How To Merge Google+ Local and Google+ Business Pages
Back in August, Google started to allow businesses to merge their Google+ Business page with their Google+ Local listing. The names make it confusing, so think of it this way – you’re merging your Facebook business page with your Google Places map listing.
Now, whenever someone clicks over to get directions or read your reviews, you’re able to brand your page and share social updates – all in one place.
Unfortunately, there are tons of bugs in the system that can make merging your pages a huge pain in the you-know-what. It’s gotten so bad that most local SEO experts (and even a few Google employees) are telling businesses to hold off on merging. It’s definitely a Dr. Frankenstein situation – it’s almost like you’re trying to put two things together that don’t really belong (and you’re holding the result together with a few staples and duct tape).
IMPORTANT NOTE: You are only allowed to merge if you are a legitimate local business with a “real” business address where customers come to you. If you service customers at their location, or if you’re a “Service Area Business” with your address hidden, then you’re not allowed to merge. Yes, that stinks, but Google made the rules.
Even with all the bugs, merging IS possible – but it’s not for the faint of heart. You have to KNOW that there aren’t any problems with your current Google+ Local (Google Places) listing. If you’ve got problems already, the merge will only make things worse.
So – for those of you who want to forge ahead and try to merge, here’s a step-by-step walkthrough of how to do create a Google+ Business page and merge it with yoour Google+ Local listing:
(if you’ve already created your Google+ Business page and just want to see the actual merge steps, skip down to Step 6)
Log in to your Google account, then click the Google+ link on the far left of the black Google navigation bar. Once you’re in Google+, click the Pages icon on the bottom left. You’ll see this page – click the “Create new page” button.
Then you’ll see this screen. Click Local Business or Place – the top left option. THIS IS IMPORTANT – you can’t do a merge unless you choose this option.
Now you’ll enter your phone number. Make sure it’s a local number, not an 800 number – and it has to be the same number that’s on your Google+ Local (Google Places) listing.
Google will pop up a message that it has found a phone number that matches what you entered. Obviously, it should be your business listing from Google+ Local (Places). If your current listing doesn’t show up, something’s wrong and you should stop now. Again, if there are any data problems with your +Local (Places) listing, the merge will only make things worse.
After clicking your listing, you’ll be able to enter your business name (it’s important to put your ACTUAL business name – don’t try to stuff extra keywords). You’ll also be able to enter your website, which is obviously important to have listed. Click the check box to show that you agree with Google’s Pages Terms and click Continue.
Bam! You’ve created your Google+ Business page. Mouse over the Unverified link next to your business name and click Verify Now in the popup, or click the Verify now button on the lower right.
You’ll see this screen next, where Google alerts you to the fact that there’s already a listing for your business on Google search and maps. It’ll show your map pin and your address, taken from your Google+ Local (Google Places) listing. Click the blue Yes, let’s continue button.
Postcard verification is the only option for merges. You’ll have the option to enter your name for the address label, and it shows you a preview of what the card looks like. Click the blue Request postcard button.
Now you’ve just got to wait for your postcard, which should arrive in 7-10 days. Once you get it, mouse over the In Progress link and click the Enter PIN button in the popup, or click the blue Enter PIN button on the lower right. (If you don’t receive the card after 14 days, you can click the Request another PIN link in either location to ask for another card)
Boom! You’ve got a merged Google+ Page. You can upload a cover image and avatar to help brand your page – this will help your map listing stand out from other competitors. You won’t have the short character limit for your business description anymore – you can write a longer, more useful description in the Introduction section. You can even include links! You’ll also have your reviews listed under your About tab, and your social updates will be listed under the Posts tab.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Once you’ve merged your +Business page with your +Local listing, DO NOT USE YOUR PLACES DASHBOARD TO EDIT INFORMATION! You should ONLY make edits inside of Google+ – otherwise, wacky things could happen. Google has been very clear in these instructions, and it’s best to heed their advice when it’s one of the rare occasions that they’ll actually say something straight out.
Social interaction on your Google+ Local listing is one of the factors that determines how your listing will rank locally, so completing a merge and regularly posting engaging content could make a huge difference in how your business shows up in Google.
