Changing the business name in citations and GMB
-
In Australia, some businesses are Pty Ltd (Proprietary Limited) hence, their business name ends with xxx Pty Ltd. How accurate do we have to be when building citations or updating citations that Pty Ltd is included in the business name? We've got clients who have left out Pty Ltd in their previously built citations and we're wondering if it's worth the time to actually update them to include Pty Ltd.
Also, does changing a business name affect its rankings? This is more than just "Pty Ltd", it's changing from XYZ to ABC. We've previously had to change a client's address on their GMB and this had a negative effect on the client's rankings. Will changing the business name have an adverse effect?
Thank you in advance for your advices!
-
Thanks heaps, Miriam, your advice is always appreciated!!
-
Thanks heaps for your response, Alick, and a good reference link!
-
Hi Gavo!
Alick300 has provided a good link for the 2nd part of your question. For the first part, we just had a good discussion on this right here: https://moz.com/community/q/local-search-can-i-use-a-shortened-company-name
Hope it helps, but if you have any further questions after reading that, please feel free to ask!
-
Hi Gavo,
Please check below thread in Google my business community regarding affect on ranking after changing business name.
Hope this helps.
Thanks
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 Issue
I have seen an issue with GMB that Google Support say is not an issue. I work for an agency and we manage about 50-60 GMB accounts for our clients. Most of our clients are flooring retailers and under our MCC account we also have our agencies listing. When I was searching for my client on Google using their brand name for example Walmart, I noticed my agency listing shows even though my client is over 1000 miles away. I have used multiple browsers in incognito and multiple devices and still see this so I know its not a personalized result. We also link to this client from our website which is the only thing connecting the dots between my agency and the client. https://imgur.com/UEqNAyA - screenshot (hiding phone numbers & business names for obvious reasons) showing 2 locations over 1000 miles apart. My first attempt at contacting Google I was informed of ways to get my listing higher which I quickly told them that isn't my issue. I also asked to speak to a SME (subject matter expert) and was told all of them were on lunch, asked for a supervisor and was told they were too on lunch. Has anyone else experienced this? Any idea why it would show two different companies over 1000 miles apart when searching for a companies name? Did I stumble a way for SEO's to cheat the local map pack?
Local Listings | | Jacob-Lial1 -
Places.SinglePlatform.com "Menu" links on your GMB listing?
I just experienced this and after lots of frustration was able to figure out how it happened and how to fix it (keep reading). **HOW: **So apparently Google did a deal with Constant Contact which owns Singleplatform.com that allows them to publish edits to ANY local business and they have used this to SPAM entire categories of local businesses by adding in a "Appointments" and/or "Menu" link to the Google My Business listing for search/maps and they have done it in such a way that it is extremely difficult to remove/fix. (NOTE: they are not listed in Google's list of 3rd parties which automatically add info to your listing....https://www.google.com/maps/reserve/partners) **THE PROBLEM: You have a link to a menu or appointment page that you did not add and can not edit. **The options for setting a URL for "Menu" and/or "Appointment" (and a few others https://support.google.com/business/answer/6218037) are tied to the Primary Category set on your GMB listing and are only available to certain categories. FIXING: You would think if you are a verified owner of your GMB listing, it would be simple - but Google/SInglePlatform.com have gone to great lengths to make it more difficult.... Step 1 - Make sure you are a verified owner of GMB listing Step 2 - Change your Primary category on the business to one of the categories which supports the link in question (no definitive list, but I know setting Primary to "Restaurant" will get you Menu and "Interior Designer" will get you an Appointment link) Step 3 - Save the new category Step 4 - Now you will have the option under your "URLs" section of GMB listing. Step 5 - Change the URL from the SPAMMY link to a relevant page you control and Save Step 6 - Change Primary Category back to what you want.
Local Listings | | arowland2 -
Has anyone tried using AMP links in Google Business Listings?
We have a client with multiple locations, and Google Business listings for each location. We've also created AMP pages for each of those location landing pages, and they're ranking on page one of their main queries, just below the local pack. We're wondering if anyone has tried pointing a GMB website listing at an AMP page, or if there are considerations to keep in mind before testing it out. So far, we've discussed whether to use the AMP url (amp.domain.com) or the Google viewer url (google.com/amp/s/amp.domain.com), and potential concerns for desktop users.
Local Listings | | WompM0 -
Someone Hi-Jacked my Clients Business Listing and online presence, What to do?
I have a new client and I discovered that someone has ripped off the business and established it in Texas (business resides in New Jersey) My client is ssscustomclosets.com/ the hijack artist has created forms and business listings such as this https://wirykanaird.wufoo.com/forms/zivaxni09ew6nb/ There is no google listing for Texas however, I have to think that this is causing some seo issues. Any ideas how to rectify this? I have never come across this situation before. Thanks, Don Silvernail
Local Listings | | donsilvernail0 -
Http or https for citations and link building
I'm wondering what version of my website I need to use on Google My Business and link building etc.. I have setup https and am using a 301 redirect for all http traffic. My question now is, do I need to go to all of my current citations/links and update them to https? I would think the citations/links in-place will hit the 301 and it won't matter what I set. Duplicate content isn't a problem since the canonical version of the page is https. I can't get a clear answer on the web and can't find anything on Google's site that suggests one way or the other. I'd just like to have some feedback from my fellow Moziopians 🙂 -fencepencil
Local Listings | | fencepencil1 -
Google My Business - two businesses, same location
I have client that has developed a new brand targeting a specific segment of their wider market - the more price sensitive customer. They have launched a website for this brand, which specialises in promoting special offers. Both operations have the same physical address and the new brand - that targets this niche, I believe has been set up as a service-area business on Google My Business. I think they should change this as they do publish their address on their website and do on occasion welcome customers on their premises. My question - at last! - is that can both businesses exist on Google Maps - with the same business address and is this the right way to proceed if I want to target directory listings for the new brand. Any thoughts welcomed! thanks.
Local Listings | | nathangdavidson21 -
Does Google Analytics automatically desseminate Maps/Places traffic from Organic traffic? Do webmasters still have to apply UTM parameter tracking to URLS in their GMB profile listings?
It was recommended a few years to apply UTM parameters to local URLs to get more accurate referral/source tracking in Google Analytics. Here is an old Moz post about this process https://moz.com/blog/tracking-traffic-from-google-places-in-google-analytics However does GA automatically separate this traffic out nowadays? Is there a method to identify the traffic coming from Maps/Places without UTM parameters? Is UTM tagging still necessary if we want to see these traffic reports?
Local Listings | | RosemaryB0 -
Getting Google To Correct Your Citation
Over the last few months, I have done everything other than drive out to California and bring google flowers to get them to edit the stupid zipcode for our downtown Tampa office. Does anyone have any experience getting these types of situations corrected? I'm at a total loss, and I do not know what else I can do. Extremely frustrated...but always grateful, Ruben
Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup0