Local Help! Google+ Accounts for New Brand & Service Sites
-
Hi Mozzers! I have a lot of knowledge in local search, G+ page setup/optimization, etc, etc... However, I'm about to begin a business based around "home services". The brand will be ABC Home Services as the umbrella. Then under it will be the individual services like "ABC Carpet Cleaning" "ABC Roofing", etc... Each service will have it's own website for optimization purposes and local search authority building as well as the services will be developed over the course of a couple years ie: carpet cleaning would go up 1st, then the next service and so on...
I have purchased all of the domains I want for the services to focus on. What do you recommend I do in terms of setting up Gmail accounts/G+ accounts? Individual service related Gmail accounts and have a main "ABC Home Services" Google account and then add in the service G+ pages over time?
I'm open to any questions, but trying to make this the most efficient for me and my team and also the best if can be for local optimization goals and criteria. Thank you! - Patrick
-
Hi Patrick,
It's true, you will be somewhat limited by that, but with the exception of citation building, you should still be able to make a good effort at content development, linkbuilding, etc. Sounds like you're working with a really neat, diverse company that could become the answer to so many local homeowner needs if the brand becomes locally famous. Wishing you good luck
-
Thank you for your valuable input, Laura and Miriam! I have read through all of the links Laura shared and then some more I found on doing other searches on the subject. From the jist of it, it's exactly what you hit on Miriam. I've got some more due diligence on this one and prep work to effectively communicate with my business partners on the most appropriate strategy.
My only challenge with having 1 website that encompasses all the services is that we are then limiting our link building, directory, citation and category output/selection, which drastically limits how we would be able to build any type of authority in one given service area to compete others who are more focused just on that service, ie: carpet cleaning or roofing. Not to mention, receiving valid, real reviews for a specific service.
This is going to be tricky, but an overall great exercise and case study!
- Patrick
-
Hi Patrick,
Very important questions!
Adding to Laura's caution on this ... if ABC Home Services is actually just a single company, then Google does not want multiple Google My Business listings created for each service it offers. Obviously, the business is offering quite a variety of things, but if it's really all just one company, then it's only eligible for a single Google My Business listing, regardless of the approach that is taken with the number of websites built. And, if it's just one company, building multiple websites with shared NAP on them would not be a safe approach. If this were my client, this is the rough strategy I would recommend:
-
Build a single website with awesome content on it for each of the services offered (roofing, carpet cleaning, etc.).
-
Build a single set of citations for the company
The only safe alternative to this would be to legally register the companies as completely separate with totally distinct names, do not have an umbrella website, have a unique website for each with no shared content, have a different physical location and different phone number for each business, and do not interlink the businesses in any way.
Any variation on this (such as a shared address) could bring Google scrutiny to the situation and carries a measure of risk as Google might determine that it's just one business attempting to appear like multiple companies. Google can usually handle multiple businesses at the same address, but if they are in some way related to one another, this can raise red flags.
Laura has also made mention of departments within businesses. This commonly applies to auto dealerships, hospitals, school campuses, etc. Google suggests that these business models should each have a unique front entrance to qualify for multiple GMB listings. I've not seen this model applied to a home improvement business, but it's something you could ask Google about.
Hope this helps. Very smart of you to fully research this before creating a marketing plan!
-
-
That's going to be tricky if these are service area businesses operating out of the same address. There was a recent discussion in the G+ Local Search Pros community about a similar issue. You run the risk of getting all of the listings suspended. If you have a brick and mortar location, you could set them up as different departments, but triple check the GMB guidelines before going that route.
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 is indexing pages but they do not list on a brand search
One of my websites does not display sitelinks when using a branded search on mobile. Desktop , it is fine. Moz tells me I have no crawl issues. What could be reason for sitelinks not showing on mobile? Any thoughts?
Local Listings | | Web_Prosper_SEO0 -
Google Business - Adding location into business name
Hello, I've a client that has many services in different locations and addresses with the same website and phone number. But the thing is they want me to involve location name to business name. Is there a way to add and verify as bulk ?
Local Listings | | omeryamac0 -
Not showing in local for primary keyword
I have a client in the junk removal business and I can't get him to show in local for junk removal +city. Junk removal is not a Google Plus category so we have to choose Garbage Collection Service, which everyone else does as well. I've optimized the site and the local listing pretty well, much better than the competitors, but we're still not showing. It's not that we're asking to rank better, we're just trying to get on the list for the one term that makes all the difference in this business. I feel like there's a junk removal party going on and we're not invited. I've thought about a possible over-optimization penalty, but there's no G warning or message and we use fewer keywords than our competitors and have no spammy links as some of the competition does. Some companies that are no longer in business are visible. I just can't figure out what we might be doing wrong. Any ideas or suggestions I might have missed?
Local Listings | | Dino640 -
Google box
Hi All I am having trouble getting my business listing on the right hand side of the page for branded google searches. I have added the rel publisher tag to my website and have also connected my website through my google business profile. It shows as verified on my google+ page but it still does not appear. Can anyone offer some advice? Kind Regards
Local Listings | | TheZenAgency0 -
Branding Accuracy for Local Search
Hello Mozzers! We have a hotel client who's brand is, say "The Moz". However, they appear online with a few different variations, e.g. "The Moz", "Moz Hotel", _"The Moz Hotel". _In the past, we have tried to include the word "hotel" in client names on local listings, for search purposes. However, does branding accuracy trump what may end up being a small gain in search? Thanks for your thoughts! Frank
Local Listings | | FrankSweeney0 -
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 -
International Local Directories
I am wondering if anyone has come across a list of local directories for all countries/ regions. Like if there is a cheat sheet anywhere for what local directories exist for Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, UK, etc.
Local Listings | | EPICcreative0 -
Site links mutually exclusive with Google+ Business?
Hey all! I've been looking at the search results for our company name (Angelsmith). Looking at our listing, our search result has title, authorship, ties in with Google+, reviews, link to map, plus the big sidebar Google+ Business result with map, logo, directions, hours, etc. Our site is well-indexed, we're using a sitemap, etc. but I notice we do not have any sitelinks under our result. And come to think of it, I can't remember seeing any search results that have authorship and Google+ listings on it AS WELL AS a nice set of sitelinks underneath. So I'm wondering: are Google+ Business and sitelinks mutually exclusive? How about authorship and sitelinks? Do we have any control over which get displayed on search results? Thanks in advance, --eric
Local Listings | | EricOliver0