Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
What's the best way to keep Google My Business reviews when the business changes names?
-
I work with an interior designer who is re-branding and changing her business name to focus specifically on windows. Can she keep her GMB reviews and just change the name of her business, then reverify with Google? She doesn't want to lose her current local pack ranking.
-
Hey There!
It sounds like a new GMB listing is in order to me. Like you, I'm a Local SEO, but without having complete knowledge of the situation, I'm making a general guess instead of giving informed advice. It's not unheard of for marketers to pay to consult with others marketers when in doubt. If, with the business' whole scenario before you, you're not 100% convinced you know the right course to set, it could be invaluable to to reach out to someone else in the industry and offer to pay for their time to consult with you while looking at the actual business and its history and goals. In your shoes, if I wasn't sure my advice was perfect, that's what I'd do
-
I am this client's local SEO consultant and was wondering what others have done in similar situations. I thought a new GMB page might be in order, too, though they're really just niching down further within the same industry and the reviews still apply to their updated offerings.
-
Hmm, there's some grey area here. A different brand offering different services sounds like a new company to me, likely necessitating starting over. That being said, your situation is one in which I'd recommend hiring a really qualified Local SEO consultant for whom you can 'open the books' in private. You might want to get in touch with one of these folks: https://moz.com/learn/local/trusted-providers
You want to be certain you're making the right move with this, as there are nuances to the situation a general discussion in a forum may not be able to pick up on/address. On that list, you might want to consider a company like Local Visibility System for some consulting to be sure you are correctly planning your rebrand and the citation work that will need to follow it. This is one of those business moves that can go well with proper planning or be a disaster if some element is missing from the strategy.
Hope this suggestion helps!
-
Same location, just the brand name and services offered are changing.
-
Hey there!
Is she also moving to a new location, or just re-branding her existing business?
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 is the best practice way to attribute a Google Review?
An example might be a local directory site, where multiple businesses are featured. To flesh out the respective business profiles, Google Reviews are included. Copying/pasting would be the definition of duplicate content. I wonder though if hyperlinking to the review itself would be enough? For a random example: "you literally have never had better ice cream. cutest shop in charleston sc" - Mandee Jalbert, Google Review Google doesn't appear to have a review embed option- am I wrong? If not, would the above attribution via the "Google Review" hyperlink be sufficient to head off any potential dings for duplicate content? Thanks! Stephen
Reviews and Ratings | | PerfectPitchConcepts
Thanks for your thoughts! I feel like this might make for a good presentation at our SoundBoard conference someday soon.0 -
Google My Business - Switching from Local to National Presence
Hi, Before I started with my current employer (a national B2B company), someone set them up with a Google My Business page that has resulted in the home office appearing as a local search result. As a result, our competitors have a much more professional national Knowledge Graph sidebar complete with logo, Wikipedia blurb, social links, etc. displayed while we have a local result with reviews, images, and Google Map location. Since we are a B2B business with a national presence, I am trying to transition from the local to broader company Knowledge Graph result, but I'm struggling to find information on the best steps to remove the local result. While the reviews are improving, this is a service-based business with a B2C element when it comes to end users, so historical reviews have been unkind -- to the point that I'd like to make the transition to a national presence not only to better reflect the entire region we serve, but also to remove as much review visibility as possible. The only option in Google My Business I've seen so far is to report the business as being closed, which, of course, it is not. I know a big Step 1 is to get a new Wikipedia page for the business created. (The company is legitimately deserving of one. I'm still trying to find the most effective approach to tackling this without violating Wikipedia policies. ) Outside of that step, however, is there any sort of process someone can recommend for tackling this local-to-nation Google transition? Thanks, Andrew
Reviews and Ratings | | Andrew_In_Search_of_Answers1 -
How many Google reviews can I collect at once?
I work for a University with 10,000+ students and alumni that could submit reviews. But how many reviews should I be collecting at one time? I don't want to overload the reviews and put up a red flag in Google...any insight on how much is too much?
Reviews and Ratings | | GabeGibitz0 -
If I use schema markup for my google reviews, would it be smart to have Google review's on my home page?
Hello, Moz's I'm thinking about added scheme markup to show my google reviews. I have a 4.8 rating and 25 reviews. I'm thinking about added scheme markup to show my google reviews. I have a 4.8 rating and 25 reviews. My first question is: when people see that and then visit my site, would it be good to have the Google reviews on the home page? My second questions is: Is there any reason why I wouldn't want to add this to my site? None of my competition has done this, so I'm a little apprehensive? Thanks in advance 🙂
Reviews and Ratings | | MissThumann0 -
Do ratings/reviews show up in Organic Search Results anymore?
I read about using schema or h1review to add markup that would get an individual person's review to show up in organic search, but it was from 2013. I did a few queries for keywords in my area, and none of the results had this. Then I did some queries for generic things like "best pizza in Tampa" and "coffee in tampa" and they didn't have it either. So, is this still something that can be done or not? I do see it when a review site like yelp comes up or in ads, but I'm specifically talking about organic search results from our website. Thanks, Ruben
Reviews and Ratings | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Moving my photography business to another state. Is it possible to transfer Google My Business listing WITHOUT losing my Google Reviews?
A friend of mine is transitioning her photography business to another state. Â She moved about 5 years ago and consequently lost all of her Google+/Yelp reviews. Â Having reviews as a photographer is EXTREMELY important for her business reputation. Â She doesn't want this to happen again. Is it possible to change the location of a Google my Business page and keep the existing reviews? Thanks
Reviews and Ratings | | RosemaryB0 -
Why are certain words formatted as bold in Google+ Reviews?
Hey guys, I noticed that certain words within reviews left on Google+ pages are being shown in bold text. The original reviews do not feature bold text, but when shown in snippets they appear. I attached a photo below for a college's G+ page. Any insight would be great! 0ZHfhnP
Reviews and Ratings | | TomBinga11250 -
Yelp Review From My Customer Removed
Hi, A customer of mine told me she created a yelp account just to give me a review. She's a good customer and wanted to show me her appreciation. I thanked her for taking the trouble. About a week later, I see that her review was marked as "not recommended." This was a legitimate review made by a real customer. I'm angry that it was removed for no reason. I noticed a competitor of mine has 18 yelp reviews and all of them show up just fine. I also noticed that this same competitor is paying for ads from Yelp. A couple of years ago, another customer reviewed me on yelp and it was also labeled as "not recommended." So I now have 2 "not recommended" reviews on Yelp that, if you ask me, imply that my reviews are fake.  After Yelp and Yahoo merged, I lost the 14 Yahoo reviews I had obtained from customers over the last six years. I have also noticed over the years, that whenever I need to sign into my Yelp business account to update the data, it's locked until some pushy sales person calls and asks to speak to me in order to try to sell me ads on Yelp. Anyone else hate Yelp? They're obviously not really interested in making sure reviews are "real," they're just interested in selling expensive ads.
Reviews and Ratings | | Ophelia6191
