Separate Email for Separate G+Local Listing?
-
Client decided to keep restaurant and catering businesses completely separate, so he's gotten a suite number and a separate landline.
He already set up and claimed the restaurant G+Local/Places page using his personal gmail address.
I need to set up the catering G+Local page, but of course he's not crazy about giving me the login to his personal gmail account. But maybe, since they're completely separate businesses, I really should go set up hiscateringbusiness@gmail.com and start fresh with the catering page?
I also have an email address, contact@hiscateringbusiness.com, but it seems like Google never likes these.
How do you recommend that I set up the catering G+Local pages? (This would also presumably be for Analytics and Webmaster Tools for the domain too.)
Should I just start fresh? Can I even do it with a non-gmail account? Or will Google slap him for two unmerged accounts, even though they're for separate businesses?
(I've looked all over the place and it looks like that it's still true that he can't just change the email associated with the restaurant G+ page... no?)
Thank you!
-
I can say that I've "claimed", maybe, a couple dozen businesses for clients over the years using my account--just as anyone else can. The Google Places for Business is just a dashboard where you can claim and request updates for a business record and and a place where Google can keep the person who requested the changes informed of the status of that change.
When you "claim" a business, what you're really doing is telling google that you claim you're authorized to make changes and that when google sends the PIN by phone or mail to the company's phone number or address, that someone at the company is going to share that PIN with you so that you can enter it in the dashboard and make the changes take effect.
If you did accomplished all that, then the next day, you got fired, someone else (or the business owner) would simply be able to go their own dashboard add the business, make any changes were needed, and wait for the validation PIN to be sent by phone or mail, enter the PIN into their dashboard, and then what ever changes they made would take effect.
Business pages don't belong to accounts, they're tied directly to the name address and phone number of the business itself.
-
Hi Raymond,
You write:
I also have an email address, contact@hiscateringbusiness.com, but it seems like Google never likes these.
In fact, using a domain name email address is the BEST method. I'm not sure what you read that indicated that Google doesn't like these types of email addresses, because they are, in fact, the most trusted address.
Never claim a client's Google local business listing under your own account. Everything should belong to them and they must trust you to access these accounts. Remind them that they can always change their password at the end of your contract.
And, as with everything else we discussed regarding differentiating the two businesses, yes, you should be using completely separate logins for the two different businesses. Everything, right down to the email address, should be different, as the client has decided he is operating two different businesses.
-
Lightbulb half-lit...
Google+Local pages aren't assigned to a Google account? I'm still confused. Then why would they have said the thing about thinking about which Google Account you are using when you make a G+ page and that you may want to share it in the future...?
(I do appreciate your continued help!)
-
It's just a tip-there's not real reason to need to share the account.
Remember, after you add the company and make changes to it and have verified that you are allowed to make changes, any other other person can update that same business page by going through the same process--your client, your neighbor, me-- Their changes will just have to be verified with a post card or a phone call to the business.
Businesses are not assigned to an Google account, they're assigned to the business name, address and phone number. Any account can update the business information but it has to be verified by means of google communicating directly to the address or phone number before the change is implemented.
-
Call me slow, but it seems to me that if the Google Places for Business sign-up page says, "Tip: Before you create a business listing, think about which Google Account you are using. In the future, you may want to share this account with other people at your business," then I don't want to create a new Places page for my client's business under MY personal account, right?
The lightbulb ain't lightin' yet, sorry....
PS Maybe I didn't make clear: I just want to be able to sign them up for the Places page and manage it, Analytics, and WMTs for that same related domain. But the client owns and I want him to retain that ownership. Does that make sense?
-
Just go to Google Places for Business while logged into your Google account, follow the directions to add a business , make changes to it, get it verified via a phone call to the business (that you set them up for in advance) (it takes place in a matter of seconds) , or via a post card. and you're done!
-
Thanks, Chris, for the response, which prompts a few more questions:
1. You have these other companies in your dashboard because they gave you Manager rights? Or rather, how did you get them to be in your dashboard?
2. In my scenario above, I don't really need to touch the client's restaurant site too much, but I do need to start from scratch on his catering one, which he's decided to keep totally separate (different name, different address, different phone, different social media, etc.).
To set up his Google+Local page for this second, separate business, which way is most advantageous?:
A. Set him up a separate gmail account, set up the G+Local page for his business under that, as well as the Analytics and WMTs? or
B. Is there a way that from his primary/original email he could give me access to set up this second place, short of giving me the login to his peronsal email account? (Will being "Manager"of the first do it?)
Appreciative.
-
The business name, address and telephone number belong to the entity. Changes to the information or claiming the business are verified via a google phone call to the company's phone number or a postcard sent to the company's address. Anyone can make changes or cliam to a places page but the changes are not actually implemented until they are verified by the business via a phone call or postcard.
So, if you make the changes or claim a business while logged into YOUR google account, that company will forever show up in your Google places dashboard (until you delete it)--even if someone else makes changes to it from their account in the future. I have, for example, many, many companies that show in my dashboard. Each of them I've coordinated with to set up or revise their places page. I make the changes, prepare them to be ready to get the automated phone call with the PIN (it happens in less than 20 seconds) or to be on the lookout for the postcard with the PIN (takes about two weeks) and when they get the PIN, they give it to me, I enter it into my dashboard, and the changes take effect. You don't need to be in the client's google account to do this
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
-
Should I have home listings not followed?
