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Hey There!

Like others on this thread, I'm not seeing the same results you are for those search terms. Yelp is one of the top ranking directories for many brand and service searches, so having it rank highly is not unusual. It's possible for a Yelp result to outrank a website if the website isn't very strong. As for how to build up your own rankings, please check out our Local SEO checklist. Everything on that list will help you compete and, hopefully, begin to surpass weaker competitors. You'll want to audit both your own business and that of any competitors for a complete picture. Hope this helps!

Hi Danny!

If you're are saying you are listing this in Moz Local as 2 distinct listings, then they can each have their own hours of operation, but if you are saying there is only 1 Moz Local listing representing both the lobby and the drive-thru, Moz Local can only accept and push out one set of hours per listing. How are you handing this on your Google My Business listing?

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for those details. I agree, there's a bit of grey area here. What your scenario actually is most reminiscent to me of is a car dealership with a department for print and and department for signs (like a department for parts and another for sales). However, what is making this a bit unusual is that the second business is actually in a completely unique building with its own walk-in front entrance. I see 3 options here:

1. You determine that your second business is actually just a set of products your company offers and that a second Google My Business listing is not warranted, because you aren't supposed to create separate listings for your menu of products/services. You work harder on your organic SEO to get ranking organically for your signs products. PPC could help here, too. Risk level: none.

2. You treat the signs element of your business as a department of your company. You keep everything under the same business name, with the same website, but with a unique, non-redirecting phone number in the second building that is answered by someone who says "Heritage Printing & Graphics, Signs Department." You do create a separate Google My Business listing. Your website contains a landing page for the signs department that the Google My Business listing for it links to. Risk level: moderate. There is a chance here that Google could determine that the business should have marketed it itself as laid out in option 1 and is trying to spam Google. I know that's not what you're trying to do, but Google will have their own interpretation. They are used to seeing hospitals, schools and car dealerships have separate departments. They may not view a print shop the same way.

3. You do operate the second business as completely separate, with a unique address, unique non-redirecting phone number and unique website that does not interlink with or duplicate the content of the original business in any way. You might even consider branding that second business totally differently as 'Zippy Signs' or something like that instead of associating it with the Heritage brand in any way. If you keep this 100% separate from the first business, I'd rate the **Risk level: mild. **It's odd ... if this business were in a totally different part of town, the risk would be none, but it's the fact that it's next door to the the first company that is giving me a little bit of concern.

My advice: weigh each of these 3 options carefully and then phone Google directly to discuss with them. You are not a spammer who has something to hide. You are a legitimate business owner who is trying to understand his marketing options, and should have no fear of discussing this directly with Google.

Good morning!

Please reach out directly to our Moz Local support staff at help@moz.com

They'll be able to look at your account and offer you customized assistance

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!

Hey To All My Favorite Local Folks Here!

Have clients in the hospitality industry? You might be interested in this Mike Blumenthal post in which he does a good job of voicing the frustration business owners may feel when their preferred Google profile photo is overridden with Google's preferred pic. The post does more than just vent, though ... it actually hints at something quite fascinating that Google may have just offered up to the hospitality industry by switching from hotel-preferred exterior shots to Google-preferred interior shots of rooms.

Mike's contention (and it's one shared by many in the industry) is that Google makes moves like this because they are maximizing profit. From the image switching that just happened, I think it makes sense to theorize that Google has gathered enough internal data to convince them that room shots lead to more bookings than do exterior views of lodgings. This wouldn't surprise me at all. When you're looking for a place to stay, it's the room you're going to stay in that matters most ... not really whether the exterior building is made of brick, wood or stucco, right? Certainly, a beautiful, fancy building could sway you, but if the rooms look awful inside, that's probably a deal breaker.

If Mike is right, then I think Google's image switcharoo offers an extremely compelling reason to follow Google's lead and shine a major spotlight - on your website which you CAN control - on your interior photography. This suggestion could apply at all levels of the industry, from major hotel corporations that might want to rethink homepage contents and interior page layouts, to country B&Bs that have never made the investment in getting a pro photo shoot done that will truly showcase their rooms. I know, as a traveler, I've seen everything from stunning to downright dark, distorted and scary when it comes to hotel room photography.

If Google knows it gets more bookings when good clear room shots are given pride of place, your hotel clients might want to be taking notes on that.

Do you agree? As a hospitality industry Local SEO (or even as a traveler) what do you think is the most influential booking factor? Do you have any tips to share with others in the industry or an opinion on Google's switcharoo? Please, share with our community!

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 for taking the time to reply! I wondered exactly that same thing about restaurants. I wonder if interiors or food shots are more influential. I'd love to see a study on that, if someone does one.

Hi Patrick,

Very important questions!

