You’ve spent countless hours trying to create a business that you want the world to know about. You’ve hired the best SEM firm in town, ran PPC advertising, and created back links to entice people to visit your site. You’re hoping that with more visitors, you’ll get to that coveted position of the first search page of search results on Google.com.

However, all of your hard work, sweat, tears, and dollars are riding on Google to present your business in a way that is professional and fair…and unfortunately, Google doesn’t seem to be getting the message.

From PDQ to pdq: Capitalization Issues

Your name is Paul David Quentin, a name that has been passed down through your family for years. You bear the name proudly and you want your business to bear the name as well. Unfortunately, there are several other businesses with the same initials, so what do you do? You use all capital letters in order to differentiate between yourself and the other businesses. Problem is Google Maps doesn’t like business names in all caps.

There are several instances in which business have registered their names with Google Maps in order to bring in more business, but when they go in search of the business name, the name has been reduced to lowercase letters. Why? Google Maps flags business names that use all capital letters and makes them all lowercase letters.

What does this mean for your business? People tend to overlook businesses written in lowercase letters because of the idea that lowercase means less important. Of course, this isn’t the case, but many businesses still fall victim to this misconception.

What used to be a proud family name has been reduced to a bland line of letters that no one seems to notice despite the amount of time and energy you’ve poured into it.

From McDonalds to Mcdonalds to McDonald’s: Lettering Inconsistency

Another problem with Google Maps is that it can’t seem to decide what to do with business names that have capital letters in the middle. McDonalds turns into mcdonalds or Mcdonald’s. McAfee turns into mcafee or Mcafee. Honestly, will an entire line of lowercase letters grab your attention on a page littered with business names and information? It’s doubtful.

Problems that Make a Business Suffer

So how does the inconsistencies in Google Maps cause problems for business listings? In order for their business names to appear as it does in advertisements, letter heads and other business literature, businesses have had to literally change their names. Example: PDQ turned into pdq on Google Maps, so the owner changed the name on the Google Maps listing to P.D.Q. in order to keep the lettering from turning into a blob of uninteresting blah.

So is Google Maps dealing with the present issues? Not in the foreseeable future- but businesses can adapt by changing the spelling of their names, adding spaces between letters or not using the Google Maps service at all.

This post was written by Danica Sorber, owner of DSorber Media Works.