Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research
      Moz Pro

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research

      Try it free!
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Local SEO
    4. Local Listings
    5. Local Search - can I use a shortened company name

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Local Search - can I use a shortened company name

    Local Listings
    3
    8
    1394
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • paulfoz1609
      paulfoz1609 last edited by

      Can I use a shortened version of our company name for local search or does it need to match the name registered at companies house exactly?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • paulfoz1609
        paulfoz1609 last edited by

        Thanks, thats put my mind at ease

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • MiriamEllis
          MiriamEllis Subject Expert @paulfoz1609 last edited by

          I always find it useful to look at real-world examples, Paul. For example, look at the footer of Whole Foods' website: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com. You'll see them identified there as Whole Foods Market IP, L.P., but if you look up Whole Foods San Diego Ca, what do you see on the GMB listing? Just Whole Foods Market.

          So, for legal purposes, you may need to include your full designation in the footer of your website, but provided the things assets I've mentioned previously (street level signage, website logo, etc.) are all consistent with your Evowrap name, I don't envision you'd have a problem there. Whole Foods clearly doesn't seem to be.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
          • paulfoz1609
            paulfoz1609 @MiriamEllis last edited by

            The fact that companies house has got the full name doesnt matter too much then?

            On the website everything refers to us as Evowrap except at the bottom of the websites footer it says our registered office details.  This has the full LTD company name.  Will that cause a problem? Would I be better changing that to the none full name?

            MiriamEllis 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • MiriamEllis
              MiriamEllis Subject Expert last edited by

              Hey Paul,

              So, if your street-level and website-level marketing is all Evowrap rather than your full legal business name, then its Evowrap Google would want. It's the real-world consumer experience that Google wants reflected in their product.

              paulfoz1609 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • paulfoz1609
                paulfoz1609 @MiriamEllis last edited by

                Our full company name is Evowrap Films and Vinyls LTD.  We own the trademark Evowrap and our logo, print material etc is all Evowrap.  This is what we trade as altohugh our full legal name is the full version the full LTD version.  I heard something suggesting that NAP included companies house which is why I thought Id need to use the full version for the local citations.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • MiriamEllis
                  MiriamEllis Subject Expert last edited by

                  Hi Paul,

                  Good question. Google's guidelines make it clear that they want your business name on your GMB listings to identically match what consumers see in the real world. So, the name on your street level signage, your print marketing, your website logo and content, and your telephone greetings should be what you put on your GMB listing. And then, for the sake of consistency, as Sean mentions, you'll want all of your other local business listings to match this. So, short answer - no, don't shorten your name, unless you wish to formally change it and update all off and online marketing to reflect it.

                  I'm curious as to why you'd need to shorten the name. Is it super long?

                  paulfoz1609 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • seanginnaw
                    seanginnaw last edited by

                    Hey there,

                    In an ideal world, I would recommend maintaining the NAP (Name, Address & Postcode) you use anywhere else on the internet. This allows search engines (and users for that matter) to have some degree of continuity between your business listings.

                    Moz local is a decent tool for analysing your business listing and checking that your NAP is the same across the internet. It'll even highlight sites where this isn't the case so you can manually update them.

                    All the best,

                    Sean

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                    • 1 / 1
                    • First post
                      Last post

                    Got a burning SEO question?

                    Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                    Start my free trial


                    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.

                    • See all categories

                    Related Questions

                    • scottgray0620

                      How do I rank for a different business categories on google local?

                      Hello, How do I appear on the local listings for google in different categories or services that I offer? For instance, we're a physical therapy clinic by trade but we specialize in orthopedics, sports medicine, and lower back pain. Thus, how do I rank on google local for these types of services? Currently, we rank for physical therapy but we also miss out on a big part of our business by not ranking for these listings on local. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Scott

                      Local Listings | | scottgray0620
                      0
                    • Lazeh

                      Does Google prioritise local domains?

                      I'm in Australia targeting Australian traffic. I often see US domains in the Google SERPS and wonder if that indicates an opportunity for local (Australian) domains to rank?

                      Local Listings | | Lazeh
                      0
                    • mikleing

                      Should apartment management companies have a separate website for each of their properties?

                      I work for a company that owns and manages apartments.  I would like to know which of the two website design decisions are better from an SEO perspective: One single website that contains pages for all of our apartments.  (Example: http://www.equityapartments.com) Separate websites for each apartment and one main corporate website allows users to search through our apartments.  (Example: https://www.greystar.com) I have spoken to three marketing companies have all recommended option 2.  The best reason I have heard is because then the separate apartments are all more likely to rank.  They say Google doesn't want to rank multiple pages of the same website.But Google would still know that I have an administrative relationship between the sites.  (Source: https://moz.com/blog/how-google-knows-what-sites-you-control-and-why-it-matters-whiteboard-friday)  So I don't know why they would treat multiple sites differently than one site?For what it's worth, it seems the majority of apartment management companies use a different website for each property.So should have a separate website for each of their properties?

