Two businesses with the same adress
-
Hi Guys,
A client of mine took over an competitors site 12 months ago. They sell almost the same products and both websites now list the same address on their contact page. Local search isn’t really important to them (webshops). They aren’t really active with Google plus reviews. but I’m still wondering.
Could this cause any ranking problems? A lot of online citations still mention the old competitors address and two almost identical company’s with the same address sounds like an bad idea. Any suggestions about this topic?
Just as a side note: the competitors site lost a lot of traffic, which is caused by a lot of different problems (double site migration were they didn’t think about SEO). So I would love the hear your thoughts about this specific ranking problem.
Thanks a lot!
-
Whaha that's the goal actually Thanks for you responses!
-
Fair enough! I think the duplicate address issue won't cause any problems as long as your content is unique...I wouldn't sweat it! Worse case scenario, you start competing with yourself for page 1 rankings
-
Yeah it will probably take 6-12 months to recover (or to get near the previous traffic). Redirects are on the road map and a lot of other stuff as well. Actually I wrote an whole report about the problems some time ago, but a lot of points haven’t been implemented by the developer. So that’s why we’re taking on the project again since the current situation clearly doesn’t resolve itself.
The address situation is just an point I stumbled upon just now. At the time I wrote the report both brands had their own unit number within the same complex.
-
Hey Bob,
It would almost be easier if it was spam or thin content related. My suggestion would be to drop your ill performing site completely...or get ready for a bit of a wait. Because of the double site migration/poor user metrics...there is no fast recourse. Once this damage has been done, it is going to take some time for it to regain its rankings. Essentially you are dealing with a fresh start.
Is there no way to access the old URLs to perform some redirects? That would be your best bet in restoring this baby to its glory.
-
Hi Christopher,
Thanks for your response!
I totally agree with you. Local is a chance an webshop should take. In this situation however local is a small issue, my main concern is recovering the 80% traffic loss in the last year during to a double failed site migration and bad user metrics. In this case I want to keep both shops separated since historically they both performed great.
Merging both now would mean we take the traffic loss as it is. I believe it’s possible to recover at least to a certain point in this situation since these problems aren’t spam / thin content related.
-
Hi Bob
Sounds good, it's hard to be certain on this when you have the other issues and variables in play. Would first look at cleaning other issues first.
But I do also agree with the guys above you might also need to consider the value against the cost of trying to rank with 2 positions on search engines or whether it's more cost effective to merge and focus all efforts on 1 site.
Let us know how you get on.
Cheers
Dan
-
Hi Dan,
Thanks for your answer! Our situation is exactly the same. Different brands, social channels, unique content etc. it's like coca cola and pepsi on the same adress. Both selling the same, but different.
Good to hear your story. In this case I will just start cleaning up all the other mess of the site migration first and will see what happens.
Thanks a lot!
-
We've had situations similar where a client has multiple ecommerce stores both with the same physical address on contact page and they weren't penalised or hurt by any traffic loss, however although they were selling products from same catalogue, there were distinct differences within the content.
2 separate brands were used, and unique product descriptions & category descriptions for example. Individual social media channels with unique content also.
So these other factors perhaps need to be taken in consideration and context is important?
Is all the content on the sites the same?
Cheers
Dan
-
Well, if local search isn't a concern then this might just fly. But I think neglecting local SEO (even as a webshop) is a poor decision. There could be an abundance of untapped local traffic - why ignore any relevant (and easier to rank for) traffic? My only concern here is the indexing of NAP information...not sure how Google will handle it...but they generally are not fans of a duplicated company presence (ie.multiple Google+ pages, duplicate content, etc.)
If you really want to prevent any issues and strengthen the performance of their site...I say merge these bad boys together. As you said, they sell almost the same products - and one is performing poorly. Why even attempt to split the traffic?
Best,
Christopher
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
-
1 physical address, 2 live GMBs for 2 different businesses
We recently have a chiropractor client who came to us to do SEO for his newly opened myotherapy practice. We were very surprised he managed to request and got approved a GMB for the myotherapy practice under a different business name but the exact same address. Has there been changes in Google policy recently that 2 businesses are able to share the one same address? If we built citations for the myotherapy practice with the same address, will it send conflicting signals to Google? His chiropractor practice is currently ranking no. 1 in local pack and SERP for his main keyword "chiropractor + location". Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
Local Listings | | Gavo0 -
Improve Google Business ranking
While my client's websites have been ranking well in SERP for their keyterms I'm at a lost on what I can do to improve their Google business/map presence. I'm referring to their listing where the top three come up or when you search on Google Maps.
Local Listings | | FPK
https://gyazo.com/26ec78ed7f712157ec72492199545431 Ex 1. Several months ago my client was ranked #1 both for SERP and maps until they dropped to 2nd on maps. Now they're ranked 1st in search yet 2nd for local business rankings as you can see from the screenshot above. At one point my client's business did have more reviews than the 1st ranking business yet they still weren't 1st. Ex. 2. Client(s) is ranked 4th in search and doesn't show in the top 3 map listings for their search term. If you click on More places to view Google Maps they're listed all the way down as the 15th listing or worse can't even be found when searching by their main SEO key term . Of course they are found by searching for their business name so it's not like there is a problem with the listing. I make sure to: Completely fill out their Google Business profile(NAP, hours and add pictures) Have my client try to gain positive reviews Manage and respond to reviews(mainly the negative ones) Add map and Google business link to their website Can anyone offer any other insight on what else can be done to improve their local presence on maps that I might be missing?0 -
Google My Business Login
Is there a way to turn off the Google Security feature that kicks someone out after logging into the account because it isn't a trusted computer or in a different location?
Local Listings | | BlairKuhnen0 -
???? "Google My Business", Search Console, Google Webmaster Tools
I added a Google+ Page for my business several years ago. Now when I click on "Search Console" within Webmaster Tools it is asking me to provide business information that I entered several years ago for Google+. Is this normal? Should I fill it out? It seems that this info is redundant with what I filled out for Google+. When I enter the name of my business (Metro Manhattan Office Space, Inc. ) in Google, a listing appears to the right, so it seems that Google already has my details. Thanks,
Local Listings | | Kingalan1
Alan vkpDA XgCcQ0 -
Does business name capitalisation count when making sure you have the same NAP across all directories ?
We've got a UK company with a company name like the following "ABC cars" (3 letter capitalised name followed by a word). With the Thompson local directory (one of the top 10 uk directories for local NAPs (and listed as a direct partner in Moz Local)) they dont allow you to have multiple capitalised letters in a company name. As far as i can see there are a few options to get around this : A B C Cars Abc Cars abc Cars (or abc cars) But none of them are ideal, as they dont match the actual name as listed on all of sites 100% in terms capitalisation. Which one of the above (or other) would be the best solution ? Does capitalisation count when people say your NAP must match ?
Local Listings | | mike8780 -
Is there a purpose to the "google my business" description?
Hi there Can someone tell me if the description serves a purpose in the google my business profile since:
Local Listings | | coolhandluc
a) It is not displayed anywhere as far as i have seen (maps, 3 pack local results, knowledge graph, organic results)
b) It is no longer considered as a ranking factor since it was abused so much Thanks0 -
Why does Google only display a 3 pack of local business results for some terms?
We have seen a pattern in the Google UK SERPS where only three local listings are triggered for a query although they have a more local results to show but chose to only show three: Anyone else seen this? Anyone know why? Is there a magic number for them to trigger a six pack, does the data set they pull from need to be larger for them to trigger more local listings. "Solicitors Cambridge" = 3 listings https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=solicitors+cambridge&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=_vCwVc2mHMiAUZ-luZAE "solicitors kent" = 3 listings https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=solicitors+cambridge&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=_vCwVc2mHMiAUZ-luZAE#q=solicitors+kent "Solicitors Oxford" = 6 listings https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=solicitors+cambridge&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=_vCwVc2mHMiAUZ-luZAE Any thoughts?
Local Listings | | highwayfive1 -
Adding multiple locations business to directories
We have multiple locations business.
Local Listings | | VicMark
Adding each location business info to directories. There are same services and everything for each location. Should we keep the same description for all listings or different for each location?
Should we indicate Home Page URL (with 800 number, no address in footer) or location URL?0