The digital age has made finding businesses and services more accessible than ever. A quick search on Google Maps can present you with a plethora of nearby options within seconds.
However, this also means that these searches are susceptible to presenting duplicate listings for businesses, resulting in confusion for potential customers and loss of business for those affected. This article delves into what causes duplicate Google listings, how they affect businesses, and ways to prevent them from happening.
Causes of Duplicate Google Listings
Duplicate Google listings can occur due to various reasons, some of which include:
- Multiple listings created by users or business owners: It is not uncommon for a person to inadvertently create more than one listing for their business. This can happen when trying to claim an unclaimed listing or during the process of creating a new listing and accidentally submitting the same information twice.
- Data synchronization errors: When a business owner claims their online profiles across different platforms, data synchronization may cause multiple listings to be created on Google Maps.
- Merging of separate locations: In some cases, two completely different businesses operating under similar names might get combined into a single listing because they appear so alike.
- Variations in location details: If a business' address or other contact details have changed over time, there might be multiple listings with different details on Google Maps. This usually occurs if the old listing was not removed or updated.
How Duplicate Listings Affect Businesses and Users
Duplicate listings can negatively impact both consumers and businesses. They can lead to the following issues:
- Customer confusion: When potential customers come across more than one listing for the same business, they may be unsure which one to trust and rely on. This confusion could lead them to choose another option altogether.
- Division of online presence: In most cases, two or more duplicate listings result in dividing reviews, ratings, and other essential information between them. This weakens a business's overall online presence and may also lead to inaccurate representation of their services.
- Inaccurate directions: If the duplicate Google listings display different location details, consumers may have trouble finding the right location. As a result, businesses can lose out on valuable foot traffic or create unhappy customers who arrive at incorrect locations.
- Loss of search engine visibility: When a business has multiple duplicate listings on Google Maps, none of these listings will accumulate enough essential data such as reviews and check-ins to boost its visibility on Google Maps search results.
Finding Duplicate Listings
To find out if your business is suffering from duplicate Google listings, start by conducting an extensive search using both the computer and mobile versions of Google Maps. Make sure you search using variations of your business name, address, and phone number to uncover all possible duplicates.
Using the Google My Business Dashboard
If you're a verified Google My Business user, you should use the GMB dashboard to manage your business information and identify duplicate listings. You can easily access this dashboard via the GMB account linked to your respective email ID addressing profile management.
Merging or Removing Duplicate Listings
Once found, it’s important to rectify duplicate listings. The methods for doing so include:
- Merging duplicate listings: Sometimes, the best solution is simply merging two or more duplicate listings together. Google My Business allows managers to suggest edits; you can choose the “suggest an edit” option in one of the duplicates and report it as a duplicate location. With this information, Google can analyze both listings and merge them, thereby preserving reviews, ratings, and other aspects of your online presence.
- Removing duplicate listings directly on Google Maps: Users can also correct Google listings by reporting duplicates directly on Google Maps. Click on the problematic listing, then click on “Suggest an edit”. From there, select “Remove this place”. You'll be prompted to provide a reason for the removal, where users can inform that it's a duplicate.
- Contacting Google My Business support: Lastly, you can directly reach out to Google My Business support to help resolve duplicate issues. This may be particularly beneficial when dealing with large numbers of duplicate listings or business locations.
Preventing Duplicate Listings from Happening
While removing and merging duplicate listings are essential steps, preventing these occurrences from happening again should also be prioritized. Here are some tips:
- Regularly review your listings: Make it a habit of periodically checking your Google Maps listing for any discrepancies or duplicates. Doing this regularly can catch any issues early before they become detrimental to your business.
- Maintain accurate information: Ensure that all of your business information across different platforms are up-to-date and accurate. Any changes to your businesses' phone number, address, or name should be promptly updated on every platform you have claimed your online presence.
- Claim and manage your business listings: If you come across any unclaimed listings for your business, be sure to claim ownership of those accounts. Utilize Google My Business to stay on top of your digital presence and track changes to ensure consistency across all platforms.
In summary, duplicate Google listings can cause major harm to the growth and success of a business. By understanding what causes these duplicates, businesses can take steps to combine or eliminate duplicate listings quickly, maintain accurate information, and monitor their online presence. These measures help enhance your business's reputation and ensure that potential customers find you without confusion in this ever-evolving digital landscape.