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[...] How To Merge Google+ Local and Google+ Business Pages, blog.autorevo.com [...]
The most important thing you forgot yo mention is that the verify/merge option is not available for Service Area businesses with their address hidden in the Places entry.
OR for those businesses who have NOT hidden their address yet where they do not have a location staffed and open for walk in customers for the stated hours. Having customers call round to view samples or pay when you happen to be there or any visit which has to be by appointment does not count. MANY businesses have not hidden their address. If Google catch you with a verify tick on a +Local Business page and the Places address is not hidden when it should be you will have to DELETE the +Local Business page and lose all that social effort.
Also having any duplicates search results whilst trying to merge causes a dead end bug with a Google created POI. Even if the right Places entries Google+ page pops up at verify/merge entry time.
Yep, great point Andrew. I just went and added that to the post.
I was writing this with car dealers in mind, as they are our sole clientele – forgot to mention that point for any other businesses who might also read the blog.
[...] my last post about merging your Google+ Business page with your Google+ Local listing, we got a lot of questions from dealers wondering how they could [...]
Greg, just merged client Google + Local with Google + Business…Success!
Thanks for all your help and this great information. Looking forward to merging more!
Awesome! Glad I could help…
Brian Medina just showed me your blog earlier today, so I just followed your instructions step-by-step and was able to successfully merge my Google+ Local and Google+ Business Pages. Thanks for the tips, Greg!
Perhaps I spoke too soon. The merge process seems to have gone successfully all the way to the verify step. However, I couldn’t find the “Write a Review” button anywhere on my new page. Now, I’ve got two pages that looks almost identical (orginal Google Business page and then this new Local page…only the map is the difference).
James – if you just followed the steps yesterday, then you will have just requested the postcard with the PIN – your merge won’t be completed until you get the postcard and enter that number… so it’ll take another 7-10 days.
Once you’ve put the PIN in, the 2 will merge, and you’ll be able to have customers leave reviews on the merged page.
Hey – I am trying to merge a biz page and local page, but i believe the biz page was set up under the “company, institution, & organization” category. Is there any way to know what category it was set up as or is there a way to change the category after the fact?
On the page i dont see a map under the info, so im thinking it was not set up correctly as a local place that would then merge with the places page.
Biz page:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/103180238763237051929/posts
Local page:
https://plus.google.com/106517375873396451167/about?gl=us&hl=en
If there is no way to change the category, should i just delete the biz page and start over? I’m hoping I wont have to do that, but im thinking it might be the only way. Let me know if you have any suggestions. thanks!
Yep, you’re right – the biz page wasn’t set up as a local page. There’s no way to change the page type, either.
You’ve only got 12 people who have circled you, so you’re not losing a ton of connections… should be pretty easy to copy a list of those 12 and let them know what the new URL is once you’ve got the pages merged.
[...] the benefits of being one of the only search results with a head shot. If you’re maintaining a Google Plus Local Listing for your dealership, you already have a Google Plus personal profile. Adding in your authorship [...]
Hi Greg,
Thank for your post, it is one of the few more informed pages we came across about this issue when searching.
We had a local listing that was converted to a Google+ local business page (or merged) however our page doesn’t have a tagline, links, or story area like a standard Google+ Organization/Company page – do you know how we can add these features to our current Google+ local business page? Should we create a separate company page, then try to merge them?
Our current page is here – https://plus.google.com/107373856296766007386/posts
Thanks!
ED Team
Glad you enjoyed the post!
One you merge, the page layout on the about tab is different (because you’ve also got the map/location info and reviews). You can add as much text to the description area as you want, and you can also add links… so just put whatever you want there.
Your page is already a merged page, so you definitely don’t want to try to create another biz page and merge it with what you’ve got.
Hi Greg
Great instructions on merging local listing with business page. However i’m still confused. If the local listing was set up by somebody previous and I can’t access the listing but the business page was set up by me. How would I merge the two?
Here is the googl+ page I set up https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/106943186017389925550/106943186017389925550/posts
Here is our local listing that I didn’t set up
https://plus.google.com/108144775472692643769/about
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to sort this out!
