Multiple or one GMB

[MJLocal123]

Hey there,

So I'm quite new to local SEO and have a question about GMB.

I have a client that has multiple physical locations, in multiple cities. A lot of the competitors are established and have strong GMB profiles. I'm wondering whether:

1. They should only have one 1 GMB per city, in order to consolidate various user signals, such as reviews, so that they have more chance of competing with established listings. I imagine they could lose out on hyper-local searches due to just having 1 GMB listing.
2. They have a GMB listing for each physical location, in each city. Could be tough to compete in the local pack in the short / medium term, but could prove fruitful in the long run.

I'm leaning towards option 2. With option 2, my understanding is they could centralise the management of all their locations using a location group account?

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Cheers

 

[keyserholiday]

If they have physical locations that customers visit them at, then they should have and have set up GMB listings. There is no rule that one main GMB listing will be more powerful than several just as multiple will perform better than one.

 

[Stefan Somborac]

@MJLocal123 - The physical distance between the searcher and your business location (i.e. proximity) has a huge impact on map rankings. If you use a single location in an attempt to consolidate reviews, you'll miss out on this important ranking factor.

The guidelines require the phone number used on a listing to connect customers directly to the location. Depending on how you plan to implement the phone number in your option #1, you may find yourself violating that rule.

 

[MJLocal123]

I suspected that was the case. Thanks Stefan.