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
-
Google My Business - What is the best way to remove "Duplicate Address"? Help!
Google can be such a pain with managing listings - especially when you are an agency managing a client's listing! I am hoping someone can help with this... How do I permanently delete a “duplicate address?” In the Google My Business dashboard (classic view), under account summary – I click duplicate locations. From here, I can easily remove a duplicate location - that is not the issue. The issue is for duplicate addresses. For this, we only have the option to resolve address, which directs you to the business’ location details. Our options are then to: 1. Change the business NAP 2. Permanently close location 3. Remove the listing from your dashboard (removing it from dashboard doesn’t delete it from Google). We edited the business’ name, phone number, address and website – to try and make it a duplicate location, because if we are able to make it a duplicate location then we know we will have the option to **Remove Duplicate. **Nothing has changed though. We don't want to mark this as a permanently closed location because if somebody does come across the listing down the road it is going to be misleading. The business is not actually closed! Any insight would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
Local Listings | | bcallegary0 -
I have 2 locations and 6+ Google Business pages... How can I combine the duplicates without losing maps rankings?
I have 2 locations and 6+ different Google Business pages due to a company merger and automatic page creation. Some of the GMB even pages rank in maps above the ones we use for certain terms and most bring traffic to my site, but I know the dupes are hurting our maps rankings. Is there a way I can consolidate these pages by combining them? Or am I better off just biting the bullet and deleting the pages I don't want to use?
Local Listings | | formandfunctionagency0 -
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.
Local Listings | | brfieger0 -
Will changing my business location affect my ranking for localised searches in my original area?
I run a mobile outdoor personal training service in London, UK (i.e. no bricks and mortar gym). Or, rather, my business is in London (all my clients and the freelance trainers that work for me) but I'm personally due to move out to the county of Suffolk. As I work from a home office and my company's registered address is my home, that means I have to inform Companies House and various government agencies that the company has moved. Does this mean: a) I also must tell Google the company has moved, and; b) if I do will Google start to see my website as being for a Suffolk-based company? I really don't want this to happen: my clientele are mostly in London., I still want to market to Londoners. And if I want to expand the areas covered by my company, Suffolk is not high on my list. You'll excuse me if this is a simple question! Thanks for any help you could give
Local Listings | | fionadoggett0 -
Google Plus Local - Business address, regions covered/served
Hi If you have a client whose business address is not the same as the regions they serve/cover then how do you set this up correctly in G+? So listing (& preferably website too via the G+ places connection & onpage local address schema) do help local search query listings in the target areas ? Also schema too if possible (i.e. how do you add areas/regions covered if outside of actual business address area) ? Is the only way round this to set up serviced/virtual office addresses in your target market regions ? Surely there's a way to have a business listed in areas outside of its actual address. Its a physical business but is not bricks & mortar beyond the admin office. All Best Dan
Local Listings | | Dan-Lawrence1 -
For companies with multiple locations, does Google mind "Duplicate Content" in local (maps) business descriptions?
I have about 20 locations for my counseling company "Thriveworks" on google. I am getting ready to submit a spreadsheet and take advantage of the new "bulk upload" to manage these locations. Each of my locations has a description that is basically the same in terms of sentiment, but 100% original content (because Google has historically hated duplicate content). 1) Should I copy and paste each location's current unique description into the spreadsheet, or just write one very good description and copy it for all 20 locations?2) Does Google like/dislike "duplicate content" as it applies to business descriptions?3) Is changing a location's description likely to temporarily harm the "ranking" of my business location in search results?Will really appreciate any help...
Local Listings | | Thriveworks-Counseling0 -
Google Business Categories: Criminal Justice Attorney
Google has updated their business listings dashboard and are cleaning up categories. Let's come to a consensus on what should be obvious: Who else agrees with me that a lawyer who practices criminal defense law should be categorized as a Criminal Justice Attorney using Google's new business categorization? BoulderCriminalDefenseAttorney.jpg
Local Listings | | Rich_Coffman0 -
Right page to place the Schema code for global business
I have two questions: 1. Schema code for Global business: As a company which works with clients across the globe, we like to create a well defined schema that doesn't limit and appear as a Local Business to Google. I assume "http://schema.org/LocalBusiness" means a local business to Google. If we use it, will be be affecting the ranking in global searches? 2. Page and location to keep the code What could be the best place to keep the schema code in a web page? - Homepage/ About us page / contact us page and Footer links are the options. I hope applying CSS on it too wouldn't be an issue. Looking forward to learning your thoughts.
Local Listings | | macronimous0