Local SEO NAP - Two Different Cities....Same Zip Code
-
I've come across this recently and wanted to get your thoughts.
I personally live in a city called Greenacres (yes, it's the place to be) but my zip code is also for Lake Worth. I'm a local SEO company so doing Local SEO stuff is pretty pointless (Google changed that in 2010) but I am sure other people have this issue for their business.
Question,
What do you do when your zip code is for two different cities. Do you try to make all NAPs (Name Address Phone Numbers) the same city. What if you cant'? Does having the NAP show up different cities hurt your efforts? etc. Obviously I think you'd try to keep the NAP as consistent as possible but what do you do if the citation source changes it or only uses the major of the two cities?
There isn't a right or wrong answer (or maybe there is) but I wanted to get some thoughts on it.
Darin.
-
Hi Vz,
Yes, I do think this could cause problems. It seems you are not actually having to solve an issue like this, but are just curious about it. In my opinion, this is the type of issue one would either need to take up with the RERs at the Google Map Maker Forum (http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/map-maker), or try to get direct help with from Google staff at the Google Data Issues phone number (http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs). Additionally, it might be necessary to talk to whichever directories are automatically changing the city name to see if something can be done about this. Inconsistent NAP is a major issue, so resolution, if possible, would be very important.
-
Yes, you have my question correct. I am an SEO so I don't do local citations but I was just thinking that a person who is in my city would have the same problem. So my question is how to handle this. As another example I worked with a plumber in Coconut Creek before and their listing was changed to Pompano Beach on YP.com. Coconut Creek used to be part of Pompano but became it's own city not to long ago. Do you think that would be a problem with the NAP since the city won't be the same?
-
Hi vzPro,
I want to be sure I understand your question. Are you saying that in trying to create citations for Greenacres businesses, indexes/directories are automatically changing the city name to Lake Worth? If so, it could be that Greenacres is not a recognized city name, in the eyes of these indexes/directories. This was my first thought, as I believe I've seen a similar situation reported in the Google and Your Business Forum.
However, I did a simple Google search for 'shoe store greenacres fl' and Google is showing me some local Greenacres results, but they are mixed with Lake Worth results and one West Palm Beach result, interestingly. So, Greenacres appears to exist in Google's index of cities. This begs the question: if not on Google's local product, then on which product are you experiencing this issue of the city being automatically changed, if I have correctly described what you are experiencing?
When oddities like this arise, typically the best thing to do is to get in touch with a Google Mapmaker RER to see if they can help clarify Google's view of the geography. Please, feel free to provide further details.
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
-
What happens when we change redirects to pass linkjuice to different pages from backlinks? Google's stand?
Hi Moz community, We have employed different pages (topics) at same URLs for years. This has brought different backlinks to same page which has led to non relevancy of backlinks. Now we are planning to redirect some URLs which may improve or drop rankings of certain pages. If we roll back the redirects in case of ranking drop, will there be any negative impact from Google? Does Google notice anything about redirect changes beside just passing pagerank from backlinks? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Image in Quick Answer from Different Website?
I'm seeing quick answers where the answer and image are from different websites. Does anyone have any insight into what Google is doing? Example search term: "How to tie a knot" Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | reese52131 -
New .TLD domains - SEO Value?
Hi all, I see that a new wave of domains are to be released soon. We are not talking or 1 or 2 new extensions, but more like 700 new extensions on a TLD level. What's your views on their SEO value? thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | bjs20100 -
Seo results are down. Is my "all in one seo pack" to blame?
My website www.noobtraveler.com has shown a dip of 40% since Penguin's last update in November. I also transferred hosting at time, but I was wondering if I'm over optimizing with the all in one seo pack. I would appreciate it if someone could do a quick sweep and share their thoughts. Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | Noobtraveler0 -
No longer ranking for non local local terms
Anyone seen this lately; I have a client who is in the food catering business and for the seo we target a lot of local keywords (event catering Hampshire, for example). In the past couple of weeks search engine traffic to the website seems to have dropped by about 60%. However, rankings do not seem to have dropped. What I have noticed is that up until a couple of months back, the client would be ranking first page in the Google local and also have a listing in the 'normal' serps. It appears that the non local pages have vanished. Checking a couple of their competitors and it seems the same there. This has led me to start to believe that Google are now only giving a local position or a normal position on the first page and not both, as previously. The non local pages are sitll listed but seem to have dropped way back to the 4th or 5th page when previously they would have been first page. It would of course help if the client were to give me access to the webmaster tools!!! Hate it when client's only give you half the information you need and then expect you to tell them what's up!! Anyone seem this? Thanks, Carl
Algorithm Updates | | ccgale0 -
Physical locationof the server vs customer base vs SEO penality?
HI All, We are an Australian business with our hosting currently based in Australia. We have recently been considering moving hosts for a few reasons. In particular when we have done analysis of hosting in the US and also with Rackspace say in Hong Kong we have found that the prices can be significantly cheaper or with more bells in whistles provided in the hosting of a dedicated server offshore vs Australia for the same price. Therefore from this point of view we would be much better off moving our hosting to the US or HK with Rackspace. There are the issues such as latency to take on board but lets put that to the side for the moment as we are mostly interested in understanding if offshore hosting will impact us from an SEO perspective and if so how and can these impacts be mitigated. So our first question is a) if we move our hosting offshore, will this impact our SEO? b) if it does impact our seo, how will it impact (ie lose rankings for organic pages due to IP address being offshore)? c) is A is also an impact are there ways of eliminating these impacts outlined in B? d) net - if the impacts on seo can be mitigated will the net result still be negative or could we still be seen on the same footing as a domain hosted in Australia? Thanks Sean
Algorithm Updates | | sbcinv0 -
Ranking factors for national and local
What SEO impact factors am I missing if I am ranked 1st on Google for a keyword, but not ranked local search? The keyword being setup like {"company industry" "location" }. Its ranked 4th when searched on google and the location is specific to the location in the keyword. I've tried to varify that all of my citations are correct and identical. When I compare my sites Domain Authority and links to its competitors, I should be dominating that search. If you guys have any incite it would be greatly appreciated. MADD DOGG
Algorithm Updates | | MaddDogg0 -
Local events in SERP
Hi all, I just noticed some extra links in the SERP where a webpage was showing events in the city. Does anyone know how these events can be indexed and placed by google in teh SERP? I have attached a screenshot, the underlying pages don't seem to be that special. I was wondering if there are special guidelines when optimising for events. It seems that Google will only show upcoming events for the next few days... Any help is greatly appriciated! Cheers!
Algorithm Updates | | hellemans0