Help - 2 Different Addresses and GMB Listings - for 1 Business

[iwebresults]

I have a situation, I would really appreciate some input on, concerning an unincorporated town and mailing address. Client has two verified google my business listings, the unincorporated town and the nearby small town (mailing address). We would rather keep the unincorporated town as the address as it is physically closer to the Primary City where people are searching, than the other smaller town which is the mailing address. So any advice? Can/Should the Listings be combined, they both have reviews, and if so which is better practice unincorporated town(better for client) or nearby smaller address town) Oh yes, all their citations are done in mailing address - just to complicate the story!!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi iwebresults

Thanks for posting this little brain twister!

I moved it out of this old 2013 thread to give your post more exposure and help you get some answers.
What to do When Maps Has it Wrong

Not quite clear... One physical location, but address could be formatted either way, with either city - therefore 2 listings at same actual location? Or one physical location and the other listing is at mail only address, which is a violation?

 

[iwebresults]

Thanks Linda! 1 physical location that could use either address, I don't know how he got them both Verified. The unincorporated town address is closer to the City where most searches take place and has the most reviews on it. The other verified listing has a town address that is correct for the location also, but the actual little town is further out than the business is from the City where the searches happen, and has less reviews, but all the citations are using that name, not the unincorporated town name. Either choice seems troublesome, we don't want to lose the "closeness" factor, but redoing all the citations is also a pain, and leaving both seems easiest but not the wisest choice, so asking for some expert advice!

 

[JoshuaMackens]

It would be great to see the client and know the 2 towns.

 

[Linda Buquet]

I agree with Josh, it's a little like shooting in the dark now and is still not exactly clear to me by description.

"so which is better practice unincorporated town(better for client) or nearby smaller address town"

If you are primarily concerned with playing by Google's rules and ranking in Google then... you need to think like Google.

2 listings especially if both verified is a violation and I'm pretty sure as soon as you edit either one it will flip a red flag and both could get suspended.

The other thing to keep in mind, is that Google maps physical locations not mailing addresses. So need to do some digging to determine which is right in the eyes of G.

Plug address 1 into G maps does it show that address or change it to "did you mean... with a correction" Try same with address #2. Also check some businesses really close by and see what town they are listed as being in.

When you search KW + primary city, does either one rank? If a competitive market it's likely that you would not rank in the city, if you are not physically located in that city, no matter what.

I'm not suggesting a solution here, just throwing out some random thoughts and trying to uncover some of the things that will matter in your ultimate decision.

Let's see if we can get others to weigh in.

 

[iwebresults]

OK, I did that and the unincorporated town address in maps comes up as small town address, so that means I need to consolidate under small town address, if I call google and ask them to help consolidate the listings do you really think they will delete both, there are hundreds of reviews on them combined

 

[Linda Buquet]

No I said if you did an edit, it could flip a switch and end up being suspended.

If you call, I think it depends who you get and how well you plead your case.

Wait though, let's see if Joy or Colan can weigh in.

 

[amerios]

Hi,

My 2 cents, I know you need more, but here they are.

Questions to jar the mind ? What address is listed on website ?

Search google maps with the NAP, try just the name, same w/ address & number, what do you see ?

Check both GMB listings, does serve area overlap ? If they overlap, might consider adjusting so they wont, but this by no means is a fix.

GMB verification, mostly via snail mail, but it's possible to trigger a phone verification. Do you know, if they were both through US mail ?

In conclusion, just in case, screen capture all reviews. All the best.