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.
Address consistency issue between GMB and directories
-
We have a mortgage broker client, ABC, who shares an address with another business, XYZ who is a loans company. A previous SEO agency created GMBs for these 2 businesses using the same physical address and recently, we had to resolve this issue of duplicate address with Google. ABC was happy for us to fix the issue up by putting a unit no. "A" thus making their address "#7A Smith Street" and business XYZ now has #7B on their GMB.
Our question is will this affect consistency if we were to build citations without "#7A Smith Street" but just using "7 Smith Street" which is their REAL physical address? Business XYZ has also just contracted us for SEO which means we will end up building citations for 2 businesses with the same business address (but different phone numbers). Should we actually continue using "#7A" and "#7B" for citation building even though that's not what their address is?
Thank you in advance for your response!
-
Hi Miriam,
Hope you're much better now!
Thanks heaps for your informative response as well as Joy's article. The only reason we'd come up with a unit number 'A' and 'B' for the 2 clients was to resolve the issue of duplicate address with Google. We had to resolve an issue with ABC's GMB with the help of a Google Business consultant and that's how they noticed business ABC and XYZ shared the same address (but both GMBs managed to be verified). We tried explaining to no avail that it was possible in Australia for 2 businesses to share the same office premise (with no separate entrance, they're not on different levels, they do not occupy different rooms within the same office space). Hence, we finally thought to 'resolve' it by creating unit numbers to fix the issue of duplicate address on G+.
What a 'fix'!
-
Hi Gavo,
Sorry for my delayed reply. Had to take a few sick days off.
So, there are a few rather complex different aspects here. I'll try to hit everything:
-
If they are two legally distinct companies, then, yes, they can both have a GMB page. Be sure they've each got their own phone number and website.
-
You should not add fictitious suite numbers to businesses. If you get a legal suite number from the post office, that's okay, but Google's guidelines wants you to represent your business exactly as it appears in the real world. Anything else is a violation of the guidelines.
-
Now we start getting complicated. The truth is that Google doesn't even recognize suite numbers for most businesses, as recently highlighted by Joy Hawkins in her guest post here at Moz: https://a-moz.groupbuyseo.org/blog/7-citation-building-myths-plaguing-local-seo. So, there's that. Basically, if you have suite inconsistencies across your citations, it's not believed to be a big deal SEO-wise, though it can be very confusing for customers trying to find you (making it a big deal in a different way) All this being said, please refer back to point #2 - Google doesn't want fictitious location info in the address.
-
And, finally, the fact that the two businesses share an address and categories means that one or the other of them may be filtered out by Possum in the local packs/finders. So, ranking issues may be a pain in the neck here. Hat tip again to Joy here: read point number 2 in her SEL article about Possum: http://searchengineland.com/everything-need-know-googles-possum-algorithm-update-258900 When last I looked, having separate suite numbers did not enable businesses in the same building/same category scenario to escape Possum. So, it will be important to explain to the business owner that their results may play hide-and-seek due to this issue.
So, there you go: a real crash course in the complexities of the scenario you've described. Hope this helps illuminate some of the details.
-
-
Hi Miriam,
Good questions - they both share the same GMB categories and they are indeed legally two unique businesses.
-
Hi Gavo,
Quick questions: Do these 2 businesses share the same Google My Business categories and are these legally two unique businesses?
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: Company listing is showing in search instead of division address - similar names/same city
Hi! I have a client whose company name is very similar to one if their company divisions. This division has multiple locations but its main location is in the same city as the parent company. The problem is that when you search for the division, the parent company shows up. The parent company has a physical address, but most users searching need to be going to the division address which takes customers. They are having problems with customers coming to the parent company address instead. I have made the Google My Business parent company page to show service areas instead of their business address. Yet, their listing still comes up first when searching for the division location. This is because of part of the parent company name is in the division name. My client wants users to be able to find the division more so than the parent company. Anyone had this issue before? Any tips would be great!
Local Listings | | agrier0 -
Keywords in GMB title...
