Make your business details match everywhere online
Different hours on Google, an old phone number on Facebook, a past address on Yelp. Mismatched listings cost you customers. Here is how to clean them up.
· 2 min read
Your business exists in more places online than you think: Google, Facebook, Apple Maps, Yelp, Bing, industry directories, and a handful of sites you never signed up for. When those listings disagree with each other, two things happen. Customers show up at the wrong time or call a dead number. And search engines, which compare these sources, have less reason to trust any of them.
Fixing this is tedious, but you only have to do the big cleanup once.
Step 1: Write down the one true version
Open a document and record exactly how your details should appear:
- Name: the same wording every time. Decide now whether it's "Joe's Auto Repair" or "Joe's Auto Repair & Tire" and stick to it.
- Address: including the suite number and how you abbreviate the street.
- Phone: one main number.
- Website: one address.
- Hours: for each day, plus holidays.
This document is your master copy. Everything else gets matched to it.
Step 2: Fix the big ones first
Check these, in this order, and correct anything that does not match:
- Google Business Profile
- Your own website (footer, contact page, and anywhere hours appear)
- Facebook page
- Apple Maps (through Apple Business Connect)
- Yelp
- Bing Places
For most local businesses, these cover the large majority of places customers will look.
Step 3: Search for the strays
Search Google for your business name plus your city, then for your phone number in quotes, then for any old phone number or address. You will often find directory listings you forgot about or never created. Most have a "claim this business" or "suggest an edit" link. Claim them and correct them, or request removal if the listing is a duplicate.
Then check the directories specific to your trade, such as the ones for contractors, restaurants, lawyers or health providers.
Step 4: Keep it that way
Mismatches creep back in whenever something changes. Any time you change your hours, move, or get a new number, open your master copy and update every listing on it the same day. Add a column to the document listing each site and the date you last checked it.
Common mistakes
- Using a tracking phone number on some listings. It creates exactly the mismatch you are trying to remove.
- Having duplicate listings for the same location. Merge or remove them.
- Forgetting holiday hours. Update them a week ahead, every time.
Do this today
Write your master copy. Then compare it against just two places: Google and Facebook. Fix whatever doesn't match.