Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Google My Business - two locations but same name and phone
-
Hello,
I manage SEO for an orthopaedic practice and I'm wondering what to do about their GMB listings. They have two locations, but I'm starting to think we shouldn't have separate GMB pages for the two locations because of the advice about other GMB questions I've been reading on this forum.
I read a helpful response that said you must ensure the following if you want to create separate GMB listings:
- Unique name
- Unique address (even if only a suite / office number)
- Unique phone number
- Clearly different categories on Google My Business
I can only ensure one of those - unique address. The business has the same name, phone number, and categories at both addresses.
What should I do about this? I would think it's important to list both addresses so that patients can be guided to the appropriate location, but is there a way to do that with just one GMB listing?
Thank you,
Susannah
-
Hi Jepaul4,
Thanks for asking your question. As long as the address and phone number for each location of your business is unique, do not worry about the name being the same. Google understands that a brand like McDonald's has thousands of locations with the same name at different addresses, and they will not consider your listings duplicates if they share a name but have different addresses and phone numbers, too. Hope this helps!
-
I have two different listings. All the things were different e.g. name, address, phone number. The name of one listing was "Fobtoronto" and other "FobToronto north york".
After reading google guidelines I changed the name of the listing FobToronto north york to "FobToronto".
Now the name of these two listings is the same. How will I make citations for both of them because of the same name?
Will Google consider my citations duplicated?
-
It's my very great pleasure!
-
Okay, very good to know. Thanks again for your excellent help!
-
Hi Susannah,
You're very welcome! Until the client can get a separate phone number for Location B, don't create the GMB listing or any other citations for it. Hopefully, you can share Google's guidelines with them and help them see the good sense in complying with Google's wishes on this. In addition to being guideline compliant, unique phone numbers greatly lessen the risk of accidental listing merges, so pretty much any multi-location business needs to make a basic investment in a unique number for each locale.
-
Thank you so much, Miriam! This is hugely helpful.
I'll check with my client to see if they do have a separate phone number for the two locations. It's possible they do and I just don't realize it. If they don't, do you have any suggestions for what we can do?
Susannah
-
Hi Susannah,
Google My Business listings relate entirely to physical locations. So, if you have 2 physical locations, you are eligible for 2 GMB listings. However, the practice should definitely assign a unique phone number to the second location, as Google wants the number you list to connect as directly as possible to the location.
Having the same business name is no problem at all, and, in fact, you should not add any modifying keywords to either name (like a city name). List the name exactly as it appears in the real business world for both listings.
Finally, in regards to web pages: it's ideal to create a unique landing page on the website for each of the physical locations. So, the GMB listing for Location A would link to the landing page on the company site for Location A, and the GMB listing for Location B would link to the landing page on the site for Location B. Location landing pages represent very powerful opportunities to target content to a specific set of users. Make the content unique and as helpful as possible, and don't forget to put the name, address and phone of the business at the top of its respective landing page. Finally, be sure the citation set you build for Location A links to landing page A, and the same goes for Location B.
You can read more about landing pages here on the Moz Blog: https://moz.com/blog/overcoming-your-fear-of-local-landing-pages
Hope this helps!
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
-
How will changing the phone number on my website affect SEO?
We are considering changing the phone number to our website to one of those 1-800-eat-cows. How will changing a phone number we've had 10 years affect our SEO. Do we need to change all citations, Google maps, etc etc? What if we don't? Thanks!
Local Listings | | RoxBrock0 -
Issue in "Suggest an Edit" feature of Google My Business
"Suggest an Edit" feature of Google My Business is allowing the competitors to change your business details, that too without your prior permission! I have put together a piece on the issue we faced and you can review the same here: https://www.kvrwebtech.com/blog/issue-in-suggest-an-edit-in-google-my-business-is-it-a-bug-or-a-major-pitfall/ What are your thoughts on the same and what should be the right solution?
Local Listings | | varun18001 -
Why would a website link disappear from a Google Place listing?
Hi, a local non-profit recently re-branded their name from MacDonald Center to Maybelle Center. When they updated their business information their website link disappeared. They've updated from within and dashboard to no avail. We've requested edits/updates via Google Map maker but it says Denied. Here's a URL for the SERP result. Note the button for "website" would normally appear by the button for "directions" https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=maybelle center portland&oq=maybelle center portland&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i59j69i61.4316j0j7
Local Listings | | Flock.MediaCan someone please explain why this is happening and how we can fix it? They are a great community organization who's about to receive some media coverage and we'd really appreciate it if users hearing about the group be able to easily access their new website. They are aware of their duplicate listings but, typical of non-profits, have limited time and funds so are prioritizing to address more urgent issues first. However, I don't believe duplicate listings would cause such an issue but please let me know if I'm wrong here
0 -
Having two GMB listings at same address
We currently have two verified GMB listings at the same address - I "inherited" these when I joined the company, and was considering merging them, as I am aware it is generally not recommended to have more than one listing per company per location. However, the two listings highlight two different sectors of our company so I decided to keep both and optimised them as best as possible by completing the information, adding pictures etc. One of the listings uses our legal company name, one uses our name that we trade under as an e-commerce business. The listing with our legal company name links to our corporate website and focuses on installations we do, while the listing with our e-commerce business name links to our ecommerce website and focuses on products we sell through there so they differ a bit from each other. Both serve the entire country, so they are not targeted specifically toward local searches. The following differ: Business name, sector, website
Local Listings | | ViviCa1
The following are the same: Address, phone number, opening hours So far we haven't had any issues, both are verified and show up in Google, but recently, we have had the following notification pop up: Fix locations with duplicate addresses__Use shop codes to differentiate locations that have the same address. Click each location and give it a unique address or shop code, or remove it. I'd appreciate some advice as to what would be best in this situation. Should I just add shop codes to differentiate the two listings in order to be able to keep them both? If so, what purpose do these shop codes have, how should I format these and will these be publicly visible within our listings? If you would suggest merging them, how could I ensure that it shows up whether people search for our e-commerce business name or for our legal business name as these are different? Thanks in advance!0 -
Using Hashtag for Google My Business
I was told by a Google My Business representative to include #{keywords} in my description. I was told this would boost my rankings. Has anyone else heard of this?
Local Listings | | Smart_Start0 -
Can I request removal of a duplicate competitor Google Business listing?
I have a local competitor that is boggling me with his local pack rankings. For certain keyword phrases, he is ranking in multiple local 3 pack spots. The thing is, he only has one business location. So basically he has two different Google maps listings for the same business location ranking in the local pack. The NAP information is different for both listings except for the physical address. I can't understand for the life of me how this is actually helping him instead of hurting him.... My client has way more citations. A decent blog with solid content. An SEO optimized mobile website (compeititor website is not mobile ready). Etc..... Don't get me wrong, my client is doing really well and is ranking top 3 in his area for nearly 30 industry related keyword phrases. I guess that is part of the reason I'm so boggled. Can anyone provide any insight? Can I bring this up to Google and have them remove the duplicate listing somehow? I'm literally sitting #4 in the local pack for some valuable keywords, and the only reason I'm not #3 or higher is because the same physical business location is taking up two of the spots. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Local Listings | | GO2Tech0 -
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 -
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