Clients who have multiple locations for their business often question whether they should have a unique phone number for each location or one phone number that rings to a central line to reroute the calls. Clients who use call tracking numbers and want to be efficient in having one switchboard covering all of their locations run a risk of causing NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) consistency issues. Please see the Google Places Guidelines on this subject. It reads:
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.
- Use a local phone number instead of a call center number whenever possible.
- Do not provide phone numbers or URLs that redirect or “refer” users to landing pages or phone numbers other than those of the actual business.
Bottom Line: There are workarounds that allow call tracking numbers to be displayed as images and the like, but the basic strategy of having multiple locations have unique telephone numbers is the foolproof way to avoid losing placement on Google Places.
Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in Zenergy Works, A Santa Rosa, California Local SEO Services, Website Development and Online Marketing Firm.