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<\/p>\nThe page URL continues to show in the Google search results<\/a> and it is still visible<\/a> via the Google cache.<\/p>\n (cache of the full guidelines captured here for reference purposes)<\/p>\n We’ve come up with a list of guidelines for local businesses to maintain high quality information on Google. Following these guidelines helps avoid common problems, including changes to your information, or, in some cases, removal of your business information from Google.<\/p>\n For best results using Google My Business:<\/p>\n Note<\/strong>: Brands, organizations, artists, and other online-only businesses should create a Google+ brand page<\/a> instead of a local Google+ page. Brand pages must follow the Google+ page content guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n Learn more about the difference between brand and local pages<\/a><\/p>\n In order to qualify for a local Google+ page, a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours.<\/p>\n The following businesses aren\u2019t eligible for a local page:<\/p>\n Only business owners or authorized representatives may verify and manage their business information on Google My Business. If you wish to share management access to your local page with others, you can add a manager<\/a>.<\/p>\n Any individual or company that manages business information on Google My Business for a business that they don\u2019t own is considered an authorized representative<\/strong>. Examples: a third-party SEO\/SEM company; a friend of the business owner; an online ordering, scheduling, or booking provider; and an affiliate network provider.<\/p>\n Authorized representatives must:<\/p>\n Failure to adhere to these policies may result in a suspension for the listing and\/or account.<\/p>\n Your name should reflect your business\u2019 real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers.<\/p>\n Any additional information, when relevant, can be included in other sections of your business information (e.g., “Address<\/a>“, “Categories<\/a>“). Adding unnecessary information to your name (e.g., “Google Inc. – Mountain View Corporate Headquarters” instead of “Google”) by including marketing taglines, store codes, special characters, hours or closed\/open status, phone numbers, website URLs, service\/product information, location\/address or directions, or containment information (e.g. “Chase ATM in Duane Reade”<\/em>) is not permitted.<\/p>\n Throughout the examples below, names or parts of names in italics<\/em> would not be permitted.<\/p>\n Your name must not<\/strong> include:<\/p>\n There are additional guidelines for multi-location stores (chains and brands<\/a>), departments<\/a>, and individual practitioners<\/a> (e.g. doctors, lawyers, and real estate agents) below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Use a precise, accurate address to describe your business location. PO Boxes or mailboxes located at remote locations are not acceptable.<\/p>\n Service-area businesses–business that serve customers at their<\/em> locations–should have one page for the central office or location and designate a service area from that point. If you wish to display your complete business address while setting your service area(s), your business location should be staffed and able to receive customers during its stated hours. Google will determine how best to display your business address based on your business information as well as information from other sources. Learn more about service-area businesses<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible, and provide one website that represents your individual business location.<\/p>\n Provide your regular customer-facing hours of operation. If applicable, you may use your current seasonal hours as your regular hours. You may also specify special hours<\/a> for particular days, like holidays<\/a> or special events.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Categories help your customers find accurate, specific results for services they\u2019re interested in. In order to keep your business information accurate and live, make sure that you:<\/p>\n Select categories that complete the statement: “This business IS<\/em> a” rather than “this business HAS<\/em> a .” The goal is to describe your business holistically rather than a list of all the services it offers, products it sells, or amenities it features. Discover common categories<\/a><\/p>\n You should focus primarily on adding the most specific categories for your business; we’ll do the rest behind the scenes. For instance, when you select a specific category like “Golf Resort”, Google implicitly includes more general categories like “Resort Hotel”, “Hotel”, and “Golf Course.” Feel free to skip adding any category that seems redundant with a more specific category you selected. If you can’t find a category for your business, choose one that is more general. Google can also detect category information from your website and from mentions about your business throughout the web.<\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n If your business contains another business that your organization does not own and operate, only use categories that represent your business.<\/p>\n The following types of co-located businesses should each have their own page. If you need to use both categories for the same business location, create two pages instead. Be sure to use a different name for the second business (also see “Departments”).<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Maintaining consistent names and categories across all of your business locations helps users quickly identify your business on Google Maps and search results.<\/p>\n All locations must have the same name unless the business\u2019s real world representation consistently varies from location to location. All locations must also have the same category if they provide the same service.<\/p>\n All business locations within the same country must have the same name for all locations. For example, all Home Depot locations should use the name “The Home Depot” rather than “Home Depot<\/em>” or “The Home Depot at Springfield”<\/em>.<\/p>\n There are two exceptions to this policy:<\/p>\n All locations of a business must share the one category that best represents the business. If you have multiple types of locations (e.g. sub-brands, multiple departments, or various types of operations such as retail, distribution center, and office), this rule only applies within each of these sub-groups.<\/p>\n If your business location combines two or more brands, do not combine the brand names into a single page. Instead, pick one brand\u2019s name for the page. If the brands operate independently, you may use a separate page for each brand at this location.<\/p>\n If your business sells another business brand\u2019s product(s) or service(s), use only the name of the business, excluding the name of the brand being sold, which cannot have a page for this location.<\/p>\n However, if the business location is an authorized and fully dedicated seller of the branded product or service (sometimes known as a “franchisee”), you may use the underlying brand name when creating the page.<\/p>\n![\"Screen](\"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-10-at-1.22.56-PM.png\")
<\/p>\nGuidelines for representing your business on Google<\/h1>\n
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Basic guidelines<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Eligible businesses<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Ineligible businesses<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Ownership<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Additional guidelines for authorized representatives<\/h4>\n
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Business information<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Name<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Address<\/h3>\n
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Service-area businesses<\/h4>\n
<\/a>Website and phone<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Business hours<\/h3>\n
Categories<\/h3>\n
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Chains, departments, and individual practitioners<\/h2>\n
Chains and brands<\/h3>\n
Name consistency<\/h4>\n
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Category consistency<\/h4>\n
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Two or more brands at the same location<\/h4>\n
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