We spend most of our time helping businesses get their information right online. So it’s a little humbling to share this one, but it’s a good lesson and we’d rather be honest about it.
What happened
Not long ago we noticed our own Denver page showed two different prices. One section said one thing, another section said something else. Easy fix, we thought. We got a quick answer on which number was right, changed the page, and moved on.
Then we checked our pricing page. It said otherwise. The “fix” had actually made the Denver page disagree with the rest of the site, so we had to go back and change it again.
No harm done in the end, but it was a good reminder. The real mistake wasn’t the first wrong price. It was editing before we checked where the right answer lived.
The lesson: find the source first
Every business has facts that show up in a lot of places: prices, hours, phone number, address, service list, service area. Over time those facts get copied onto the website, the Google Business Profile, Facebook, Yelp, directories, flyers and email signatures. Then something changes, and only some of those places get updated.
The fix is simple. Pick one place that holds the official version of each fact. That’s your source of truth. It can be a shared document, a single page on your website, or a note your whole team knows about. Before anyone edits a price or an hour anywhere, they check the source first. If the source needs to change, change it there first, then update everything else to match.
We’ve written before about why we care about being transparent with the people we work with. Owning small mistakes like this one is part of that.
Why this matters for your customers and for Google
When a customer sees one price on your homepage and another on a service page, they don’t assume a typo. They wonder which one you’ll actually charge. When your Google listing says you open at 7 and your website says 8, someone shows up at 7:15 to a locked door. Small mismatches cost trust.
Google pays attention too. It compares your business name, address, phone number, hours and services across your website, your Google Business Profile and other listings. When they agree, Google can be more confident about who you are and what you do. When they don’t, it has to guess. That’s one of the quieter reasons a business can struggle in local search, which we cover more in our Denver local SEO guide.
A simple consistency checklist
Set aside 30 minutes once a quarter, or any time something changes, and walk through this list:
- Prices: If you publish prices or starting rates, do they match on every page that mentions them? Search your own site for the dollar sign to catch strays.
- Hours: Do your website, Google Business Profile, Facebook and any directories show the same hours? Did you set holiday hours?
- Name, address and phone (NAP): Is your business name written the same way everywhere? Is the phone number the same everywhere, including the website footer and contact page?
- Service list: Does your website list the same services as your Google profile? Remove services you no longer offer and add ones you’ve started offering.
- Service area: Do you list the same towns and areas everywhere?
- Google Business Profile: Check categories, description, website link, and any products or services sections. Look for edits Google or the public may have suggested.
- Your source of truth: Is it still current? Does everyone who edits the site or listings know where it is?
None of this is complicated. It’s just easy to skip, and we skipped a step ourselves. Now we check the source first.
Want help checking yours?
If you’d like someone to compare your website, Google profile and listings for mismatches, give us a call at (843) 582-0690 or request a free audit. We’ll show you what doesn’t line up and what we’d fix first.