Can you have the same brand name for two distinct Google Places Pages

[catherine-279388]

Hello Mozers

I'd like to know if two existing GPP can have the same name 'spabycar'.  At present 'mobile nail technician' based in W1 and 'spabycar 'WD' are ranking (ironically the one that has the old brand name is very high!).

Both need to be 'spabycar'

If this is feasible, is there a down side, and is there a good tutorial source for an aspirant to follow?

Thanks

Catherine

[irvingw]

I believe they both need a slightly different name and definitely a different address (try adding a suite number) or they will get merged into one by Google. I've seen that happen to my pages and my guess is that verifying both under the same places account might have also been a signal to Google that it's the same company too so I would create different places accounts and verify separately as well.

Are they both bringing good traffic and do they both have the proper contact info and website info? If yes then I would probably be hesitant to change them you might lose the one that brings the most traffic!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Catherine,

Thanks for coming to Q&A with your good question. Would you please explain to me what you mean by 'W1' and 'WD'? I am not familiar with these abbreviations. I'll check back for more information from you.

[catherine-279388]

Hello Miriam

I've reread my query, and you are right, it doesn't make sense to me either!

The W1 and WD are just the start of the different Google Places Pages Postcodes.  One page, the W1 Postcode, is called 'Mobile Nail Technician' and one, with the WD Post Code, is called 'Spabycar'.  They are both representing the same company.

I'd like if possible to keep the two addresses, particularly the 'W1' - 'Mobile Nail Technician' is top of Google Places for Westminster for 'Mobile beauty salon'.  However the 'Mobile Nail Technician' name is historical and the company is now branding itself as 'Spabycar'.

Does that make sense?

[catherine-279388]

Thank you Irving for your kind support.  I've come back from a rather traumatic holiday and am not quite in the swing of SEO.   I've read your answer and then read my question and realized that what I wrote and what I was puzzling over were not the same thing at all.

Sorry to use up your time by being completely misleading!

What I intended to ask was -

The W1 and WD are just the start of the different Google Places Pages Postcodes.  One page, the W1 Postcode, is called 'Mobile Nail Technician' and one, with the WD Post Code, is called 'Spabycar'.  They are both representing the same company.

I'd like if possible to keep the two addresses, particularly the 'W1' - 'Mobile Nail Technician' is top of Google Places for Westminster for 'Mobile beauty salon'.  However the 'Mobile Nail Technician' name is historical and the company is now branding itself as 'Spabycar'.

I'd quite understand if you don't answer my question twice, and I'll just tick good answer in a day or two, but if your feeling generous would you answer the question I intended to ask?

Thanks

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Catherine,

Thank you so much for clarifying that. I was totally in the dark! Postal codes in the US are really different

Okay, so here are the rules. You are allowed to have 1 place page per business location. Each location must have a:

1. Unique, physical street address

2. Unique local area code phone number

So, for example, if a company had 2 offices but they shared the same phone number, they'd have to get a new number for the second business in order to qualify for a second listing.

Does your scenario meet this? Do you have 2 active physical addresses and phone numbers for the 2 businesses? Or is there actually only 1? If you have 2 address and phone numbers, you can have the 2 listings, but are they pointing to the same website with 2 different names? If so, that could cause confusion on Google's end and eventual loss of rankings.

If you don't have 2 distinct addresses, phone number and website for the 2 listings, what will happen if you allow the 2 listings to remain is that Google will likely merge the details of them, splitting the 'power' of both in half and potentially causing both listings to drop or even vanish. So, this is not something you should let slide.

Is this becoming clearer from my explanation? If not, please feel free to ask further question.

[catherine-279388]

Hello Miriam

They have 2 distinct addresses and phone numbers.  2 pages in GPP 'spabycar' and 'mobile nail technician', both pointing to the same website 'spabycar.com'.  I'd like to have two pages with spabycar as the business name instead of 2 pages with 2 different business names  'mobile nail technician' and 'spabycar'.  She is now no longer using the 'mobile nail technician' name, but the page ranks no 1 for the keywords shes chasing in Westminster.  I'm nervous of touching it until I'm confident I know fully what is best practise!

Thanks again Miriam

Regards

Catherine

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Catherine,

I understand. Unfortunately, by having the 2 pages with different business names pointing to the same website, you are pretty much guaranteed to run into problems. Your client is ranking well right now, but with that situation going on, this could change at any time.

When a business decides to change its name, consequences are very real on the Internet, in ways that they would never be in the offline world. I have a really good resource for you to read.

Andrew Shotland wrote a guide for this situation about a month ago: http://searchengineland.com/the-smb-guide-to-changing-business-names-seo-128939

This article does a good job of outlining the steps that must follow a business name change, but as you will see, every Local SEO kind of cringes in this scenario, because loss of rankings can definitely happen, even if you do take all the right steps.

So essentially, you are faced with a double dilemma with your client. If you leave things as they are right now, trying to maintain the current high rankings, you can almost bet that there will eventually be a day when the rankings will end because you are sending mixed signals to Google about the client's core NAP (name, address, phone). And, if you make the suggested changes now (as the article explains), you may experience some loss of rankings anyway.

The upshot, unfortunately, is that name changes in the Local SEO world are a big pain in the neck. Give the client all the information you can about this so that he/she can make an informed choice about what steps to take, and make sure your contract states clearly that you cannot be held responsible for ranking changes or penalties.

Hope this helps!

[catherine-279388]

Hello Miriam

You are being very kind!  I'm off to look at the link you have given me now.  One more question to you though - the second page for (spabycar) which is now called 'mobile nail technician' has a distinctly different address!  I want it to have the updated name spabycar, but be a separate page with it's own geolocation, i.e. W1 as apposed the other GPP with the WD location.  Will Google allow me to do this?  Because I've not created or maintained multiple GPP pages for the same brand and am trying to come into a ready  made mess I could probably do with some remedial help on the whole concept of GPP and multiple locations.  I'm assuming, although they represent the same brand they are also independent of one another both in having an individual page indexed in GP and as a result their own ranking?

Sorry I'm going on, I'm just rather trashing about in my own ignorance at the moment.  I know it will all come clear eventually, and really thank you for your patience and time:)

with thanks

Catherine

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Catherine,

Yes, so long as you've got a unique address and phone number for the 2 distinct locations, you are definitely allowed to create/maintain 2 listings. That's perfectly legitimate. Hope Andrew Shotland's article was helpful.

Miriam

[catherine-279388]

Hi sorry, I'm like a dog with a bone!

Will editing the 'Mobile Nail Technician' pages title -mean the rankings drop out of Places?  I did read Andrew's post and it was very informative (now I'm following him as well!), but, he was very much concentrating on rebranding, which this probably isn't, just GPP (multiple) tidying.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Catherine,

No worries at all. I'm here to help you. When the business changed its name to SpaByCar, then that was when the re-branding happened, so, I would consider Andrew's post applicable.

Once you change the the title of a Place Page, yes, it is typical to expect both re-verification of the listing and possible loss of rankings. Remember, all citations, reviews and other references to the old business name 'Mobile Nail Technician' will now be lost. Google will not associate this data with a brand new business name, so, yes, ranking loss is very probable.

Yet more reasons why a name change is shied away from by so many Local SEOs. Too bad the client couldn't just keep her name and offer a new service called SpaByCar...rather than changing her brand, but re-branding does happen in the real business world every day. It's just on the web where it is so problematic because of the way the Internet works.

[catherine-279388]

Thank you