                      Local Listings | | mikleing
                      1
                    • StantonOptical

                      Can I use the same interior photos for multiple stores in Google My Business?

                      Hi, The company I work for has many store locations across the country. Getting good/quality interior pictures has become very difficult for us. We recently good a Virtual Tour from Google for one of the locations, and they took some really pictures. According to Google, the "Photos should represent the actual business" and "Represent the real-world business location". My question is: since our stores are VERY similar in the interior, can we use the same pictures for them while we get more pictures? Would Google penalize this? Thanks!

                      Local Listings | | StantonOptical
                      0
                    • SusannahK.Noel

                      Google My Business - two locations but same name and phone

                      Hello, I manage SEO for an orthopaedic practice and I'm wondering what to do about their GMB listings. They have two locations, but I'm starting to think we shouldn't have separate GMB pages for the two locations because of the advice about other GMB questions I've been reading on this forum. I read a helpful response that said you must ensure the following if you want to create separate GMB listings: Unique name Unique address (even if only a suite / office number) Unique phone number Clearly different categories on Google My Business I can only ensure one of those - unique address. The business has the same name, phone number, and categories at both addresses. What should I do about this? I would think it's important to list both addresses so that patients can be guided to the appropriate location, but is there a way to do that with just one GMB listing? Thank you, Susannah

                      Local Listings | | SusannahK.Noel
                      0
                    • CalicoKitty2000

                      HELP! Google Local dropped!

                      I noticed that my Google Local page does not show in any search results anymore.  Looking at Moz Local, it appears that I had 250 views on August 30th and 0 after that.  It just dropped overnight.  I looked at Google My Business and I noticed that I had a duplicate listing (no idea where it came from).  It wasn't verified though.  I deleted that.  I also noticed that my address has been changed to Drive instead Dr.  I was very careful in making it the same everywhere, but it changed without me changing it.  Perhaps someone so kindly "suggested an edit" and I didn't see that happen. Anyone have any ideas.  My organic search ranking is still strong.  #3 for most search terms.  And we have a very strong Google Local reviews.  I mean, it even shows business that have been permanently closed over me!!!  And we have photos, great reviews, and regularly post to Google+. I seriously need some help.  I am a small business owner that does all of my own SEO because I can't afford a good SEO. 😞

                      Local Listings | | CalicoKitty2000
                      0
                    • TrinityPower

                      Why is the incorrect city name being appended to search results when that search is done from a completely different city? Screenshot Included

                      Hi Guys, This is weird.  When searching "generator rentals" from within Vancouver/Lower Mainland and on a mobile device, our organic listing is ranked #1.  That is the good news. The bad news is that for some reason the title returend is:  Generator Rentals & Temporary Power Distribution - Edmonton".   The "-Edmonton" is dynamically added, but I have no idea why.  Edmonton is in a completely different province than Vancouver... over 720 miles apart. The only thing I can think of is that there is some sort conflict with our Google places account.  You see, we do have an Edmonton branch.  I have setup two branches... one for the Coquitlam/Vancouver branch and one for the Edmonton.  And as far as I can tell, both are setup correctly. A screenshot from my iPhone has been linked (http://imgur.com/9YvyLDB). Any ideas would be appreciated.  Thank you, Jarrett 9YvyLDB

                      Local Listings | | TrinityPower
                      0
                    • BlairKuhnen

                      How can I manually build local citations for a client?

                      Note: I am not interested in paying for services to build citations for me. I am managing building a client's citations. On many sites I am asked to create an account and verify my information. I have tried to create accounts using my client's email address and specified password so that they can manage their citations down the road should their NAP change. However, many sites require further verification such as security questions or a phone code. It isn't practical or effective to ask a client to confirm and verify all of these accounts. What is the most effective way to manually build local citations for a client? How can I get around the issue of email and phone verification?

                      Local Listings | | BlairKuhnen
                      0

                    Get started with Moz Pro!

                    Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                    Start my free trial
                    Products
                    • Moz Pro
                    • Moz Local
                    • Moz API
                    • Moz Data
                    • STAT
                    • Product Updates
                    Moz Solutions
                    • SMB Solutions
                    • Agency Solutions
                    • Enterprise Solutions
                    • Digital Marketers
                    Free SEO Tools
                    • Domain Authority Checker
                    • Link Explorer
                    • Keyword Explorer
                    • Competitive Research
                    • Brand Authority Checker
                    • Local Citation Checker
                    • MozBar Extension
                    • MozCast
                    Resources
                    • Blog
                    • SEO Learning Center
                    • Help Hub
                    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                    • How-to Guides
                    • Moz Academy
                    • API Docs
                    About Moz
                    • About
                    • Team
                    • Careers
                    • Contact
                    Why Moz
                    • Case Studies
                    • Testimonials
                    Get Involved
                    • Become an Affiliate
                    • MozCon
                    • Webinars
                    • Practical Marketer Series
                    • MozPod
                    Connect with us

                    Contact the Help team

                    Join our newsletter
                    Moz logo
                    © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                    • Accessibility
                    • Terms of Use
                    • Privacy

                    Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.