shared category of products/services
-
Shared address
-Shared phone number
If your client's second business was selling vacuum cleaners instead of driveway services and had its own phone number, it would be okay to move forward, but from your scenario description, attempting to use Google to market the second business would be a mistake.
Now, not every directory shares Google's stringent policies, BUT if you do decide to build citations other than at Google for the second business, you should take these precautions:
-
Separate phone number
-
Separate website with totally unique content
-
Don't link between the two businesses to try to cross promote them
Even with these precautions, there is risk of troubling citation inconsistencies arising from the fact that two driveway businesses are sharing the same address. You could wind up with merged listing details out there in the ecosystem, so if you choose to go this route, forewarn the client of the risks before taking any steps in this direction.
So sorry ... this is probably not the news your client is hoping to hear, but honestly, if you prevent him from making a costly mistake, you could be saving his bacon
-
-
I ran into this issue once late in 2015. It was a law firm that did business as 2 different names to reach 2 very different target markets. Google would not verify the one business because it was in the same building as the other and used the same phone number. The other business had 2 locations.
I was given the workaround to set up as a local service that traveled to customers. Obviously this did not work for a law firm, but as a driveway installer this certainly does for your business. Set up the mid level business as a service that travels, you will not need to give an exact address but a central point and dictate a radius such as 30 miles from your current location. I have been able to get plumbers and contractors verified who have a po box for an address this way. They use their home location as the center point and give me a radius for service, usually 30 miles or so.
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
-
Business Split into 2 Businesses - Residential and Commercial Site - 2 different URLs and both have the same address! Can we create 2 separate Google My Business Accounts?
Business Split into 2 Businesses - Residential and Commercial Site - 2 different URLs and both have the same address! Can we create 2 separate Google My Business Accounts?
Local Listings | | 9thCO0 -
Is it necessary for a single location business to have a location landing page?
I'm working with a dental practice that has one location that they use to serve a service area radius of about 15-30 mins drive time, which encompasses several other small towns. I understand the value of having individual location pages for a multi-location business, but is creating a location page for a business with a single office considered best practice as well? The entire site will be optimized for the city name that the business' physical office is located in. I'm considering creating a single location landing page that I'd link to from the footer and about navigation of the site, which would be similar to the template Miriam Ellis laid out in this awesome post: https://moz.com/blog/overcoming-your-fear-of-local-landing-pages In doing this, I'm hoping to create a place for office photos and driving directions from the nearby towns in order to name the different cities in the service area. However, I'm concerned about the location page competing with other pages on the site, which will be better optimized for conversions in my opinion. Does anyone have advice on best practice here?
Local Listings | | formandfunctionagency0 -
Structured data for business listings
If I have a page of 20 local business listings, do I need to provide structured data for each business listing? is that necessary and would it help with SEO? So if I have a page of Vancouver Brain Injury Lawyers, and list off 20 local law firms that focus on that type of injury, should I have structured data for each law firm that I list?
Local Listings | | EBKMarketing0 -
Where does text in Google business listing description come from?
Had a question from a freelance project I'm working on and have to admit..I was stumped. When you Google the business "Salute Market Palm Beach Gardens", in the right sidebar there is a short description that reads "This patio bar serves small plates, wine & cocktails in a cozy space with an attached upscale deli." I have no idea where that text is coming from or where it is controlled..thoughts? Thanks! Ricky
Local Listings | | RickyShockley0 -
Multiple Sites, Different Names, Same Business. Gray Hat?!
Hey there, Mozzers! I need your help. I have a new client whose new site just went live. Today, I started the process of cleaning up their business listings throughout the web. To my surprise, I noticed that a lot of the directories already had a website domain included. I called my client to find out what was going on. Turns out they already have a site with another company, targeting the same keywords. I came across this site before during competitive analysis, but never put two and two together since it has a different name, phone number and branding (logo, color scheme, etc.). I asked if he was willing to change the link to his new site (the one we're doing SEO for), and he flat out said no. He knows the site is doing well in the SERPs and doesn't want to harm its rankings. sigh His advice? Create new listings for his 2nd location. This location has a different physical address and phone number (no toll free/shared). But I feel like this is wrong. It's the same business, but we're trying to pass as another company just to get 2 sites to the top of the SERPs. This might also confuse users. What do I do? Plus, does that mean we should only include the 2nd location on the site we created and not the 1st? I already have a disadvantage since all the quality link juice is going to the other site. smh I need y'alls advice, please! -Kanya
Local Listings | | RainmanCreative1 -
Do Citations help will all local rankings/Pages on my website or just the page it's linked to
Hi All, My ecommerce site has different category/landing pages for each of my branches . I'm currently getting some more citations done as wondered the following Is it a general rule to say, that the more citations you have the better as long as they are consistent and free? Given that I have different categories /landing pages showing the NAP of my individual branches along with unique content, should all these extra citations help with local rankings across my whole site or is it usually just helping the specific localized webpage it's pointing to ? I can get a company to help me do my citations but to do all the branches, it is going to be quite expensive. Is citations quite a big individual SEO factor in local search as opposed to on page seo factors etc etc. Any advice greatly appreciated. thanks Peter
Local Listings | | PeteC120 -
Google+ Business Page Ownership - Local Listings
Hi
Local Listings | | soobumim
I am trying to update Google+ Business page. I think previouse employee already setup a Google+ page (not sure if it's completed or not) but she no longer works here. At this point, we have no way of knowing user name & password for the Google + business page.
Name of the business is:
Immediate Response Plumbing
www.irplumbing.com
210) 496-6900
13106 Lookout Ridge, San Antonio, TX 78233
Is therre anyway I can reverify the ownership without contacting the previouse employee?
I am trying to figure out request to change listing ownership from Google and I am lost
Could anyone help me?
Thank you0 -
Why there is sometimes A-1 in Local result title?
Here is an exemple: https://plus.google.com/local/Montréal, QC/s/a-1?hl=fr Is this a legacy from Yellow Pages? A way to be first in the paper edition or it's something else?
Local Listings | | TVFreak0