Old location in Google Places/Google Local
-
So I started at my company around six months ago. I claimed the company's Google+ page, and have been actively updating it. I also took the step of claiming the company's location in Google Places as well (yes, I know Google is shutting down Google Places in favor of Google+, but I figured it was a logical step to take anyway).
Here's my dilemma: the company moved locations 2-3 years ago. That old location is still appearing in Google Places, and it also has its own Google+ page. Is there a recommended way to redirect that old location to our new office in Google Places and Google+?
-
Hi Masterworksintl,
Bede is offering you good advice. You need to report the closed business as closed, and also engage in work to remove/edit any references across web that feature the old address. This can be a big job, so be prepared to spend some time on in, or hire a professional citation editor to do the work for you. It's amazing how many citations of a business can appear around the web in even 6 months' time.
-
This is a bit of a grey area for Google right now.
First of all, I would clean up your upstream data to reflect the new location. If you don't do this, you risk the listing coming back. Let me know if you want more specifics on that.
Current best practice with Google when moving locations (I know you're not moving, but you're essentially dealing with the same issue) is to mark the old location closed and open a new one. At this point, you've already "opened a new one" so my opinion is that you should be marking the old listing closed and waiting for it to go away.
-
You need to claim the old page and either remove/edit it with the new address.
There is a feature on each page to "edit this business" which has the option to let G know that the address has been moved. You should definitely do that foremost.
Personally, I find G places/+ very quirky and erratic - showing random business titles, different address formats, etc. even after I correct everything. You can also post in the G local forums with your issue.
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
-
On-page Local SEO
I'm wondering how to pull it off on-page local SEO for a financial institution website with 70 locations. However, they are broken in down in regions, which would make it easier to get our hands around. Would a viable solution be setting up regional pages? I don't know about our CMS capability, but it seems like it would be beneficial to have on each regional page aggregate local-centric press releases (example: a volunteer event or recognition) and local announcements such as paper shred days. Thoughts? Anyone else posed with a similar challenge?
Image & Video Optimization | | SSFCU0 -
Is it Possible to submit multiple sites on google places with single phone number? If you then please tell me how?
Is it Possible to submit multiple sites on Google places with single phone number? If you then please tell me how? Because i have multiple site but i have one phone number and i want to add all of my sites in google places. But i don't know how it is possible. Please help me to sort it out this problem. Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | KLLC0 -
Google Knowledge Graph - change bio image
I have a client who is a well known personality in a particular niche that I've done some general event and design work for, but he hasn't had interest in SEO or social help until this point. He is very displeased by the image that was chosen for his Google Knowledge Graph result when you search his name. The issue isn't due to a poor photo, but rather due to the site it links through to. Google has chosen to use a bio image for his Knowledge Graph result which links to an "anti-" site. This site is opposed to the organization he leads. If you click on the image, it sends you to an image result page backed by an article which is full of misinformation and overall negativity about this individual. The source is also listed under the image on the Knowledge Graph result, a source he doesn't believe deserves any publicity, especially in conjunction with his name. So, what best practices might you suggest should be employed to go about getting Google to choose a replacement image for his Knowledge Base bio? Optimize his own bio page and bio image on his website? Get an image on his Wikipedia page? Create a G+ page with the bio image? Integrate the rel author syntax into his articles pointing back to his bio page? He doesn't want this to become a public matter, so he's against posting the issue to Google's Help Boards or reporting it in a public fashion. I'm not sure what should be the best first steps and top priorities for him and am hoping the SEOmoz team is starting to see some trends with Knowledge Graph. Let me know your thoughts when you can. Thanks so much! iLqNW iLqNW.png
Image & Video Optimization | | windturbines2 -
How to Fix Duplicate Item Error in Google Merchant Center?
I have set schedules upload of Test Data Feed in Google Merchant Center. Today, I have found duplicate item error in test feed status summary! There are 2697 error for duplicate item. But, my http://www.vistastores.com/feed/test_data_feed.txt does not contain any duplicate item. I have checked test feed twice before raise this question. How can I fix this issue?
Image & Video Optimization | | CommercePundit0 -
Tips for local link building?
Hello Mozzers, Working on a site that has locations around the country and is targeting words like "city name+long tail keyword". They're fairly well optimized on-site, so we're working on recommending localized content but could use some advice for link building. Beyond Google places, what have you guys seen that works?
Image & Video Optimization | | RiseSEO0 -
Google Places email question
Hi Mozzers- I just watched the recent Webinar on Google Places optimization. Unfortunately I missed the live broadcast. I have a couple of questions: It was advised to use an email at the domain for claiming the listing. What about a Gmail address with the company's name in the address? I try to use an email at the domain, but sometimes I'm not able to get one setup. One of my clients provides a service where clients don't necessarily have to come to their location. I used the radius option within maps but they are still not coming up in other locations. I should note that they have very good visibility in the metro area where there is more competition. Some of their competition is showing up for lots of locations and they have offices in one location. Tips? Thanks in advance! LHC
Image & Video Optimization | | lhc670 -
Google Local Result - wrong decription
A client's description in their Google Places result is incorrect. It looks as though it may have been cached several months ago with incorrect data. Note: By description I am referring to the text that appears directly under the URL and directly above the "places page" link on a results page, not the local listing "description". Any suggestions as to how this can be fixed? All the information on their local page is correct. The website's meta-description is correct. The organic results listing has the correct description. Any tips would be awesome. Thanks,
Image & Video Optimization | | OptioPublishing
Jason0 -
301 Redirect affects Google Places Listing?
Hi, A client of ours has a Google Places Listing but over the last few days we noticed that two duplicate listings have appeared with exactly the same information as the original listing. Only difference is the domain names. I did some investigation and my client says that a company cold called them recently and sold them two domain names www.bandbinbanbury.co.uk andwww.accommodationinbanbury.co.uk and it seems these two are redirecting to the main site which sits on www.hanwellhouse.com My question is can this cause that the redirected listing now appear instead of the original google places listing? Any help will be appreciated
Image & Video Optimization | | InTouchMarketing560