Citation verifications with phone trees
-
We have several clients whose practices have phone trees enabled for their primary number, which means we aren't able to send automated verification calls for Google, Yelp, ExpressUpdate (Infogroup), YellowPages, etc. Sometimes our clients are able to temporarily disable their phone trees, and sometimes said site's support teams manually verify for us once we have proven our association with the businesses. We just wanted to reach out to see if anyone had alternative solutions or workarounds, since phone trees usually cause a significant hangup. Thanks!
-
Hi Miriam,
I'm sorry to hear that phone trees are an issue for you, as well. Yes, other than the hope of temporarily disconnecting the phone tree, our only other option that we have found is to set up an @domain email and work with a site's support with that added authority. I hope that your teammates have some additional suggestions; looking forward to your response!
Jack
-
Hi Jackson,
Yes, I'm not a fan of phone trees either, particularly as Google doesn't really like them (they prefer numbers that connect directly), and what you've described about temporarily disabling them for phone verification has been the main advice I've seen for some years on this. However, and here's something interesting, Mike Blumenthal recently reported that verification options may be emerging that could bypass phone verification: http://blumenthals.com/blog/2016/02/15/google-mybusiness-now-surfacing-web-verify-option-2/
As for replacing a phone tree with something other than a live human being who directs calls to staff, I'm afraid I don't know. I will ask that some of my teammates pop by to see if anyone has any further suggestions about this.
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
-
What city to use for citations?
Hey everyone, I have a question about what city to use for citations in this case. My client is a service-area business in the Seattle area. The business is home-based, in Everett, WA, which if you’re not familiar is in the northern part of the Seattle metro area. They only serve clients outside the home. For their GBP that’s no problem, as of course their address isn’t shown. For all the citations we’ll be building though, I’m not entirely sure what we should do. The client does not want their street address anywhere online. So, since their city won't be listed on their GBP, should we still use Everett as the city for all the citations, or should we use Seattle? I'm unsure here because with some citations you have to list a full address, and then you're able to hide the street address later. And since they don't technically have a Seattle address, I'm not if that would be the way to go. But I’m wondering because no one will be searching for “[service] in Everett”, they would search for “[service] in Seattle”. What do you think?
Local Listings | | SamB470 -
Good service that helps optimize and create citations to google map listing?
Hi guys, Anyone know good service that helps optimize and create citations to google map listing? Also is there recommended WP theme that helps the ranking on google map? Thanks in advance!
Local Listings | | Tariq_Jameel1 -
LOCAL CITATIONS - SHARED ADDRESS, DIFFERENT BUSINESS ENTITIES, DIFFERENT PRACTICTIONERS
I am trying to to boost my clients online presence through Local Business Listings but am running into a few issues that I would like to get some feedback on. First, I will provide some background information and then provide my questions that I am seeking feedback on! Your help is greatly appreciated. **BACKGROUND INFO: ** Client has little online visibility and is looking to optimize his Local Business Listings to boost his online presence. Client is a Chiropractor that just registered his own business, has a unique local phone number, his own website. The facility that the Chiropractor works out of is a shared office space, known as a "Wellness Center" This facility has other chiropractors, doctors, & massage therapists who fit the same criteria as my client. I understand that in order to qualify for a local business listings your business must meet **CRITERIA. **This is the only one he does not meet, but the way the businesses are ran, it seems like to me that he should be eligible for local business listings. Have a dedicated physical street address (not a shared address, PO box, or virtual office) I don't understand why a shared address isn't allowed. This seems pretty legit to me. And is similar to a Doctors Office with multi-practitioners but slightly different because they each have their own business not all working for one business owner. All working for themselves. Everyone recently moved and joined this wellness center. Everyone generates their own leads and clientele. One thing to note is that no other business in the wellness center currently has optimized their online presence using this address. But address is present on other business owners websites. If my client uses this address and builds his local listings, is there a chance he can get penalized if the other business owners build their business listings on sites like, yelp, yellowpages, google maps, citysearch, etc. What are the chances of him getting penalized/the entire shared office being penalized due to this shared office space. Your feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank You
Local Listings | | InternetRep0 -
Is it possible to use sub URLs in Citations?
Hello, One of my client has business in 5 different locations so he has URL's like: "www.abc.com/city-service" for which he has listing verified in each location. I can certainly say that Google Business allow sub pages URL in citations (correct me if I am wrong). I am not sure if it is possible to use the sub URL's like: www.abc.com/city-service in different citations websites? Also, if this would be a good approach or not? Please help me. Sam
Local Listings | | BrianBotts.0 -
How long have to wait for Google verification pin?
Its been 2 weeks we had asked request of Google maps for business local search. Still not received the pin. When can we expect the pin.
Local Listings | | ILDSEO0 -
Verifying business info with old address and inactive phone listing
I'm cleaning up a number of inaccurate business listings for a client, starting with an old Google Plus page. It's unverified, but both the address and phone number are so old that calls or mail send to those will not be forwarded. Any suggestions for verifying a business listing when the typical verification methods simply won't work? Thanks!
Local Listings | | flyntime_tx
Mike0 -
Home Page Online Citations, Blogs, etc
I have 400 backlinks to home page no backlinks to the other 20 pages, i have used yelp, free index and other online citation sources all lead to my home page as do articles, blogs etc. My home page ranks position 1 page 1 google for keyword, should i know start adding backlinks to the other 20 pages via links from blogs, articles, youtube, etc Site is 2 months old thanks
Local Listings | | nickowain0 -
Local Citations
So we are working on our citations. Now the issue is (not really an issue, but it is definitely very annoying) is that we have multiple locations. I get that you need to then have multiple listings. Where I get baffled is that I have read that you will then need to have more than 1 google + account for the different addresses. That seems like a lot of work to keep two google + accounts updated. Is this a must for SEO purposes?
Local Listings | | blackrino0