Why your website and Google listing details should match
Customers often see your Google listing first and your website second. If the two say different things, they have to guess which one is right. This guide explains why the details should match, for business owners, and gives you a ten-minute way to check.
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Customers compare the two
Someone who needs a job done may look at your Google listing, tap through to your website, and go back again before they call. If the listing shows one phone number and the website another, or the listing says you are open and the website says you are closed, that person has a reason to doubt both.
Matching details remove that doubt. They do not win the job for you. They take away one reason to hesitate.
Google asks for a consistent name
Google’s guidelines for representing your business (opens in a new tab) say that your name on Google should reflect your business’s real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers.
So the name on your Google Business Profile, the name at the top of your website and the name on your sign and paperwork should be the same name. Extra words that are not part of the real name, such as services or towns, do not belong in the name on your listing.
Google reads your website too
What you type into your profile is not the only thing Google uses. Google explains in how it sources business information (opens in a new tab) that the details shown about a business are compiled from several sources. One of them is publicly available information, such as content from the business’s official website.
Google may also change a profile. It says that if its sources report that a detail is incorrect or out of date, it may update the profile. When someone suggests an edit to your listing and you do not respond within four days, Google may publish the change if it is supported by other publicly available information, such as your business website. This is described in Google updates on your Business Profile (opens in a new tab).
In plain terms: an old phone number or old hours left on your website are one of the things Google can see. Keeping the website correct is part of keeping the listing correct.
The details to compare
- Business name, letter for letter.
- Phone number.
- Address, if you show one. If you travel to customers and show no address, the areas you serve.
- Opening hours, including any public holidays coming up.
- The services you list.
- The website link on your listing. It should open your own website.
A ten-minute check
- Open your website on a phone.
- On a computer, search Google for your business name, so the listing is on the screen beside it.
- Go down the list above, one detail at a time. Read each one on the listing, then find it on the website.
- Write down every difference, however small. “St” and “Street” count.
- Decide which version is true today. Correct the other one.
To change the listing, sign in to the Google Account linked to your profile and select “Edit profile”. Google reviews changes before they go live, so an edit may not appear at once. The steps are in Edit your Business Profile (opens in a new tab).
When something changes
Most mismatches start on the day a detail changes and only one place gets updated. When something changes, update both on the same day.
- New phone number: change it on the listing and on every page of the website.
- Holiday hours: Google lets you set special hours for particular days without changing your regular hours. Put the same dates on your website.
- New areas: update the service area on the listing and the list of areas on the website.
- New business name: Google says that if you change your name after the profile is verified, you might need to verify the business again.
- New address: Google says that if you move after the profile is verified, you must verify the business again.
What matching does not do
Matching details do not control what Google shows, and they are not a way to push a listing up the results. Google makes its own decisions. What matching does is simpler: it means a customer who checks you in two places reads the same thing twice.
Sources
Statements about Google in this guide are based on these official Google pages, checked on the date above.
- Google: Guidelines for representing your business on Google (opens in a new tab)
- Google: Understand how Google sources and uses info in Business Profiles (opens in a new tab)
- Google: Understand Google updates on your Business Profile (opens in a new tab)
- Google: Edit your Business Profile (opens in a new tab)
Would you rather have someone go through both with you?