1800 number for google local
-
Hi
A client with a local business has a 1800 number on their google plus page and most citations.
How important is it to use the local number and not a 1800 one for google local? Should we change the phone number to the local number and update all listings? Or should we just continue with the 1800 number and stay consistent?
I have added the local number as a second number on the google plus page.
-
Hey Henya,
I think having the local number does matter.. In this way, google relate way better with your local business as it considers that your business does belong from that location. Same goes with the users.
Umar
-
Hi Henya!
Great question! For many years, Google was not in favor of toll free numbers as primary numbers. It was standard advice that you absolutely had to use a local area code number, instead, both on Google and in all your citations. However, over the past couple of years, we saw a change with this and I began noticing quite a few listings listings (particularly hotels) with 800 numbers on them. That was very surprising.
However, I believe there is more to this story, because it seems to me that in the past year or so, I notice that I am, again, no longer encountering 800 numbers with any frequency in the 3-packs, hotel packs, local finder, etc. Do some of your own searches for hotels boston, hotels santa fe, hotels dallas, etc. and look at the 'more' link that takes you to the local finder results. You'll likely see all local area code phone numbers. Whether these are the result of the business owner consciously ensuring that their primary number is local, based on older version of Google's guidelines, or because Google is somehow manually overriding the suggestion of a toll free number as primary, I'm not sure. I suspect it's the former. Nevertheless, there is nothing about toll free numbers in the guidelines, which read:
Website & Phone
Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible, and provide one website that represents your individual business location.
- Use a local phone number instead of central, call center helpline number whenever possible.
- Do not provide phone numbers or URLs that redirect or "refer" users to landing pages or phone numbers other than those of the actual business, including pages created on social media sites.
So, officially, Google is not forbidding toll free numbers, but personally, I would still avoid using them if possible, because of the following:
-
A local area code number is a signal of 'localness', just like a zip code. You always want to appear as local as possible.
-
Moz Local Search Ranking Factors found 'Listing 800 Number as Only Phone Number on My Business Page' to be the 16th most negative ranking factor. So, there is some negativity suspected regarding 800 numbers, though the language here is referring to having this as your only number. The factor does not speak to having 800 as primary and local as secondary, but still, there is still some perception out there as toll free numbers being negative.
-
Finally, unless the business is something like a hotel, I do believe that using an 800 number as primary could potentially make you less powerful than competitors who are using a local number.
So, in a nutshell, if your client has a local area code phone number - yes, I do feel it would be worth it edit citations to list it as the primary number and relegate any toll free numbers to the secondary field.
Hope this helps!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Why is a Google Listing Showing Up in a Different Town Than Its Address?
I have a client who runs a dental office on the outskirts of Racine, WI. His address specifically shows up as being in Racine, however, his GMB profile has always showed with the category of "Dentist in Mount Pleasant, WI" displaying below the photos. (Mount Pleasant is the next town over and his office straddles the line between the two towns in Google's overlay map of the town.) Obviously this is frustrating and I'm concerned that his location is hurting his ability to rank in the larger, more populous town of Racine. Have any other SEOs ever encountered this? And if so, how have you approached the issue? Location pages? Mentions of the location more often on the pages? tsLvH2B
Local Listings | | formandfunctionagency1 -
Should I claim a non-local Google business listing?
If I have a business which is non-local, but has one location and is showing up with the address and directions already in the knowledge panel, should I claim the business? Eg: the company manufactures a single product and ships directly to customers all over the world. On the one hand, of course it seems I should claim it and get more control. On the other hand, part of that process is setting a service area and I worry that by doing so I may be making the company seem less relevant outside the service area in Google's eyes.
Local Listings | | PlusROI0 -
Google My Business - bulk location upload vs. single upload
Hi there, I have a question regarding Google My Business listings: We currently have a business with few offices (less than 10). Each office has it's Google listing under the same Google account.
Local Listings | | OrendaLtd
We plan on opening new offices at a certain pace, let's say two a month, which means we'll have more than 10 listings in the near future.
As far as I recall, Google allows up to 10 listings per account, which means it won't suffice. On the other hand, We do not have 10 offices at the time being, which means we're not eligible for a bulk upload. Any ideas how to handle this situation?0 -
Google My Business listing - listed at CLOSED (how do I open)
Good afternoon Mozzers, I hope you can help me. I have a business listing, which is listed as being "PERMANENTLY CLOSED". In fact the business is OPEN it has just changed business name. I have ownership of the listing. I have "reported an issue" to Google and asked them to list as open, however how long will this take? Is there anything I can do to fast track this and limit the business impact? Any help welcomed, Ben
Local Listings | | Bendall0 -
Local Markup
Is there a way to use local markup for different cities? The point is we have one location but we offer our products in many cities. Through markup we want to indicate that we are also relevant in these cities other then our base location. Does any of you have experience with this or has a solution without manipulating Google?
Local Listings | | Maxaro.nl0 -
Hotel Local Listings Greatly Varying With Date
Searching for accommodation in a local region brings up a local listing block (e.g. http://puu.sh/irEoJ/635140594d.png). When clicking through to the block and changing dates, the order of the listings vary greatly. See attachments for 4 samples. How is Google deciding to order these listing blocks? I initially speculated they are pulling availability rates from Online Travel Agents like Expedia or Booking.com, but doubt this to be the case given a lot of those listings do not have Google Hotel Ads and smaller operators do not have their distribution system hooked up to Google Hotel. tVX816P,8U6RbcP,N6xGEdx,YC4K344#0 tVX816P,8U6RbcP,N6xGEdx,YC4K344#1 tVX816P,8U6RbcP,N6xGEdx,YC4K344#2 tVX816P,8U6RbcP,N6xGEdx,YC4K344#3
Local Listings | | fastrack0 -
Combining Law websites to boost local results?
So we currently have 2 separate websites for the 2 areas of law we practice, Criminal Defense and Family. Currently our Criminal Defense website is the one affiliated with our google+ page and so it ranks well in local results, where as our Family website does not rank at all locally. Would it be best for our Family practice if we merged it with our Criminal site? We all work out of the same office and share address and phone number, so I don't believe we can associate the Family website with a google+ page, but I am wondering if each site would show up in Local results for their individual keywords if the criminal site and law site were both subdomains of a main Firm website.
Local Listings | | MyOwnSEO1 -
Unable to verify my google local listing page by phone verification.
Hi, I have created the Google local listing page for my business site. I want to verify it using the phone verification but there is only a option - "verify by postcard". Is there no option to verify it using a phone number? Help needed.
Local Listings | | SangeetaC0