Hello, I have a client who is trying to rank in Maps for "city name house call vet." Their GMB name is NOT their business name... it is: "Business Name the House Call Vets, Dr. Jack Millen" I know that it is a best practice to have the GMB title be ONLY their exact business name. However, I worry if we take out the keyword "House Call Vets" from the GMB business name, they will tank for Google Maps "house call vet" searches. All the top ranking GMB pages have "house call vet" in the GMB business name (even though it is not in the actual business name of all those businesses). Should I worry about deleting "house call vet" from their GMB page even though it is not a part of their actual business name? Will Google still rank them for "House Call Vet" searches in Maps? Right now they are ranking like 6 which is not great but not horrible in a very large market but also not as high as I think they could be. Thanks in advance for the help!
Local Listings | | Mike-i0 -
Local Ranking with No Physical Address in New Service Area - How to Rank?
OK, SO, I am a wedding company in Maui, Hawaii and have an established business on one island with a physical address. http://simplemauiwedding.net We have started a new team in Oahu, Hawaii http://simpleoahuwedding.com and we provide service there and have a full team in place. How can I rank for Local Search on that Island with no physical address? I would love to hear some proven strategies. Thank you 🙂
Local Listings | | photoseo10 -
How Do I Remove Address from Google Business Page?
Not very up to date in handling local listings, so here's my situation. I have an office that is not going out of business, but instead going virtual. So that physical address will no longer exist but the team is intact. So I am dealing with the Google Business Listing page for this office at https://business.google.com/ In the "Published on" section, it has Google Search, Google Maps, and Google+. I want to remove it from Maps and the address from this account. There's an address for this store, but editing it only seems to allow changing, but not removal. There is also the option of "Mark as Permanently Closed", but surely that isn't the best option since that will leave a nasty red "PERMANENTLY CLOSED" in the results when searching. What's the best course of action here?
Local Listings | | nbyloff0 -
How many directories are too many directories?
Hello Moz World, I wanted to get some perspective on this. How many directories are too many directories to list a website. And what is a good Page Rank for submission. Thanks ahead of time for all of the awesome responses. B/R Will H.
Local Listings | | MarketingChimp101 -
What is the best address format to display for a buissness for SEO?
There is a new location opening soon and would like to set up local pages for it. What is the best/most SEO friendly way to write out the physical address? I looked on USPS and they show: 7227 W GRAND PKWY S
Local Listings | | nat88han
RICHMOND TX 77407 But local businesses seem to have the West and South written out: 7301 West Grand Parkway SouthRichmond, TX 77407Is there a best practice for this, or does it not make much of a difference as long as the website/local listings all match exactly? Not sure about writing out "West" or using "S." for the cardinal direction.0 -
How to find which directories to submit my new site?
Hi Guys So as I'm just starting out, I have been told and read certain blogs that in the early stages I should submit my site to certain directories, only I would not have any idea which directories I should submit my site to, besides the few that I already know. Any idea how I could find this out? Cheers
Local Listings | | edward-may1 -
Google is associating the wrong address with my website in SERPs
I've dealt with submitting address change information to Google (and Yelp, YP, etc.) when they have somehow scraped the wrong address or phone number. This is a little different. I work for the parent company with multiple companies of similar names making up the family of companies. What's happening is that people are searching for one of our companies (Lynden Transport) and getting the correct website results to pop up, but the address/phone # shown below the URL and in the local results screen is for one of our other companies (LTI, Inc.). Customers should be seeing a Fife, WA address but instead are seeing one for Lynden, WA. I've attached a marked up screenshot to better those what is happening. At least customers are generally finding their way to our company but it's causing quite a headache for our customer service reps and customers as they get transferred back and forth on the phone, and confusion for customers unfamiliar with our office locations. I've clicked on the "Send Feedback" link at the bottom of Google and explained what was happening, but beyond that I'm not sure what to do. The information presented isn't wrong, it's just being associated with the wrong company. It seems like a Google logic error and not something I can control or edit. Any ideas? moz-ltia.jpg
Local Listings | | RyanD.0