Hey Emily - I drop in from time to time on DealerRefresh to dish out Local SEO advice, and I've been involved in the field as a consultant and as an agency owner since before Google maps existed. Here are a couple of broad tips for dealerships that go through name changes, phone number changes or need to change ownership google accounts:
I) When you remove a listing from an account do not click 'Remove this listing from Google Maps'. This actually deletes the record completely and all the trust associated with the listing data vanishes. Instead, always choose 'remove this listing from my Google Places account'. What the second option does is simply 'release' that consolidated listing in the wild again.
II) If you come across a listing which is already 'owner verified' but can't find the verification details then follow these steps:
1) Click on ‘owner-verified listing’ that you will see on the top right side of the listing.
2) Now you will be taken to your account's dashboard. Here, add a new listing with the exact same details as the listing you want to claim.
3) Once you do that, and hit submit, you should see the exact listing that you wanted to claim. Go ahead and claim it.
4) After that, you’ll have to PIN verify this listing. Please follow these instructions [1] to verify the listing.
III) One key point that many business owners do not understand is that Google Places operates on 'clusters' of data. i.e: It treats your name, address, phone number, description, images, reviews all as separate pieces of data that it amalgamates together to create a listing. The best way to make sure you listing data does not get merged or swapped out is to make sure that your citations across the web are uniform (so if you are on 123 Main St, don't call it Street on some sites and ST. on others).
I realize that was mostly general advice but I hope it helps some of you dealers. If you are ever in a rut please feel to email me at [email protected] or give us a call.
I) When you remove a listing from an account do not click 'Remove this listing from Google Maps'. This actually deletes the record completely and all the trust associated with the listing data vanishes. Instead, always choose 'remove this listing from my Google Places account'. What the second option does is simply 'release' that consolidated listing in the wild again.
II) If you come across a listing which is already 'owner verified' but can't find the verification details then follow these steps:
1) Click on ‘owner-verified listing’ that you will see on the top right side of the listing.
2) Now you will be taken to your account's dashboard. Here, add a new listing with the exact same details as the listing you want to claim.
3) Once you do that, and hit submit, you should see the exact listing that you wanted to claim. Go ahead and claim it.
4) After that, you’ll have to PIN verify this listing. Please follow these instructions [1] to verify the listing.
III) One key point that many business owners do not understand is that Google Places operates on 'clusters' of data. i.e: It treats your name, address, phone number, description, images, reviews all as separate pieces of data that it amalgamates together to create a listing. The best way to make sure you listing data does not get merged or swapped out is to make sure that your citations across the web are uniform (so if you are on 123 Main St, don't call it Street on some sites and ST. on others).
I realize that was mostly general advice but I hope it helps some of you dealers. If you are ever in a rut please feel to email me at [email protected] or give us a call.
