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
-
Trading As Business Name
Some businesses are set us with a company name but trade under another name (or numerous other names). What's the best way to handle this when it comes to Knowledge Graph & Schema.org and what about NAP consistency? Am assuming the only way to handle this is to do something like this: Blue Widgets Ltd trading as Cars UK Or is there a better way?
Local Listings | | GrouchyKids0 -
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 -
Ranking for a service website that offers to a large geographic region. Micro sites, one site, google ads, etc?
Hi there I currently have a client that has a service that offers to a wide metropolitan geographic region. Currently we offer location detection when they hit the site. I'm curious what the best method going forward would be. This client is coming from a PPC initially but I've sold them on a longer term goal with organic SEO (local) . So my question is what is the best method for ground up web creation when offering a service that services multiple areas within the same metropolitan region? Bonus questions anyone using Flat CMS's?
Local Listings | | swagseo1 -
Local SEO: Special charakters in brand name?
Hey guys, we run a local gym in Germany located in Nuremberg called: "STUDIO N°1 - natürlich fit". Our domain is: www.studio-no1.de We are currently working on a new website since our current Website isn't really SEO optimized. Until then I would like to start optimizing some off-page attributes. As far as I know one of the main points in Local SEO is that your firm is registered at important directories. In our case we are already registred in most of the important german directories. The problem is that our oficicial company name has a special charakter included. This means that in some cases we have "N°1" and in some others "No1! Our Google Business name for example has "N°1", facbook not (no special charakter allowed). Germanys most important site for listings: Gelbeseiten, doesn't even allow special charakters in brand names.... On which name should I focus to get all the business listings to have identical NAP informations? Does it even matter? Schould I focus on "STUDIO No1 - natürlich fit" or "STUDIO N°1 - natürlich fit"? I hope you could understand my problem. Big Thanks Jonas
Local Listings | | Jo_Da0 -
Local Citations Name
Hi Everyone, I am creating local citations for a company, let's call it "Gray Marketing". That is their legal business name and has been this way for about 23 years. Recently (over the past year) they have been going by the name "Gray Marketing and SEO". They had a new logo made that appears on their companies website and location. When creating local citations. The four primary aggregators (Axicom, Localeze, Infogroup, Factual) have the legal business name. My question is, should I change it to the new name or leave it as the legal business name? Side note: I am not able to change the legal business name on Axicom. Any advise would be awesome, thanks. -Michael
Local Listings | | Mike.NW0 -
Searches without adding my city
Hi all, I have a small IT business and run it out of my home. My main keywords are: "Computer Repair Services". I have been optimising my site for awhile now. I am in Douglasville GA. If I search: "Computer Repair Services Douglasville" I am on pages 1-3 at any given time. I also show in maps on page 1 at times. If I only search "Computer Repair Services" I am nowhere to be found. I see other companies in my town listed but not me. I am missing out on opportunities from everyone outside my small town who does not include the city in the search. Also from all nearby towns. I know I do not have many backlinks and I need more Domain authority. I have run Open Site Explore on a competitor and his site has less authority and links than mine. He is always listed on page 1 without the city in the search. Can someone explain how I can be found without using my city in the search. Thanks
Local Listings | | twoacejr0 -
Is there any way to stop yahoo local from adding names to local listings?
I've been coming across many yahoo listings that have a "First Name, Last Name-Business Name" as the listing title including one that I came across that includes my name and my company's business. There's no reason why I should be listed on the listing. Yahoo, says that they pull data from other sources: Localeze ExpressUpdateUSA YP Yext But none of those sites have my name connected to them other than in the account information. Yahoo, doesn't seem to have a good way to fix their listings. I sent their customer support an email about it but I'm not expecting to get much out of it. Does anyone know of a good way to get around/fix this?
Local Listings | | spencerhjustice0 -
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