SEO
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HOW “MOVED” BUSINESSES CAN CLOSE THEIR OLD
BUSINESS LISTING MARKED AS “PERMANENTLY CLOSED”
In last couple of years, there have been some reports doing rounds in media circles, that
there are quite a few businesses that have issues with their Google Search listings being
shown in searches as “Permanently Closed”.
This indicates that a business has either closed down or moved their business location to a
new place. In case, relocating businesses fail to update their NAP (Name, Address and
Phone Number) citations in the Google My Business search listings then the relevant
Google searches serve a big, red “Permanently Closed” notice to the searchers; instead
of showing their new business address.
The existing issue concerns many such businesses and Google acknowledges this fact. It is,
in fact, trying to fix the issue through Google My Business support.
Hardly reported in media circles, the solution to the existing issue that concerns most
businesses lies in the Google Map based feature called “Moved”.
Why does the problem arise in the first place?
The problem arises when a business relocates to a new place without updating the new
business address to its Google My Business Page. Google on its part, instructs the moving
business to update its new business location as that will enable it to be in touch with its
business contacts, photos, reviews, followers and other business related information.
More often than not, businesses are hardly aware or forget to update their business listings
on Google’s My Business dashboard. As a result, many such relocated businesses forget to
claim their business listings and often end up being listed as Closed, since they don’t
following the Map Maker’s rule that informs businesses to close listings before relocating.
How you can fix it
As a business owner, if you’re thinking of relocating or have relocated and are facing the
same problem, then just follow these simple steps to successfully update Google with your
new search listings. First and foremost, contact Google My Business Team through
their Twitter handle rather than contacting them over the phone. After connecting with
them via Twitter, ask them to mark your old business listing status as “Moved” which is not
the same as “Permanently Closed” business status.
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