Local Search for Home Businesses
-
I'm a home based business. I know Google has cracked down on PO boxes and UPS locations. What is one to do if they work from home but don't conduct business with clients from their home office? How can I get an address that's Google-approved?
-
Hi there!
I suggest reading through this blog from Moz: https://mza.seotoolninja.com/blog/are-coworking-offices-eligible-for-google-my-business-listings
While the main topic of the article is coworking spaces, it also addresses virtual offices and how this impacts your chances of ranking in the local pack.
In the article, it says: Virtual offices fail to meet Google guidelines, including:
- Make sure that your page is created at your actual, real-world location.
- Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible.
- Provide your regular customer-facing hours of operation.
- If your business rents a temporary, "virtual" office at a different address from your primary business, do not create a page for that location unless it is staffed during your normal business hours.
Hope this helps!
-
I agree with Matt and Robert. You can have a Google My Business listing that will show up in search results using a service-area-business designation and hidden home address.Where you will run into trouble is if you want to rank well in local search results and you have citation-rich competitors.
I say that b/c even though (as Matt points out) there are hidden-address citation sources, they are few and far between. You will have a hard time accumulating enough of those to outrank the competition.
If you're not worried about rankings and you just want visibility with people who already know your brand, you'll be fine.
-
Hi there,
I would also add that you don't have to use your home address in order to show up on Google Maps (Matt alluded to it with SAB's). You can provide an address to Google without having to showcase it to the public and it will rank similarly.
I have several clients who work from home but don't conduct any business there as a brick and mortar location. The only time you run into trouble here is if you try to show yourself appearing in multiple locations without concrete addresses, which it doesn't sound like you're doing.
Also really like Matt's suggestion of the hidden address citations. That's a neat resource I haven't seen before.
Feel free to reach out any time and we can discuss further if you like.
Cheers,
Rob
-
You are referring to what is called a service area business (SAB). Here a useful link for you: https://mza.seotoolninja.com/blog/intro-local-seo-service-area-businesses
Also, you should check out this great list of local citations that allow you to hide your address: http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2013/04/22/private-local-citations-where-can-you-list-your-business-but-hide-your-address/
Matt
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Does having a Google My Business website help my local seo?
Everybody says it's important to put as much information as you can into your Google My Business listing. I'm wondering if it helps to take Google up on it's offer to give you a free website in addition to the website I already have of my own.
Reviews and Ratings | | KenLapp1 -
Not showing up in Google Local Pack despite being #1 ranked for keyword
Hey everyone, This has been an on-going problem that we've been having for a select location of ours. We've been #1 ranked for the keyword "dog groomers near me", however we don't show up in the Google Local Pack (top 3 locations box). We have a high 4.9 rating with 20+ ratings, and the other locations that DO show up have a 2.4 and 3.6 rating with less reviews! I've exhausted every resource and have even geo-tagged our specific photos on our landing pages. I'm not sure what to do anymore as we're already #1 ranked on every similar keyword. Thank you, Anthony
Reviews and Ratings | | anthonydegalbo0 -
Delete Google Business Listing
Hi there, I'm trying to delete a Google business address but need to know that this will not effect the other apps linked to my google business profile (analytics for example). Do these work independently? I dont really want to delete the profile but the company I work for feel the review section will be detrimental. Thanks!
Reviews and Ratings | | KateOBrien1 -
Yelp Jumps Into Home Services - Will You Jump With Them?
Hey To All Our Local Adepts 🙂 You know how Amazon, Google and Facebook have all been experimenting with how they can become the middleman between customers needing home services and companies that provide those services? Well, Yelp is getting into the game now, too. On the one hand, so many local business owners know the very real impact their Yelp profile can have on their bottom line. I've spoken to local business owners who have told me Yelp drives more phone calls than their own websites do. On the other hand, Yelp has not had an unblemished relationship with business owners or Local SEOs. This interesting tension between Yelp's dominance in the review world and their satisfaction track record in the business community makes me wonder how many people will try out their new leads program and whether business owners will trust Yelp less or more than Amazon, Facebook or Google. What do you think? Would you be interested in giving Yelp's new program a try? If you're advising clients, which of the four emergent home service programs (Google, Yelp, Facebook or Amazon) would you suggest first, and what would you base your recommendation on? Has anyone tried Yelp's program yet? How's it going?
Reviews and Ratings | | MiriamEllis4 -
What are some powerful reviews websites for online-only businesses?
Looking for a small handful of places that I can lead customers to, following a transaction with my dot com (i.e., no brick and mortar presence) business, so that they can leave reviews Chiefly interested in the sites that Google is most likely to notice Thanks! 🙂
Reviews and Ratings | | ntcma0 -
Bing Local Lists Yelp Reviews From Another Business At Shared Address
Hi everyone, I am having a problem with Bing local listings and am hoping someone might be able to help me out. Basically I am working with a business that shares an address with another (separate legal entities, different owners, different phone, different domain). Both are bathroom remodelers, but one uses the space as a storefront/showroom, the other is strictly a service area business and uses the space for storage/office space (this is the one I am working with). I have claimed their listing on bing local and set it to hide the address. The problem I am having is that for whatever reason, Bing local is associating the yelp page of business 1 (showroom) with business 2 (business 2 is not currently on yelp). My question: what options do I have to remedy this? Is there a way to request a manual review of sorts to have this fixed? Would it be sufficient to create/verify a yelp page for business 2 and hope that Bing picks up on this?
Reviews and Ratings | | rbmac0 -
Difference between Google Plus Page and Google Business Page
Hi, Just wondering the differences between a Google Plus Page, and a Google Business page please? Should I have both? Also, will reviews for the business automatically show on both pages.. as Im starting to guess this is not the case? Thank you for the time to respond.
Reviews and Ratings | | Ampweb0 -
Where Google+ Local Gets Listings?
I've seen a lot of business owners mention that their website is on Google+ Local but they say they never added it. Does anyone know which companies Google buys databases from and lists the businesses and unclaimed? And how often do they do this?
Reviews and Ratings | | CyberAlien0