Adding Plaza name to G+?
-
I've recently been noticing local businesses adding the name of their plaza to their listing.
Does this reflect on consistency of NAP across the web if only the G+ Listing has that extra landmark?
And how would this effect the local map rankings?
Any answers would help.
-
Hi Vlad!
I see - you are talking about a contained business, but are asking about the address rather than the name of the business. In that case, I recommend looking up the business on smartystreets.com to see what the USPS deems as the official address of the business, and go with that version.
-
The listing i attached to the question is part of a Shopping Plaza, the name is by its self but the plaza name is part of the address. I couldn't find anything in the guidelines about plaza names in addresses.
-
Hi Vlad,
Are you talking about container locations, like a shopping mall? If your business is in one, see Google's guidelines here:
https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en
Expand the 'Names' section and read the section titled "Containment Information".
If I'm not quite understand, please, feel free to come back with further information on this.
-
Recently Google has amended their guidelines (see question and comment discussion here: http://moz.com/community/q/google-no-longer-allows-geographic-identifiers-in-business-name-consistency-problems) to disallow the use of geographic identifiers in the business name. What you're probably seeing is an attempt to comply with this while also still providing the information needed to differentiate one location from another for the convenience of customer (and to cross-comply with Facebook, which doesn't allow duplicate named listings).
As you can read in the comments, it's a bit of mess at the moment for businesses with multiple locations in close proximity (Starbucks as an example). At least you can get a bit more insight into why they're doing it from this though. Cheers!
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
-
Local Pack Ads v. Organic Business Listings
Hey everyone, So I'm noticing lately that Google is showing ads via AdWords for my locations in the local pack. I am fine with that, but unfortunately it is now driving me a little bit insane wondering how much Google really cares about NAP, distance from centroid and or user, links to domain, completed business profile and so on. They will pull an ad into the top of the local pack for my location, yet, my actual organic business listing in some cases will not even show up until I hit the second page of business results. I get that it's Adwords, it's pay-to-play, but from most accounts, the differences in ranking for traditional listings results compared to business results on both desktop and mobile are pretty different. For example, by doing my traditional SEO best practices, I can rank high in traditional listing results even when my business does not show in the local listings. I have done this time and time again. I am able to accept that since we have 100 locations in the US and our lists were an absolute mess before I got here, that some of our NAP across multiple directories and listing sites are not exactly up to snuff which I have been working on. So I guess the thing is, if my location in Google's eyes is not good enough to be shown organically for the user even at the bottom of page of one of business results, why is it good enough to show an ad for my business location for that query as the absolute first result? Again, I know its Ad Words which basically allows you to cut in line like that special pass you can buy at a roller coaster park, but still. Isn't their goal to provide the best possible experience for their user? If they feel something is worth holding back my organic listing from the user, why is it fine with them to show the user that same location with the top possible local pack spot in an ad? I guess this is more of a rant than anything but I wanted to know if anyone else is dealing with this or anyone has any info they have found that could help shed light on this? It kind of just kicked everything I thought about trust, authority, links in order to rank in the local pack organically out the window. Thanks! -Ben
Local Listings | | Davey_Tree0 -
What is the naming format for locations is it brand name--Location name?
I am trying to arrive at an agreeable format for consistency across the ecosystem for our multiple locations. Is there a character limit for the location name?
Local Listings | | lina_digital0 -
Update business name across 150+ locations
We have 150+ locations. The current names in GMB vary based on the branch. They may include a branch number or city location in the title or some variation of the company name. We'd like to update these to reflect our company wide branding and drop the branch #/location. Any ideas on the impact of this change?
Local Listings | | Jason.Capshaw0 -
SEO issues with Physician and Practice not ranking for their own names
I've inherited an SEO client who's got all kinds of ranking problems. Currently his name Dr. Laddis shows up for his old practice, Saratoga Cardiology Associates (http://saratogacardiology.com/) instead of his current one Cardiology Specialty Services (http://cardiologyspecialtyservices.org/ ) He's also showing up with a G+ for the old practice that's listed as closed. The 2nd listing is for his bio on the hospital page.(<cite class="_Rm">https://saratogahospital.org/doctor/theodoros-laddis-md-facc/ )</cite> Then come the usual Dr directories. His YouTube channel shows up. But his actual website isn't until the middle of the 2nd page. I'm also having similar issues getting the practice to show up in search (http://cardiologyspecialtyservices.org/ ). As I was coming on board, they also had a name change from Saratoga Cardiology Specialty Services to Cardiology Specialty Services. Their G+ local business page has the custom URL for Saratoga Cardiology Specialty Services but the name on the page is Cardiology Specialty Services. Their website is actually part of the hospital multisite with a URL redirect. While the site shows up for "cardiologist Saratoga" their G+ page doesn't show up.(https://plus.google.com/+Saratogacardiologyspecialtyservices/about ). I've also done on-page SEO and am still in the process of submitting to directories. Any thoughts on what the hangup is or what I can do to clear up this mess would be appreciated.
Local Listings | | IT-dmd0 -
Changing Business Names
Hi All, I am working with a client that is changing its business name and website domain. Obviously, they want Google Maps to display their correct information. I know that in order for this to happen, they will need to do some citation clean-up and update their Google+ Local page, but does anyone have any opinions on the order in which these things should be done? Thanks!
Local Listings | | PapercutInteractive0 -
Local listing ranking higher than domain name
Hi everyone,I was wondering why on my ranking report there is a fluctuation between the local listing page and the domain name page. Is it a way to always get the domain name ranking higher than the local listing?Thanks for your support,RM
Local Listings | | skrauss0 -
Can we use different names in Google places for each location of a business?
I have a client who has several locations for their business. The company and the original location have one name - let's call it "National Clinic". Then, they have a series of urgent care clinics, named with the structure "National Clinic Urgent Care: Main St." and "National Clinic Urgent Care: Central Plaza". The When I'm creating my directory listings, for the urgent care locations, which option would you use for the name? a) National Clinic
Local Listings | | irapasternack
b) National Clinic Urgent Care
c) National Clinic Urgent Care: Main St.0 -
Can't Change My G+ Pages Address?
Our zipcode is wrong on our Google Plus page for one of our offices. Exactly, one month ago I corrected it, but it immediately reverted to the wrong one. Then, I think I read the change can take 4 weeks...we'll it still hasn't changed. Two weeks ago, someone from Google Places even called and I told him to change it manually, he said he would...still not changed. What can I do to get this zip code corrected? Thanks, Ruben
Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup0