Google My Business: Multiple businesses operating from same address
-
Hi guys,
This seems to be quite common (especially now with "hotdesking" becoming increasingly popular), but I've never had to do local SEO for a business like this before so was just wondering on best practice for a business who shares the same brick-and-mortar location with multiple other businesses.
For Google My Business verification, it does seem you just have to get there first. With Google unverifying the first account tied to that address if you attempt to verify another - I don't want to do this, due to the relationship between my client and the verified business in question.
Any suggestions?
-
Hi Tom,
This has been extremely helpful!
Good work man,
-
Hi Ria,
Yeah, it's so important to get all these questions answered before you start work. Sounds like you need some answers before you can interpret which of Google's guidelines apply. Good luck!
-
He seems to have used a single phone number throughout his previous clinics, though he works from a main one (which is the one he wants to be locally optimised for), he frequently works from other clinics too - with the same landline contact number.
Not sure about dedicated set of rooms or forward-facing front desk - I've put this forward to him. As well as his regular working hours, if any. I've actually tried to follow your advice from your "new clients" blog post, Miriam, but it seems as if the difficulty is getting all the questions answered in one go haha. Oddly, I seem to get a quicker response when it's one question at a time.
-
I noticed this too very recently! I've added the location via that method, as well as through Google Maps Editor through a different account.
-
This is fantastic! Thank you
-
Hi Ria,
The place falls under the multiple practitioners - single location scenario.
Multi-Practitioner Practices For practices with multiple public-facing doctors, it is acceptable to create local pages for each doctor, in addition to the practice’s local page. If this is the case, do not include your business name in the name of the practitioners’ pages. And try to differentiate between these pages with either a different phone number or suite number for each doctor, when possible. - See more at: http://www.searchinfluence.com/2016/04/google-my-business-for-doctors-visibility-authority-seo/#sthash.mRhgvMae.dpuf
According to Mike Blumenthals' site - the Google instructions for this have vanished! so you can get his take on the same thing here.
"
Individual practitioners (e.g. doctors, lawyers, real estate agents)
An individual practitioner is a public-facing professional, typically with his or her own customer base. Doctors, dentists, lawyers, financial planners, and insurance or real estate agents are all individual practitioners. Pages for practitioners may include title or degree certification (e.g. Dr., MD, JD, Esq., CFA).
An individual practitioner should create his or her own dedicated page if:
- He or she operates in a public-facing role. Support staff should not create their own pages.
- He or she is directly contactable at the verified location during stated hours.
A practitioner should not have multiple pages to cover all of his or her specializations."
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2016/04/10/google-my-business-guidelines-mia/
Hopefully that'll help you deal with your client more confidently
Ray pp Tom.
-
Hi,
Try to register your client as a department in an existing business. They can share same address.
-
Hi Ria!
I want to be sure I'm understanding exactly what you are describing. I'm concerned that what you are talking about may fall under Google's ineligible model guidelines which state:
An ongoing service, class, or meeting at a location that you don't own or have the authority to represent. Please coordinate with your host to have your information displayed on the page for their business within their "Introduction" field.
What are the specifics of this. Does the client have:
-
A unique phone number?
-
A dedicated set of rooms?
-
It's own forward-facing front desk?
-
9-5 (or similar) hours of operation?
-
-
I recently added a 'shared address' business to Google and for the first time I noticed an option to 'Add a missing place'. Perhaps that could work for you. I started by searching the address in Google Maps, then using the facility that comes up on the left. You'll probably see "At this location" and a list of businesses already there.
-
This is great advice, and I will definitely bear it in mind for similar situations in future. Unfortunately, for this particular business there are no dedicated "suites" as such. It seems like it's a clinic version of hot desking, with multiple doctors each running their own private business occupying the available clinic rooms within the building.
I appreciate it's quite a specific SEO dilemma, but I'm sure it must affect other industries. Especially now with the growing start-up generation. Even recently I visited an "enterprise hub" where businesses were able to use the address as their listed address whilst renting "hot desks" or "hot suites" by the day, changing desk or suite on a daily basis to whichever in the building is available. I wonder what _their _local SEO strategy looks like....
/thinkingoutloud
-
In the past, for these situations, we've had to get the location to set up suite numbers for each business. That way the address is correct, and then there is a suite number for each one. What we prefer to do is to get the USPS (postal service) to also set up and have those suite numbers in their system, as well. So, that way it's official.
You'll also need to post the suite numbers on the outside of the business, as well.
