2 businesses same phone number
-
I was wondering how I should approach a scenario where I am optimizing two different companies websites that have the same phone number but different addresses. This sounds like a weird scenario, however it is out of my control. Is treating them as two separate companies fine, or do I have to take special precautions when submitting business directories and what not? Thanks for everyone's help!
As a side note, is their a way to use Moz Local with both companies, right now it is getting confused as to what business belongs to what listing.
-
I agree with Miriam and give a thumbs up to her thorough response. I would only add that not having an additional number for the separate business is pretty inexcusable. With Skype, Anveo, or any other myriad of VOIP and cell options, getting another number is a dirt cheap cost for someone running a legitimate business. Plus the value it adds for the business should more than cover the $50 or so they'd spend yearly. If they still want the number to ring to the same line, the could just set up call forwarding on the new number... Again, all that should cost less than $100 a year and probably be even cheaper than that. Best of luck!
-
Hi There!
I would really urge you to explain to the business owner that sharing a phone number is liable to create problems for them in marketing the business. Their Google+ Local listings could merge, mixing up their data and adversely affecting each business' ability to rank. Moreover, if the two businesses are sharing a phone number, I'm guessing that they have some sort of call center that's trying to divvy up calls for one business or the other and Google expects each individual business to be directly contactable at its local number.
This might be a good thread on Linda Buquet's forum to show the business owner http://www.localsearchforum.com/local-seo-ranking/10508-business-2-offices-but-one-phone-number.html with an explanation of why no one would want to risk this kind of headache when a separate phone number should be an affordable and quick acquisition for any business.
If the business owner will not listen to this advice, then I would only suggest undertaking working with them if they remove all references to the phone number from the Internet for one of the business and solely promote contact information for the second business. This suggestions is not likely to be well received, because doubtless the owner wants to market both businesses, but it would be really frustrating to me personally to undertake marketing in this scenario knowing it could just create a mess instead of the good results I'd hope to be creating for the business.
On the Moz Local side, what you're seeing in the results is a pretty good illustration of the confusion a shared number can cause. While I believe you can list two businesses with the same phone number, I'm not 100% certain about this, and would recommend you contact the Help Team for further information on this. So sorry you're in a tough situation with this client - sounds like it needs some careful thought and a good chat with the business owner.
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
-
Why won't a business show up in the local pack when all signs point to that it should?
Hello! I've been trying to figure out why a business won't show up in the local pack even though their GMB has more reviews, seems to be doing everything right, and just doesn't show. The business is "A Senior Journey", and should be showing up for searches relating to "senior placement services tucson" or "senior placement tucson", but no dice. Been doing a competitor analysis and they are doing better or on par with all of their competitors. The same businesses in Tucson that are competitors show up both times, even Phoenix locations, but not A Senior Journey...any ideas? Thank you!
Local Listings | | WebMO-Tech-Rep0 -
Do I need separate local numbers for two fitness locations?
I'm beginning local search work for a local studio that has two locations in the same city. Do I need to provide two different phone numbers in my NAPs for each studio or can both locations have the same phone number? Thanks! Ann
Local Listings | | amws240 -
Another Business is Using My Client's Address
This morning my client contacted me that another business is using their address as their own! They received a Google verification postcard with pin number on it, but luckily had the foresight to not give it to the person when they called. After some research, we also found out that they are using our address on Facebook and LinkedIn as well. The kicker is: this business is another SEO firm! You would think they would know that using our address would cause NAP issues for their own business. Has anyone dealt with another business trying to hijack their address for local rankings? Any advice on steps to take to report this abuse would be appreciated. Since this person is obviously unscrupulous, we don't want to provoke them into taking any other negative action online that could affect our business.
Local Listings | | IlluminousGwen0 -
Would two telephone numbers on a website affect NAP consistency? One is the "actual" business number with Schema, the other is a call tracking number.
Hello! I have two telephone numbers listed on a website - one is the "actual" business number and is utilizing proper schema, while the other is a call tracking number featured more prominently on the site (both in the header and above the "actual" business number in the footer). The code looks like this: New Patients: 999-555-5555 Current Patients: 555-555-5555 Does Google prioritize the "actual" business number because it has the proper schema on it? Or would the call tracking number still be counted and affect NAP consistency for Local SEO? Thanks!
Local Listings | | nowmedia11 -
I don't have a business address, Any problem?
I am targeting local area, Melbourne in Australia. My business address is my private (home) address and I don't want to list it as we don't have a shopfront, and I don't want my personal address online. Is there a way to get around this? Web site - brandstenmedia.com.au Services - Aerial Photography & Videography
Local Listings | | Green.landon0 -
Local Rankings for Second Business Location in the SAME City
I have an issue regarding local rankings for multiple locations within the SAME city, and I'm hoping to start a productive discussion about the various options for helping a second location gain visibility in the local pack. Here's the context…My business is an electronic cigarette shop in New Orleans, called Crescent City Vape. Our first location (Uptown) opened up a year ago and ranks very well in the local-pack as well as organic results for target keywords, as well as brand terms. Our second location opened up 2 months ago, also in New Orleans (Lower Garden District), about 3 miles away from the first shop. This shop, however, is not visible locally or organically, unless we get extremely specific with a branded search query like "Crescent City Vape Lower Garden District" or "Crescent City Vape St. Charles Ave." It does not rank locally for "Crescent City Vape" or "Crescent City Vape New Orleans" We have one website: crescentcityvape.com -- and both shops have a location landing page on the main site: crescentcityvape.com/uptown
Local Listings | | djreich
crescentcityvape.com/lower-garden However, when we launched our local SEO work for the first shop, we used the homepage as the URL in Google+ Local, as well as all of our citations. When we launched the second shop, we used the location landing page as the URL for G+ and all of our citations. We also added a location modifier to the business name on G+ Local: Crescent City Vape - Lower Garden District Both shops have 5+ reviews on Google+ Local, and both shops have citation profiles that are better than any other competitor. I'm confident that the local SEO basics are covered…and this is evident from the solid local and organic rankings for the original shop. My concern isn't that the second shop is ranking worse than the first. I expected this. But I am very concerned that the second shop doesn't even rank for a branded search like "Crescent City Vape." You have to get unrealistically specific with local descriptors to see the G+ local result for the second shop. e.g. "Crescent City Vape Lower Garden District". Here are some of the options and questions I've been pondering. Would love anyone's thoughts on what's worth trying and what might be too risky…since obviously I do not want to sacrifice rankings for the original shop. Changing the G+ URL of the second shop to the homepage (rather than that local landing page). In this case, G+ pages for both locations would link to the homepage. Then updating Moz Local and other citations accordingly with the URL as the homepage. My concern is that this will end up hurting rankings for the original shop more than helping rankings for the second shop. Removing the location modifier from the second shop's Google+ Local business name. When you google "Starbucks" or "McDonalds" you get a local-pack that usually includes 3 of their locations in the pack, and none have location modifiers. I'm wondering if the modifier is sending the wrong signal, because right now, when you Google "Crescent City Vape" only the original location shows up with a local result. Changing the modifier for the second shop's Google+ Local business name to something like "Crescent City Vape: New Orleans E-Cigs". Some of our competitors have added keywords to their G+ names and it's been effective for them. I know this is not aligned with Google guidelines, and may be a risky play. We don't have anything to lose with the second location if we try this…However, is there any chance this would negatively affect our original shop's rankings (since it's the same domain)? If we went in this direction, should I update our citations accordingly? And build new ones with this new "name"? Does page authority of the business URL have an impact on G+ Local rankings? i.e. would building quality links to the local landing page have much of an impact? i.e. is that a productive use of time and resources, as opposed to promoting the homepage and other more important landing pages? Appreciate your thoughts and feedback! Hopefully this discussion will be helpful for other businesses trying to rank for more than one location in the same city. Thanks!0 -
SEO strategy local service area business
Hello, I run a service area business that rents and delivers moving boxes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our service area spans 75 cities and many millions of people, and several major metropolitan areas, including San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, but there are also numerous smaller cities that collectively represent a large number of monthly searches. I would like to rank well for the higher level search terms, like “moving boxes” and “moving supplies”, but also city-specific searches like “Moving Boxes San Francisco.” What’s unclear to me is the best strategy for organically ranking on the specific cities in our service area. As I see it, it seems there are several approaches. Is the best approach to either to: A.) Create clean “universal” web pages for pricing, products and landing pages and use blogs to build up content keywords for each of the cities B.) Create 10-15 city-specific web pages with the hope they'll each rank well (e.g. Moving San Jose, Moving in Cupertino) C.) Other? Thanks for your comments.
Local Listings | | bruteboxmoving0 -
Can we use different names in Google places for each location of a business?
I have a client who has several locations for their business. The company and the original location have one name - let's call it "National Clinic". Then, they have a series of urgent care clinics, named with the structure "National Clinic Urgent Care: Main St." and "National Clinic Urgent Care: Central Plaza". The When I'm creating my directory listings, for the urgent care locations, which option would you use for the name? a) National Clinic
Local Listings | | irapasternack
b) National Clinic Urgent Care
c) National Clinic Urgent Care: Main St.0