Citation building for multiple locations

[RCDesign74]

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!

[DonnaDuncan]

Hi RC,

No. The business / company does not need to and should not change. The business name should be listed as "Company Name" only. No location.

What you need to do to differentiate your different business locations is to ensure they each have a unique local number and dedicated page on your website.

Here are Google guidelines if you have not seen them already - https://support.google.com/places/answer/107528?hl=en.

[RCDesign74]

Great, thanks for the clarification Donna!

i'll definitely go through the guidelines as well.

Thanks again

[RyanPurkey]

Google's guideline is here: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177 with the most applicable portion  being in the address section:

• Make sure that your page is created at your actual, real-world location.

• Use the precise address for the business rather than broad city names or cross-streets. P.O. Boxes are not considered accurate physical locations.

• If you need to specify a mailbox or suite number within your physical location, please list your physical address in Address Line 1, and put your mailbox or suite number in Address Line 2.

• If your business rents a temporary, "virtual" office at a different address from your primary business, do not create a page for that location unless it is staffed during your normal business hours.

So his locations need to be staffed, open to the public, office based locations. If he's serving clients in 4 different cities, but only has one office in one city it's not the same thing as the requirements above. That would be, "Service-area businesses--business that serve customers at their locations--should have one page for the central office or location and designate a service area from that point. If you wish to display your complete business address while setting your service area(s), your business location should be staffed and able to receive customers during its stated hours. Google will determine how best to display your business address based on your business information as well as information from other sources. Learn more about service-area businesses."

The document as a whole is worth the read. Cheers!

[RCDesign74]

Thanks for the response Ryan!

This client in particular has physical offices in each location, I should have specified that in the original question.

I'll definitely be taking some time to go through the guideline though.

Thanks!

[RyanPurkey]

Ah, great! The multiple physical locations part is key for the multiple listings. You should be good to go in listing each.  Cheers!