Thanks
Victoria
Victoria –
You definitely don’t want to merge yet! You’ve got to sort out your ownership issues first. If you merge now, it MIGHT work, but all sorts of things won’t work right (most importantly, you won’t be able to respond to reviews and may not be able to edit anything after merging).
You need to get access to the places listing first – if you don’t have access to the account that claimed it before, then you should re-claim it, using the same account you used to create the biz page. Then, you’ll need to get rid of the other manger(s). Go here – http://bit.ly/pluspurge – fill out that form and in the notes section, type in that you know that there are multiple verified page managers, but your account should be the only one. You should get an email from Google within a few days, and then you can email a specific support person and they’ll walk you through the steps to follow to prove you should be the only manager.
Once you know 100% for sure that you’re the only manager, THEN do your merge.
Hi Greg
Thanks for the reply and advice! I have reclaimed the local listing under the same email as the places listing – just waiting for the pin verification to be sent. I hope I’m on the right tracks now!
Thanks again
Victoria
My noggin is about to implode. This is the most useful data on this topic I have found (thank you!). I do have one weird piece of the puzzle you might have an idea on…
We set up a Google+ page a couple of years ago (active), I wasn’t aware of the Google side bar profile options and their connection to the Google+ page SO we started out the Google+ profile from scratch (I think that is an important point, because now the system seems to be confused and not connected properly THOUGH it is a verified page).
Initially our Google+ profile was set up with a gmail account, I got that switched over to our @company.com and then also got the Google+ site verified…
The rearrangement has been to get the Google search side bar profile showing up (which initially appeared to tie in with Google Places… NAY, I set that all up and verified it and evidently the search bar profile pulls from Google+)
Now, with a verified Google+ account and a set up Google Places account… It is still not showing up when you do a Google search in the right sidebar as a profile.
We have a 800# and are a nationwide service area provider (we have a local area code number but since we are nationwide, we prefer to use the 800#).
Now that we have a verified Google+ business page (service area business) I am hesitant to just start out from scratch by creating a new Google+ account when prompted. Seems like that would confuse it even more.
I’m unfortunately thinking I should hold off since it is already confusing and I think I may just make things worse if I attempt a merge… any ideas?
Amy –
I can make this easy for you.
You can’t merge.
The only businesses that are currently allowed to merge are businesses with physical storefronts where customers do business at the actual location. If you’re a nationwide service business, you’re not allowed to merge.
Yes, it stinks. Hopefully Google will come up with a solution for service businesses sometime soon.
Hi Greg,
Excellent article. As someone that spends countless hours working through duplicate listings, merged listings, dis-connected listings, and so on. It is no secret that the Google Plus Local system is loaded with bugs.
So much so that earlier this month that Google even advised us G+ Local specialists not to merge yet.
Here is what they said:
“Google Verified owner in the Google Places for Business: continue to manage your information from the Google Places for Business dashboard and please wait for further instructions. We are working on a smooth upgrade process for everyone.”
Jade from Google has mentioned several times in Forums to hold off merging until Google works the bugs out.
If people have already merged and all is well, great! You are fortunate so far. As you mentioned earlier DO NOT edit in your old dashboard anymore!!!
If you have not merged yet hold off until Google rolls out their so-called automated process with the bugs worked out.
If Google is asking you to merge or trying to force you to, IGNORE IT! Proceed at your own peril!
Make sure everyone at your business is on the same page. I have run into situations where one person is editing in Places and another person merged the listing and is editing through G+. Ooops, listing disappeared or Google created another dupe.
Again great article, and i just wanted to give you a heads up on merging. As of this writing, nothing has changed.
Thanks Jeffrey –
And yeah, they’re pretty vocal about not merging because of all the bugs – but a lot of business owners want to throw caution to the wind and do it anyway, so we wanted to put out instructions on how you should merge.
We’ve seen some pretty awesome results from dealers who’ve merged, and we know it works most of the time…
but you’re right – if you’re really worried about how things might turn out, it’d be best to wait.