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
-
Best address to use on Google business listing for youth sports program
Hello, Moz Community! I'm helping a friend with some local marketing for his youth sports program. He trains his kids at a community center and a public park where court times are managed by the city. His address in his Google business listing is currently the community center, but that is shared with multiple businesses including the community center itself. I know he needs an address that is unique to his business, but he lives outside of the city in which his program is located. Our goal is to boost exposure in the city in which his program is located. Since 1) his business address is located outside of the city in which he conducts business and 2) the addresses at which he conducts his business is utilized by multiple businesses including the actual property owner, what options do I we have for an address that Google will recognize as valid and won't cause ranking issues? If there is nothing we can do in the current situation, what are steps we can take to address this issue for his business? Thanks a lot!
Local Listings | | Tony_GP0 -
NAP Consistency Address Line Variations
Can Google see that the following are in fact the same business at the same address? Address Site Footer:
Local Listings | | GrouchyKids
Blue Widgets Ltd
Hope Springs, Another Street, Stow on the Wold, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire POSTCODE Address Google Maps:
Blue Widgets Ltd
Hope Springs, Stow on the Wold POSTCODE I know that some directories work by you selecting a postcode/zip and selecting your address line. So no way to add (or remove) any extra address lines that you may want to. So am guessing it cannot always matter but some portions of the address must be of real importance (Business Name / First Line Address / ZIP or POSTCODE)?0 -
Is Local Search Data Included in Google Search Console?
Is local search data Included in Google Search Console? Or is it only in Google My Business? I'm having a hard time distinguishing what exactly is included in Google Search Console's reporting.
Local Listings | | DigitalMarketingSEO1 -
Multiple Google Business Pages/ Backlinks for Google Maps
Hello, I represent several attorneys in the metro Atlanta area. In doing my research with open site explorer and other tools I am finding that many of the competitors have more that one, if not several personal and branded Google business pages.
Local Listings | | underdogmike
So this raises several questions while I go through my Local SEO strategy. How Many Google+/My Business Pages Can A Business Owner Have? Should I be creating backlinks for the Google Business Pages as I do for my clients website? I noticed that some of the competitors are creating backlinks with their Google Map Location URL, is this a best practice? In addition to those questions, I am curious about the various different Google+ pages that are available to business owners.
As of now, I create and cultivate the following Google Pages for my clients: Claim a GMB Page and optimize it with photos and accurate information Attached to the GMB Page there is a Google + Page(this is where I share blogs and updates for the business). Upon further review I feel like there are a few steps that I am missing in regards to the Google + pages. Listed below are the links to Local Market leader for Criminal Defense in Woodstock GA. From what I can tell he has 4 separately branded Google+ pages that are all verified. https://plus.google.com/104434819427186216811/about https://plus.google.com/113476381600385352368/about https://plus.google.com/104300020905072698361/about https://plus.google.com/103523192982501886740/about Should I be taking the same approach?0 -
UK aggregators of local business data
Hi Guys, I have signed up for Moz Local and I am looking for UK aggregators of local business data to help build my search. Can anyone recommend a source?
Local Listings | | SEM_at_Lees0 -
Citation building for multiple locations
Hey everyone, I think i've got a good handle on citations, but had a question regarding multiple locations. I'm going to be doing citation building for a local lawyer, and he's got 4 locations. I'd like to build citations for each of his locations, but I was wondering if the business name needs to change? Ie. If I am building citations for Town 2 and Town 3, should the business name be listed as "Company Name Town 1" for the first location, and "Company Name Town 2" for the second? Or is it fine to use the company name throughout all citations, and just change the location/phone number to the location based info? I'm just worried about Google seeing differing info, but the same company name, and possibly penalizing me for it. Thanks in advance!
Local Listings | | RCDesign740 -
Merging Google Place Accounts to Merge Reviews for same Company
Hi Everybody If you have 2 Google Place Listings (Local Listings) 1 with 1 Location and 1 with another Location, is there anyway to merge the 2 Accounts. 1 of them has lots of Reviews and the other contains some Reviews so Ideally there would be 1 Account which merges all Reviews into 1 Account Multiple Locations can then be added into the 1 Account. Any Ideas Thanks Adam
Local Listings | | AMG1000 -
Will changing my business location affect my ranking for localised searches in my original area?
I run a mobile outdoor personal training service in London, UK (i.e. no bricks and mortar gym). Or, rather, my business is in London (all my clients and the freelance trainers that work for me) but I'm personally due to move out to the county of Suffolk. As I work from a home office and my company's registered address is my home, that means I have to inform Companies House and various government agencies that the company has moved. Does this mean: a) I also must tell Google the company has moved, and; b) if I do will Google start to see my website as being for a Suffolk-based company? I really don't want this to happen: my clientele are mostly in London., I still want to market to Londoners. And if I want to expand the areas covered by my company, Suffolk is not high on my list. You'll excuse me if this is a simple question! Thanks for any help you could give
Local Listings | | fionadoggett0