Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Does displaying a mobile number for business hurt local SEO?
-
Perhaps a silly question but could someone please clarify if displaying a mobile number in the main site or Google places etc would hurt local SEO? Is having a regional landline/fixed telephone number a ranking factor?
EDIT: This is for a UK site, does anyone have experience of this is UK please?
-
My pleasure Clicksjim!
-
Hi Miriam, wow - thanks for going to all that trouble, appreciated!
-
Hi Clicksjim,
There's nothing silly about your question. I think it's a smart one. It took me a couple of days to get back to you on this because, like others on this thread, though I work in Local, I don't work in the UK. I wanted to speak with someone who does. We had a little chat.
Basically, I think there is agreement in the Local SEO community that a local area code is a ranking signal, but the strength of that signal, in relation to all of the many other signals, is unknown. It may be that Google uses that local area code signal to associate certain content with a geographic region, but how vital this is, in the whole scheme of things, is unclear.
The Local SEO I know (a very smart guy I trust) with UK clients says he ALWAYS advises clients to use a local area code landline because he feels it may give them a slight edge over competitors who don't, but he didn't state that he felt it gives them a really big advantage (but, most of us will try to take any opportunity we have to edge out the competition, right?). Another Local SEO I spoke with said he wondered if mobile numbers get less calls that landlines do, but he was just theorizing.
So, in your shoes, I would go with a local number for your UK clients, if you can, because it may give these clients a bit of an advantage, but if you absolutely can't do this for some of your clients, the effect will probably be slightly disadvantageous rather than majorly. so.
Hope this helps!
-
I would say that if your mobile phone has the same area code as your business then you should be golden. Having this local number attached to your business is definitely a good signal.
-
Unfortunately I do not have experience in the UK. I have done a smattering of work in New Zealand (for friends, since that's where I'm from originally) where the mobile number system doesn't have area codes (027 and 021 are the only two prefixes for mobile). For more competitive phrases, I've never seen a business using a mobile number rank. This is only for a very small amount of work, however, and it could well be that there are other factors in play (such as the fact that the people using mobile numbers don't have any optimization, either).
I have a hard time believing that the UK algo would be so massively different from the US one that it would ignore phone number area codes.
Because it's a fairly big factor in the US, if I were being asked to make the call, I'd go with a landline with a local area code, which forwards to your mobile.
-
Thanks for your resposnes - I forgot to mention that this is a UK based site so there are no regional mobile numbers whereas I think there is in the states and some other countries. Does anyone have experience of this in UK?
-
No. There's no difference between a mobile number and a landline number. So long as the mobile number has a local area code.
As Anita said, just remember to be consistent.
-
Just be consistent and list the number you use most often. For me that is my mobile number.
-
Yes Having a regional landline/fixed telephone number is Good signal for local SEO. And putting mobile number will not going to hurt your SEO. Here is the awesome post on Citation ( your problem
Hope this help you out...
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
-
Can I use PO boxes as an actual business Address?
Hi mozzers, A potential future client(electrician) covers 40+ locations in one region(local SEO) but only has 1 address. He wants to rank for at least 5 to 7 main locations which he has PO boxes for. Can I use these as addresses on his website or will it be seen as violating the google guideline? If it is no good what should I do? Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
Local SEO: Ste vs. Suite vs. #
Hi, I used the spelled out "Suite" in my local NAP, but sometimes it's been shortened to Ste by citation websites. I'm trying to remain consistent here Should I use Ste H, Suite H, or #H? This is a good article on it: http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local-citations/1605-suite-vs-ste-vs-your-citation-addresses-2.html but I'd still like your opinion.
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Google maps displaying wrong image
Hi, I couldn't figure this out, how do i change image that shows up on the right side for maps results, do i change it in my Google places account ?(which i did and and its a first one) or in Google plus, i just cant get it? Thanks for help.
Image & Video Optimization | | Davidmez0 -
Multiple businesses under the same physical address
If I am running one business at one address and I start a new business what should I do to avoid triggering spam filters for having 2 businesses using the same address. I've been told by an seo that I trust the best way to do this is create a suite #. If I do this then I have to change all the addresses on the existing campaigns for the Primary business because if I create suite #'s it changes the primary's address by doing this.
Image & Video Optimization | | NormanNewsome0 -
Local Citation Sites
After searching through many local citation site I find that most only apply to the US. Are there any really good ones in Canada?
Image & Video Optimization | | casper4340 -
Local SEO: How to optimize for multiple cities on website
Hi, I couldn't find any reference to this, so if the answer is already here, I would appreciate a link to the answer. That said, my question is this: When a local business services a large geographic area, I wanted to know how to optimize for the multiple towns? I already have the main city in my title tags, but there are at least 40 areas that surround this town. Should I have a "Services Area" page, and place all the towns there, or should they all be in the footer? I saw this one guy - in the same niche who put all the towns in his meta keyword section - but I think that's incorrect, especially since Google doesn't look at that particular meta tag. Any help would be appreciated.
Image & Video Optimization | | jayestovall1 -
Yext vs Localeze vs UBL for Local SEO
Which of these services is the best? Does anyone have experience with all three?
Image & Video Optimization | | nicole.healthline2 -
Looking for beta testers for new free video SEO/marketing tool
We're getting ready to release a free tool to the SEO community that we hope will help marketers better create and optimize/market great video content. Hint: the tool has features built in to help you analyze video rankings in universal search results. 🙂 We'd like to get feedback from a few beta users first, though. If you'd be willing to give us your honest feedback in return for getting to use the tool early (and getting to suggest features you'd like), please PM me. Thanks in advance!
Image & Video Optimization | | AdamThompson0