I need some help with my addresses, please.
-
I've only ever had a mailing address for my business, but I now have a new physical address which I use to meet clients at, and it's in a different city. There's no mailing address at the physical location though, so I'm keeping my mailing address at the post office where's it always been.
What should I do about changing my address? Should I change it, or leave it alone? I could add it easily to my website, as a physical address and a separate mailing address. But what about my Google Maps listing, social sites, and citations?
I rank at the top for my keywords in my original city, so I don't really want to lose that. Would it be a good idea to add a location/landing page to my website for the new city, to help me rank there?
Hope that made some sense - thanks in advance.
-
Hi Coppell,
Google puts the burden on business owners to become aware of and read Google's guidelines. They won't stop you from creating most listings that violate the guidelines, but these listings can then be taken down for violations if a) Google catches them, or, b) a consumer or competitor reports them.
The only time you should create a Google My Business listings is if it is guideline-compliant. Otherwise, you are putting effort into something that's a liability to your brand and reputation, instead of being an asset.
So, unfortunately, you were unaware of Google's guidelines in this and have built rankings and reviews around an ineligible address. Regarding the new address, I had asked some questions. You mention it has no postal delivery. Why is that? Is it on a brand new street? How do business owners occupying your street receive mail? Also, you mention you are sharing this office with a friend. Are they in the same business category as you?
-
Hello,
The new office space is shared with another friend of mine. I will not be changing the mailing address, because of convenience reasons.
I am ranking organically and locally. I had no idea I wasn't allowed to have a mailbox as my address. How was I able to do this if it's a violation?
Should I change the address? Even if it's working well -no issues with spam so far. Would I lose my reviews? I really don't want that to happen.
Thank for your help.
-
Hi Coppell,
Thanks so much for asking about this. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you formerly built a Google My Business listing for a mailbox, that was actually a violation of Google's guidelines which state:
PO Boxes or postboxes located at remote locations are not acceptable.
So, if you've achieved local pack rankings based on this ineligible mailbox address, I'm afraid these would be viewed as unearned and could be removed as spam. You haven't specified whether you are talking about ranking well organically or locally, but if it's the latter, then this is definitely a concern.
Now, as you mention, you do have a real, physical office where you are meeting customers face-to-face. Can you please provide a bit more information about why it has no mailing address? Are you saying your city doesn't deliver mail to you there? Something else? Where does mail get delivered to businesses located at this new location?
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 SERP HELP
hey guys - a new member here, and huge issue i can't seem to wrap my head around where i could really use yalls help! I oversee about a couple firemen in my local neighborhood - however the issue lies in this: Lets say theres 50 firmen total if i look up lets say his name is 'john james fireman' on google then him and his GMB appears - great awesome, right?
Local Listings | | Johndavisx
Well then, if I search a second employee lets say her name is jill jansen and i look up 'Jill Jansen fireman' what happens is that john james GMB appears when i search her name then lets say i search another employee - calling him "jake bo" - if i look up "jake bo fireman" john james GMB STILL shows up - even though no where are there names related THEN the confusing part is that he only appears for select employees, not all of them. I don't know if this a metatagging issue, i went through his content seo and nothing seems to trigger it, so im at a loss - Any help would be greatly appreciated1 -
Client Being Outranked by Horrible Websites with No SEO--Help!
Hi guys, We have a client that we are having some issues with. We have done extensive directory work for them, website enhancements, etc. so this is unusual. Hermantown is an extremely small city in MN so companies there normally target Duluth. Our client is hardly ranking locally in Google maps or organically yet their competitors are showing up who have horrible websites, no SEO, and located in the same city—Hermantown yet showing up locally for Duluth searches. We just can’t seem to move up the ladder no matter how hard we try. Here is the company: www.mmtheating.com We are completely at a loss for next steps on how to help this client improve. We’re wondering if there may be a penalty against them for some reason but we always have had very ethical practices. Thanks in advance for your insights!
Local Listings | | JohnWeb120 -
Help with Google+ business name rules
I'm marketing a franchise gym business that has multiple locations within the same city. For the business name, I used to have it set as "Business Name" + City + Tagline. For example: "Ultimate Workout South Calgary Gym and Bootcamps". and "Ultimate Workout North Calgary Gym and Bootcamps". To comply with the google business naming rules I've updated all the listing to just business name. The problem is, now the local search results for my gym locations are confusing. Half the address is cut off in the results, the city is not displayed at all. And sometimes results from a neighbouring city are shown. Anyone have an idea on how to implement a strategy where people at a quick glance understand which location is best for them?
Local Listings | | John-Ray0 -
In 2015, How Important is having a Local IP address (rather than a cheaper hosting overseas)?
Looking to move several sites from my current hosting provider, and am considering moving them to cheaper, overseas hosting providers. What's the current thinking of how this will impact local SEO results?
Local Listings | | SEO-NS1 -
What is the best address format to display for a buissness for SEO?
There is a new location opening soon and would like to set up local pages for it. What is the best/most SEO friendly way to write out the physical address? I looked on USPS and they show: 7227 W GRAND PKWY S
Local Listings | | nat88han
RICHMOND TX 77407 But local businesses seem to have the West and South written out: 7301 West Grand Parkway SouthRichmond, TX 77407Is there a best practice for this, or does it not make much of a difference as long as the website/local listings all match exactly? Not sure about writing out "West" or using "S." for the cardinal direction.0 -
Unable to update client address in G+/Moz Local
Hello, I'm having an issue with Moz Local that involves a few complicating factors. I have a client who has moved to a new office and I was hoping to use Moz Local to help keep their NAP consistent during the transition. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the Google+ page that was set up for the business (and neither does my client). The client is relatively new, so we suspect the page was set up by the person/agency that set up their website previously. And since Moz Local gets the business address from the Google+ page it finds, and I can't access that page to change its address, I can't update the address in Moz Local. I DO have access to the client's website and Facebook account, and have already updated their listed address on those pages, but the Google+ page seems to still be a problem for verification. One of the other wrinkles is that since I have updated the Facebook page to show the new address, Moz Local has picked that up as a completely separate listing (a listing that uses an "and" instead of an "&" in the name). I was hoping to claim/verify THAT listing and see if I could merge the 2, but this other listing shows up as a separate purchase on Moz Local. I would prefer not to have to pay twice for the same listing, if at all possible. I would try to change the Facebook page name to use "&" instead of "and" in the hopes that Moz Local might recognize that it's the same business, but it looks like Facebook only allows you to change a page's name once, and I don't want to burn what might be needed to solve some other future problem. Lastly, the Moz Local listings are under another Moz account. I DO have access to that account, and can provide any specifics to the Moz staff if needed. To sum up: I can't change an address on Google+ and therefore cannot change the address on Moz Local. I'm not sure if this is a Moz Local issue, a Google+ issue, or (most likely) an issue on both ends, so any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks!
Local Listings | | BrianAlpert780 -
2 Company Divisions One Address
Hi, we have a client that has 2 distinct divisions 1)XYZ Construction and 2)XYZ Pools they reside at the same address and share a phone number. They do have 2 different websites. How can we handle this from a Local listing perspective without getting our listings merged or penalized?
Local Listings | | JohnWeb120 -
Local SEO: How many consistent citations needed to rank
Hello, Can you guys analyze this site and see how many (quality, consistent) citations they'll need to rank 1st (in local results) for the two following local terms: weight loss salt lake city hypnosis salt lake city website: The Brain Trainer LLC www.expandingpotentials.net Thank you
Local Listings | | BobGW0