Hi, I currently am doing digital marketing for a home builder. Here is one of our challenges: we build homes, create the page to sell them, details on the house are put up, Google crawls them, and then the house sells and I need to take it off the site. This is just creating a constant redirect process that I'm OK with but I'm just thinking I'd rather have Google not know they exist and delete them. I have community pages and floor plan pages with evergreen content and a blog that's doing well. I'm OK with Google not seeing these pages, but I'd really like to know what others in the industry do and what Moz thinks is best. I have a working theory of creating 10-15 pages where I rotate the houses: house 1 is posted and once it sells replace site content with house 16 (assuming 15 pages already exist with 15 houses). Reason - none of my listing pages have any page authority and it overall just makes the site un-authoritative. I know the domain authority is a different ranking factor, but I need the pages to be stronger or just not there. I'd love confirmation that that shouldn't be a concern for me as it seems to be one that I've inherited through years of SEO marketing paranoia.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AvexHomes2 -
Conditional Noindex for Dynamic Listing Pages?
Hi, We have dynamic listing pages that are sometimes populated and sometimes not populated. They are clinical trial results pages for disease types, some of which don't always have trials open. This means that sometimes the CMS produces a blank page -- pages that are then flagged as thin content. We're considering implementing a conditional noindex -- where the page is indexed only if there are results. However, I'm concerned that this will be confusing to Google and send a negative ranking signal. Any advice would be super helpful. Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | yaelslater0 -
Is it possible to rank in google mexico when you don't have a local site?
Hello, someone is asking me why we don't rank in google mexico search engine. I mentioned we don't have a google mexico site, but have a USA site, so we may rank, but not as well as if we had the mexico site. IS there anyway to improve rankings or tips? THanks! Laura Robinson
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | lauramrobinson321 -
How can I get a list of every url of a site in Google's index?
I work on a site that has almost 20,000 urls in its site map. Google WMT claims 28,000 indexed and a search on Google shows 33,000. I'd like to find what the difference is. Is there a way to get an excel sheet with every url Google has indexed for a site? Thanks... Mike
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | 945010 -
Bing still not listing my site after 3 weeks, Google ranks very very low
I am scared that somehow the search engines are penalizing me for something, but I don't know what. The site can be found at http://www.hypnotherapy-guide.com It is a business directory/advice/guide site listing a lot of hypnotherapists (9000). Is it possible that such a large site popping up over night is flagged by the SE as spam? I don't know what I am doing wrong.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | tguide0 -
Local SEO for a community.
How would one go about best doing local SEO for a townhome community? It seems to fall in between the traditional imformational SEO and the brick and mortar, G+ page model. There seems to be no way to attack the NAP, directory and traditional citation model for a certain region they build in. Any thoughts?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AESEO0 -
"Original Content" Dynamic Hurting SEO? -- Strategies for Differentiating Template Websites for a Nationwide Local Business Segment?
The Problem I have a stable of clients spread around the U.S. in the maid service/cleaning industry -- each client is a franchisee, however their business is truly 'local' with a local service area, local phone/address, unique business name, and virtually complete control over their web presence (URL, site design, content; apart from a few branding guidelines). Over time I've developed a website template with a high lead conversion rate, and I've rolled this website out to 3 or 4 dozen clients. Each client has exclusivity in their region/metro area. Lately my white hat back linking strategies have not been yielding the results they were one year ago, including legitimate directories, customer blogging (as compelling as maid service/cleaning blogs can really be!), and some article writing. This is expected, or at least reflected in articles on SEO trends and directory/article strategies. I am writing this question because I see sites with seemingly much weaker back link profiles outranking my clients (using SEOMoz toolbar and Site Explorer stats, and factoring in general quality vs. quantity dynamics). Questions Assuming general on-page optimization and linking factors are equal: Might my clients be suffering because they're using my oft-repeated template website (albeit with some unique 'content' variables)? If I choose to differentiate each client's website, how much differentiation makes sense? Specifically: Even if primary content (copy, essentially) is differentiated, will Google still interpret the matching code structure as 'the same website'? Are images as important as copy in differentiating content? From an 'machine' or algorithm perspective evaluating unique content, I wonder if strategies will be effective such as saving the images in a different format, or altering them slightly in Photoshop, or using unique CSS selectors or slightly different table structures for each site (differentiating the code)? Considerations My understanding of Google's "duplicate content " dynamics is that they mainly apply to de-duping search results at a query specific level, and choosing which result to show from a pool of duplicate results. My clients' search terms most often contain client-specific city and state names. Despite the "original content" mantra, I believe my clients being local businesses who have opted to use a template website (an economical choice), still represent legitimate and relevant matches for their target user searches -- it is in this spirit I ask these questions, not to 'game' Google with malicious intent. In an ideal world my clients would all have their own unique website developed, but these are Main St business owners balancing solutions with economics and I'm trying to provide them with scalable solutions. Thank You! I am new to this community, thank you for any thoughts, discussion and comments!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | localizedseo0