Changing phone number on GMB hurts ranking?

[Elliot]

I have a client with a ranking property (1-3, depending on the query for the service) who has their cell phone as their listed contact number for their listing. Their entire web presence (hosting, website, and Google account) is currently managed by a 3rd party company who I believe also owns their domain unfortunately.

I want to change the phone number, but the company who currently manages the site suggested against this since it would damage the ranking because of all the citations they've already built for that phone number.

Is there any truth to this? I want to use a call tracking number for both the GMB listing and on their website.

Another quick question, if this company refuses or tries to sidestep giving the client access to managing their Google listing, what's the best course of action to take?

Thank you!

 

[MarketingGiant]

I don't think changing your Number on you GMB will automatically hurt your local rankings. Just make sure you have your business phone consistent across all accounts.

GMB Question: Contact their support and tell them your issue. Once you do I'm sure they help you get access to your account.

 

[JustinB]

I have a client with a ranking property (1-3, depending on the query for the service) who has their cell phone as their listed contact number for their listing. Their entire web presence (hosting, website, and Google account) is currently managed by a 3rd party company who I believe also owns their domain unfortunately.

I want to change the phone number, but the company who currently manages the site suggested against this since it would damage the ranking because of all the citations they've already built for that phone number.

Is there any truth to this? I want to use a call tracking number for both the GMB listing and on their website.

Another quick question, if this company refuses or tries to sidestep giving the client access to managing their Google listing, what's the best course of action to take?

Thank you!

That's the thing, whether it's SEO, ORM, PPC, or Website Design, all the profit is in the monthly maintenance fees.
Me personally, before any changes are made to huge citation listings like gmb, I run a citation audit (if you don't already have a list of citations that you have been working on for the sbo), and then update all the citations after I have changed the gmb page.
That's why many seo experts agree to get your local business verified first before any citation work, you will want to use what Google uses, and sometimes it's different than what the business owner uses (use google's).

 

[JoyHawkins]

We worked with a company once through our reseller (white label channel) who was doing something similar for clients. They would put call-tracking numbers on the site, GMB and then on tons of 3rd party directories (for consistency) and I can tell you it was a giant mess. No matter how hard you try, you'll never eliminate data for the "real" number for the business (the number the call tracking forwards to) because it's most likely printed in sources like the physical phone book etc that always make their way back online through the data aggregates.

It resulted in the business having tons of duplicates on Google and needless to say the ranking wasn't great for any of them.

 

[Elliot]

Thanks for the responses guys!

I think we'll work something out with potentially porting the number to a virtual provider or something similar, changing the number seems like more trouble than it's worth.

 

[JoshuaMackens]

Thanks for the responses guys!

I think we'll work something out with potentially porting the number to a virtual provider or something similar, changing the number seems like more trouble than it's worth.

That's what I was going to recommend. You got there before me

Good luck!

 

[James Watt]

Absolutely, I've worked with clients in the past that had an agency try and do what you're doing... it was a giant mess. Don't try and change the phone number unless you genuinely have no other choice... or unless the company is so new that there's almost no footprint online yet. Either way though, if you haven't already guessed, the guys who told you it'd be a problem with citation consistency weren't pulling your leg, they were saving your client from a lot of trouble.