Local listing | Virtual office
-
Hi Miriam (and all Local SEO mozers), I read a couple of your answers where you advice people in different situations not to consider a virtual office when creating their Google Places listing and I would like to know if you would apply the same advice in my case. This is the scenario: I have a client who's in the limousine service in Orlando, he just bought the URL and registered the business with the City using a "virtual office" in Orlando. This virtual office provides him a physical address, local area phone number, 411 listing, a listing for the businesses in that building and an office to have his meetings. This is the part where it gets confusing when I read your answers and I will give you an example. You said here:
_The requirements in order to qualify for a Google Place Page are that you have: __1. A legal business name__2. A local area code phone number__3. A physical street address (not a P.O. box or virtual office) to which customers either come to do business with you or from which your employees depart in order to serve customers at their locations (think chimney sweep, landscaper, etc.)_Number 3 says "A physical street address (not a P.O. box or virtual office) to which customers either come to do business with you".
My client is going to rent one of those virtual offices, which does have a physical address, on as-needed basis. This office actually does exist. Why would Google have anything against it?
One of the reasons why he chose that location is because he is running the business from home and he does not want the clients to see it.
Another reason is the image he wants to create for his company by having a different address where he can hold meetings and such. The phone number will be either a local land-line or a local cell phone number, in any case, it will be a _local area code phone number. _
So this is where we stand: he dispatches the cars from home (he does not have a garage, the cars stay with the drivers 24 hours) but he meets his clients and business partners at the other address. There is nothing fake about it, he does have a legal business name, a local area code number and a real place where customers come to do business with.Which address should I use for his Google Places listing?
-
Thank you Miriam
And likewise, some excellent points from yourself.
-
Hi Echo,
Honored to be so quoted in your post
Simon has made excellent points!
Here are my questions:
Is the office space being simultaneously used by other businesses? If so, then it is likely sharing an address, unless as Simon notes, each address is being assigned a unique suite number to which mail can be delivered. This is quite important, as the business will more than likely have to deal with postcard verification.
Additionally, is the landline located within the office? Or is it re-directing to elsewhere so that it can be answered? The truth is, if Google offers a postcard-only verification option, the whole point about what type of local phone number it is becomes somewhat moot, because they aren't calling you. But, in the event that they request phone verification, you could run into a problem if the the phone isn't a direct landline.
From your post, it is clear that much of the criteria is being met. The business owner is holding meetings with clients and employees at this location, so that is one of the key metrics for inclusion. But the business about the address on an as-needed basis gives me pause as it sounds as thought other people are using the same space, meaning the scenario could turn into a real mess if the address is not unique to the business.
Please, feel free to give more details.
-
You're welcome.
If the address is exactly the same then it raises suspicions as each business should usually have it's own unique address.
Though if it is just very slightly different that will be fine, e.g.
- Suite 4, Example Center, Example Street...
- Suite 4a, Example Center, Example Street...
those are different addresses so would be fine and not against the Guidelines as far as I know, so long as the other criteria are still met such as a local landline phone number...
Regards
Simon
-
Thanks Simon,
"So long as that exact same real address is not shared with another business" Did you find that this is against Google's guidelines?
-
Hi Echo1
It sounds like you already know the answer, well done for checking though. It's not always straight forward and best to check.
From what you've said, there is a real physical location from which the business owner meets clients and does business, the office that's being rented.
So long as that exact same real address is not shared with another business, plus the landline is at that address, then it will be no problem with the local listing as all the requirements are met incl. a real legal business name, a local landline phone number and that real physical address where business activities take place.
Unless something changes from what you've described, all criteria appear to have been met for a local listing for the office that's being rented. Give it a go and chances are all will be fine with the listing.
Regards
Simon
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
-
Google Places for Business - multiple accommodation listings
Hi there I have a client who runs a holiday rental accommodation business in Australia. The business model is: a single brand (+ website) with multiple holiday homes (each with their own physical address). So, I have two questions: 1 - She currently has her Google Places for Business configured where there is one 'brand' Places account with an individual listing for each holiday home. How is it best to link the Google Places account to a (yet to be created) Google+ profile? 2 - Google's quality guidelines are a little grey around 'rental accommodation'. She does not run a real estate company but the properties are technically being rented which I fear contravenes Google's quality guidelines for Google Places. Does anybody experience in this area (the competition is doing it left, right and centre). Thanks in advance! Laurie
Image & Video Optimization | | turnbullholdingsltd1 -
Sat in a York Based Office but I get a Google Lincoln local listing :-(
Buongiorno from 27 degrees C Wetherby UK 🙂 Imagine this scenario... I'm sat in a York Based HQ law office and Google term Langleys and the Local listing is for Lincoln is rendered 😞 The lincoln office is the smaller sister site 75 miles south of where I'm sitting as illustrated here appears (this is wrong) -
Image & Video Optimization | | Nightwing
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/langleys-local-listing-jinxcopy_zps26e3492a.jpg I then do the same thing in a wetherby based office and get the York based local listing appears. So my question is please" what is influencing which local listing is rendered?" Confused,
David0 -
Yahoo! Local
Is anyone else experiencing issues with Yahoo! Local listings when trying to make edits? It seems SUPER buggy right now. Just curious is anyone else is having the same setbacks. Thanks!
Image & Video Optimization | | AmberRobinson0 -
Ranking Differences for Google+ Local vs. Places Listings
I'm seeing some odd behavior with Google+ Local and Google Places listings for clients. I'm wondering if anyone else is seeing it... Here's the situation: We've recently bought on 4 new clients that all have duplicate listing issues, and, weirdly, all have both places and a Google+ local created listings. For three of those four, the Google+ local listing is outranking the Places account for a brand name search (e.g. Dr. John Doe). Weirdly, in one instance, the Google+ local account that is outranking the Places page is named in a less accurate fashion. e.g searching for "Dr. John Doe" the rankings look like this... A) John Doe Plastic Surgery, P.C. - Dr. John Doe B) Dr. John Doe, MD Anyone else seeing this sort of behavior? How are you creating local listings for clients these days - via the places dashboard, or Google+ Local?
Image & Video Optimization | | BedeFahey0 -
Want Local Listing Backlinks but Don't Want People Stopping By
Hello, How can my client use the local listing backlinks like those in this article, http://blog.iacquire.com/2012/05/21/5-ways-to-build-relevant-local-links/ but make sure no one stops by the office? Thanks.
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Google + Local for client with no physical address and multiple phone nos
Hi I have a client who is service-based and goes out to his local customers' homes to conduct his business. He operates from home so does not want to show his home address, he also has a number of local telephone numbers that divert to his mobile. I was wondering which type of category to put his business into, my ideal would be local business but for that I need to add the address the question is can I still hide the address the way you used to in the old format or is there other recommendations to optimise his local placement?
Image & Video Optimization | | AllieMc0 -
Local listing sites - are they better than directories and is there a list?
Do you guys know of any local listing sites that are better quality than general directories that still give you a link back. I know a lot of them for local citations, but I'm wondering if there is a list somewhere of ones that include a link. Thanks.
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Backlinks & local search?
I'm aware that local search is mostly based on citations, and how well your Google places page is optimized, and the landing pages are optimized. But I was wondering if anyone could tell me if backlinks have any relevance in the local search results? And if they do, how much would you say the impact the local search results? could you estimate a % of total value? Also if they do, does it help to have backlinks that point at your places page urls? or should the backlinks just point at your places page landing pages?
Image & Video Optimization | | adriandg0