How long does it typically take for the two pages to merge? We received our PIN and entered it in yesterday for the Google+ business page verification. Should the merge happen instantly or does it take a few days? Right now we are still seeing two separate pages.
Usually it’s immediate, but it can take a day or two for the reviews to show up over there…
if you’re still seeing separate pages, you should head over to the Google forums and post – let Google know that something’s wonky.
Thanks…guess I will give that a try.
Hi Ray,
We have set a bunch of our clients up as a “Company” as we thought this was the correct thing to do. Now, it seems in order for their Plus and Local accounts to merge they need to be under the category of Local Business or Places.
Do you know of a way that you change an existing “Company” categorized page to make it “Local Business or Places” so that we can merge ours together?
Thanks in advance.
Jack –
Currently, there’s no way to change a category once the G+ page is created. Your only option is to delete your “company” page and start a new “local” page… or, you could wait it out and hope that Google eventually lets you change categories.
Thanks to your post I was also able to get a client verified and merged. Man, what a pain. I was doing everything as instructed, but the postcard wouldn’t come. I had to request it 3 times. I also noticed a “Do you you need help verifying” link. Funny…..
Thank you, Greg – super post. I originally came across it 2 months ago and following your advice, sorted out the issues we were having with our Google Places account *before* setting up a new Google+ Business page. My postcard is now in the mail. Fingers crossed all runs smoothly from here!
[...] need to have your Google+ Business Page set up. If you haven’t created one yet, check out this blog post (just follow the first 5 steps). Make sure you’ve got several great photos of your location [...]
[...] order to merge your Google+ pages together there is a long laundry list to tackle. Here is the best diagram available to help you on this quest should you choose to merge your local [...]
Greg,
Very useful article, thanks! Are there any additional updates with all the changes Google has made to G+ and Local in the past few months? I know they revamped the Local dashboard (or will, eventually…) so they’re trying to make the process easier. I wonder if that might have affected some of your steps or screenshots.
For example, I just went through this these steps and everything lined up perfectly, except for an alert that a Local page already existed. If I didn’t see that message, should I expect to still have two pages after verification or have they removed that message assuming that local business want to merge the two pages?
Thanks again.
Andy –
Yep, thanks to all the changes, things are a bit different now. For newly claimed places, if you get the new interface layout, you don’t have to do a merge. We’ve done merges as recently as last week that still use this method though.
If you already have a place page claimed, and you’re on the G+ for business side, it will let you know that there’s already a Places location for that business – you should be requesting the merge from the same Google account, and everything should come out ok.
Obviously, once the new dashboard is applied to everyone, we’ll put out an update that shows the new process…
I merged our Places and Business Page many months ago and now realize that I don’t have the common Business Page sections such as Story and Links, where other businesses are allowed to list important links. We want to include links to our YouTube channel and patient reviews!
Was I too early to get the right G+ local page merged interface? My interface is not as robust as other business pages. I want the link section!
Here is my G+ page interface:
https://plus.google.com/b/110588674281493095912/110588674281493095912/about
Can I get the interface that other business pages have? Also, I was not aware that I should no longer change info in my Places account. What will happen since I have already done that? OYE.
thank you,
I must say this is one of the most resourceful post in regards to merging G+ business page with G+ local listings with a step by step procedure.
Well I being a manager for a Google business page, want to merge multiple local listings to clients G+ business page. The G+ business page is already verified and at present have one listing which I need to merge. Well the business is about local tutors in NYC and the clients is providing services in 2 locations. So I’m in the process of creating another local listing for the client. Just had a few queries:
1. As a manager do I have the priviledge to merge the G+ business page with G+ local listing?
2. Except for the business address & timings, will the rest information remain the same for the listing?
3. Will I need to verify the the business page everytime a listing is being merged?
Looking forward to your reply.
Thanks Samantha
There’s no solution for merging multiple local listings to a single G+ biz page. You’ll need to keep them separate…
OR, you could create 2 separate G+ biz pages, so that you could merge with each location – but you still end up with 2 separate properties, so it doesn’t really save you any effort – if anything it creates more effort moving forward, since you’d have to update on 2 different properties.
A very useful guide, thanks for this!