Adding to Laura's caution on this ... if ABC Home Services is actually just a single company, then Google does not want multiple Google My Business listings created for each service it offers. Obviously, the business is offering quite a variety of things, but if it's really all just one company, then it's only eligible for a single Google My Business listing, regardless of the approach that is taken with the number of websites built. And, if it's just one company, building multiple websites with shared NAP on them would not be a safe approach. If this were my client, this is the rough strategy I would recommend:

1. Build a single website with awesome content on it for each of the services offered (roofing, carpet cleaning, etc.).

2. Build a single set of citations for the company

The only safe alternative to this would be to legally register the companies as completely separate with totally distinct names, do not have an umbrella website, have a unique website for each with no shared content, have a different physical location and different phone number for each business, and do not interlink the businesses in any way.

Any variation on this (such as a shared address) could bring Google scrutiny to the situation and carries a measure of risk as Google might determine that it's just one business attempting to appear like multiple companies. Google can usually handle multiple businesses at the same address, but if they are in some way related to one another, this can raise red flags.

Laura has also made mention of departments within businesses. This commonly applies to auto dealerships, hospitals, school campuses, etc. Google suggests that these business models should each have a unique front entrance to qualify for multiple GMB listings. I've not seen this model applied to a home improvement business, but it's something you could ask Google about.

Hope this helps. Very smart of you to fully research this before creating a marketing plan!

Hi Neil,

Did you see the answers from the community on your other similar thread:

https://moz.com/community/q/4-shared-locations-1-phone-number-legacy-gmb-help

Want to be sure you saw that!

Hey David!

That is confusing! Likely, you will have to go to Google on this one, but first:

1. Is your client the only lawyer at his new practice or are there multiple lawyers?

2. Can you gain access to the listing you are calling 'the old listing' to edit it?

Hi Gal,

Can you answer a few of questions here, please?

1. Does your new business have its own phone number, not share by any other business?

2. Does your new business share Google categories with the existing business at the location you've moved into?

3. Is there a relationship of any kind between your business and the existing business at the location you've moved into?

4. Does your new business have its own front entrance, or do customers of both businesses enter by the same door?

5. Is your business staffed during stated business hours?

Please, be as detailed as you can to receive best feedback from the community. Thanks!

Hey Travis!

Thanks for mentioning Wyndham's photo push - sounds like they are going with the tide on this. Interesting! Makes good sense - I've stayed at some of their properties and they are pretty solidly nice (and have kitchens! *see my earlier comment). And good for you, Travis, for challenging yourself to be more out and about in the world at wide. Life on the computer can be a bit isolating at times ... I'd say a busy hotel would be the perfect antidote!

Appreciate you sharing some thoughts on this thread.

Happy to have you be part of this community, Travis!

Hey There!

So sorry, but I don't have experience with bulk upload on WebMD, though I have seen references to it. Here's a page that might help you get in touch with the company: http://www.wbmd.com/contactus.shtml

You might also try tweeting them at @WebMD

Hope it helps!

Hi Neil,

There is no known issue with using a mobile number, but do make the investment in getting a dedicated one for your business, one that you answer with the business name at all times. Don't mix business with personal. That would be the only proviso on this. Otherwise, you'll be fine with a mobile number.

Got it! There are 2 options I can see here, and like I said, I'd be very inclined to do some consulting with Linda Buquet in your shoes, if she were available, and show her the complete details of the scenario.

From the limited details I have on this, I see 2 options for you:

1. Do a total citation audit first to make a record of all listings located at suite B and formerly occupied by the retiree. Then, if one of your 3 dentists will be occupying suite B, you would be editing the name (and I'm assuming phone) of these to reflect the new dentist. The main problem with this would be reviews ... it's likely that they would reference the retiree and that could be problematic.

2. Read this thread and the links it contains regarding Dr/Dentist duplicates: https://moz.com/community/q/dental-practice-google-and-dentist-personal-google You may need to minimize the old listings and create new ones.

I have to confess, the situation with the firm occupying two suites is throwing me a bit. I've never personally dealt with a business that was organized that way, and it's unusual enough for me that I'd be inclined to seek professional consulting, particular given Google's very irregular handling of listings for doctors and dentists.

At the very least, I hope my reply points you in a good direction for further research into how your practice should handle this.

Hi Cole,

I'm not sure that adding schema to businesses that are not yours would directly benefit you, though it might benefit the stores in question. Can you explain what your goal is with this?

Hi Tony,

What you are asking about is a 'Place Label'. Here's Google's official page on those: https://support.google.com/business/answer/6056435 Hope this helps!

Hi Tony,

This is a Google+ page:  https://plus.google.com/b/101693763581475613867/+QlddronesAu/posts?gmbpt=true&hl=en-GB

It is not a Google My Business listing.

I am not able to turn up a GMB listing for your business searching for its name + Bellbowrie Australia.

To get a Google My Business listing, you'd be starting here: https://www.google.com/business/

I confess, I'm a bit confused about your mention of postal validation, though. That sounds like you DO have a GMB listing. Here's an example of one in the USA:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Whole+Foods+Market/@34.4392639,-119.7453563,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x66264a82c405f0ea!8m2!3d34.4392639!4d-119.7453563

Do you have a maps-based link like this for your business?