Phone in Google results won't update despite website updates

[websage]

This post is deleted!

[FedeEinhorn]

Have you tried Schema.org markup?

[websage]

Can you elaborate?

[FedeEinhorn]

Schema.org is a way to markup your content so Google and other engines can better recognize the info you show on a page.

If you are a local business, you can use the LocalBusiness markup, or as an organization you could use the Organization markup (both include phone number and addresses). That should help get the content recognized of what it is (a phone number in your case) and present the details accordingly in search results.

You can read more about the way Google and others treat Schema.org markup here: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1211158?hl=en

Hope that helps!

[MiriamEllis]

Hello Mitko,

My understanding of your question is that the dental practice's current phone number is:

(703) 636-2442

Their old phone number was:

(703) 625-6229

(If I'm wrong about this, please clarify)

While Schema markup can help clarify your data, as others are suggesting, you have a larger issue going on - an issue of citation consistency. A citation is a web-based reference to any part of a business' NAP (name, address, phone). Consistency of NAP across the web is a critical ranking factor. Right now, there are many citations that reference your client's complete or partial business name with the OLD phone number. See:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Farhoumand&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=(703)+625-6229&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

For example:

Farshad Farhoumand DDS - Vienna, VA (Virginia) | (703) 625-6229

<cite class="vurls">www.manta.com/c/mm3bmjy/farshad-farhoumand-dds</cite>‎Address: 8150 Leesburg Pike # 920,Vienna, VA, 22182. Phone: (703) 625-6229. Category: Offices and Clinics of Dentists, Dentists in Vienna, VA. Offers: .

Farshad Farhoumand Dds/ Avanti Dentistry in Vienna, VA 22182 ...

<cite class="vurls">www.magicyellow.com/profile/.../farshad-farhoumand-dds-avanti-dentist...</cite>‎Fax: (703) 625-6229. 8150 Leesburg Pike #920. Vienna, VA 22182. Email this Business Send an email to Farshad Farhoumand Dds/ Avanti Dentistry.    If there is even one wrong reference to your client's current NAP, it can be replicated across the local search ecosystem and will almost assuredly lead to confusion on Google's part.   So, the first task for you, as the Local SEO, is going to be to launch a citation cleanup campaign so that you can identify all existent citations for the business and edit them so that they reflect the current business name, address and phone number. A good way to start (and the way I got the above results) is to look up the old phone number in Google's main search engine. I would also look up the business name, and the address. Make a spreadsheet of all of the citations you find and begin your editing efforts.    If you do not have experience doing citation cleanup, I would recommend that you tell the dental practice to hire an expert - someone like Nyagoslav Zhekov of NGSMarketing.com. It is totally worth the money to get this done right, because citation inconsistencies can totally blow your ability to rank well locally.   Your client's situation may be especially complicated due to the fact that there appear to be mixed references out there on the web to his name + Avanti, and also because he is using his name as part of the name for his new business, as well. This adds layers of complexity.   There may be other steps you need to take after this to continue in your efforts to help Google understand that this business goes with this specific address and this specific phone number, but citation cleanup should be your first effort.Hope this helps!P.S. Seems we are having a little formatting problem today. Sorry most of my response has been smushed into a big block. Hope it is legible.

[websage]

Thank you so much! This has been very helpful!

[MiriamEllis]

So glad to hear it, Mitko.