Business listing verification for multiple locations
-
Hi there
I have been asked to help with a business which has multiple locations (5 to be precise). I haven't really worked with a business on that scale before so I am a little bit out of my depth.
I had a look at their business listing in the moz local business listing checker and their profile seems very messy. I can see several of their branches listed, some verified, some not verified. When I look at the listing for each branch in detail they are all incomplete but at different levels (ranges from 17% to 46%). Some have a Facebook page and some haven't, same for google my business etc...
My understanding when it comes to multiple locations is that, in an ideal world, each branch should have its own google my business page, Facebook page, a Bing places for business page etc...
Can anyone confirm what the best approach is to deal with multilocations businesses and their business listing and/or point me to some online resource that could help me.
Would I also need to create multiple accounts for listing their business in directories such as Yelp, Yell etc...Thanks so much for all the help I can receive
-
Awesome
Thanks so much for your input miriam. Very useful
-
Hi Neil,
My pleasure! If you're a multi-location business, one solution to scaling would be to assign a social marketer at each location and give them access to that Facebook Place with a schedule you'd like them to follow for social sharing. How much time will need to be invested into this will be dictated by the competitiveness of your geo-industry.
If staff size limits this, I would suggest just getting basic details onto the Facebook Place listings, and then further researching Facebook's other types of pages (see:https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/) to determine whether you'd be able to also run a single company page for the whole business which you could focus your social efforts on. This, however, is outside of my area of knowledge, so it's something you'd want to research well.
-
Thanks Miriam, very useful as always. I thought multiple locations needed their own set of NAP but I wanted to know if there was a more efficient way of doing it. This triggers a new question around maintaining all the listings and the socializing for each account. How does a company manage this for each location unless they have an army of people?
-
Hi Jordan,
I totally get how confusing Facebook can be! So, Facebook has a product that is officially called a Facebook Place, and it is their version of a local business listing. This is different than their purely social options. A Facebook Place is Facebook's equivalent of a Google My Business listing, Bing Places listing or what have you. For each physical location a business operates, they should have a unique Facebook Place with complete NAP on it. They should categorize the FB Place as a Local Business and earn visits/checkins to it. They can/should socialize on these pages as well. As to whether the brand wants to have a purely social brand page as well, that would be a social decision rather than a local one.I have found Facebook's education and outreach about their product to be somewhat lacking, personally, but you can search for more info about this here: https://www.facebook.com/help
-
Miriam,
So ideally each location should have a unique Facebook account? Out of curiosity should each location have other separate social accounts or would that just pertain to Facebook?
-
Hi Neil!
Good questions! As Jordan has stated, yes, each physical location should have a unique citation set. So, that means a unique Google My Business Listing, Bing Listing, Yelp Listing, etc. *I respectfully disagree with Jordan's suggestion about Facebook. You should be creating a unique Facebook Place for each location.
Important: Be sure that none of the locations shares a phone number with any of the others, and that all are physical locations (not virtual offices) that are staffed during stated business hours.
Hope this helps!
-
Yes each location should have its on Google my business page, bing places for business etc. However I would probably just keep one Facebook page unless you have the time to manage multiple social media pages for each location. The addresses need to match up for each location as well. Moz's local search center has some good resources to help get you started.
Hope that helps some.
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
-
Google Business Listing Verification for Unmarked Facilities
We have been trying for over a year to get Google My Business listing verification on our facilities, which are separate from our company HQ. We have 31 facilities around the world that do not have business signs on them. We have tried sending postcards and are told that no one is receiving them. The folks who receive the mail are guards and it's tricky to ensure they field them. This has been an ongoing challenge as Google says that the alternate method requires a business sign located next to the building number, which we don't have. What do you recommend we do to get listed in GMB?
Local Listings | | EvoqueDCS0 -
What's the best way to identify duplicate listings?
I'm doing manual duplicate research for an account and wanted to know if anyone had a resource to share on how to find duplicate listings for GMB and other citations. https://searchengineland.com/definitive-guide-duplicate-research-local-seo-238719 Ive been working off of this article from Joy Hawkins, but she mentions using Map Maker to search a phone number, but Google has since shut Map Maker down. Maps doesn't seem to work the same way, as I've searched a phone number which I know has duplicate listings and they don't come up. Any tips on a better tool or process?
Local Listings | | formandfunctionagency0 -
Local Listing Conundrum
Hello Mozzers, I have a client with a unique situation that I am hoping I can get some feedback on. One of our service industry clients has a location that is claimed on all major sites (Google, Bing, etc., etc.) - so all is good there. They are experiencing an issue, however, because their check-in building is actually located at their conference center across the street, which has a different address. The issue is mainly that it is confusing and a pain point for customers as they get to the destination without realizing they need to actually be at the building across the street first for check-in. The client is considering changing their primary address to the conference center address across the street, which was previously not a separate / claimed entity. They would still maintain the main business listing and just adjust the name. Their thought process is that Google would bring people to the conference center / check-in building first rather than to the main business building. I personally have major concerns about making the switch. I feel like this would be potentially confusing to both users and search engines. And, the main business listing has already acquired a ton of reviews that we would be starting from scratch with. My immediate recommendation would be to better communicate the check-in process to guests and not go through the change of address process, but I figured I would throw it out to the community for feedback. Thoughts?
Local Listings | | mbochic0 -
Promoting three businesses at the same locaiton
Hi,
Local Listings | | corn2015
A potential client has three busiensses at the same location. Does google allow for three business listings at the same location?promoting three businessess0 -
Is it ok to use a mobile phone number for business listings?
Hi all
Local Listings | | coolhandluc
I know the use of 0800 numbers and toll-free numbers are a big No when it comes to NAP but what about mobile phone numbers?
Will google penalise the use of a mobile over the use of a land line? Thanks0 -
Google My Business - bulk location upload vs. single upload
Hi there, I have a question regarding Google My Business listings: We currently have a business with few offices (less than 10). Each office has it's Google listing under the same Google account.
Local Listings | | OrendaLtd
We plan on opening new offices at a certain pace, let's say two a month, which means we'll have more than 10 listings in the near future.
As far as I recall, Google allows up to 10 listings per account, which means it won't suffice. On the other hand, We do not have 10 offices at the time being, which means we're not eligible for a bulk upload. Any ideas how to handle this situation?0 -
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 -
Adding multiple locations business to directories
We have multiple locations business.
Local Listings | | VicMark
Adding each location business info to directories. There are same services and everything for each location. Should we keep the same description for all listings or different for each location?
Should we indicate Home Page URL (with 800 number, no address in footer) or location URL?0