Local Listings for a Virtual Product

[theLotter]

My company sells very geographically specific products online.  We have local offices in cities connected to the product and they are labeled with terms such as "florida widget".

Could I use local SEO and add my website link to Google maps, etc... with the local address or is that not allowed since the products are not sold in the physical local office but rather online?

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Sara,

To qualify for local inclusion, your business needs to meet these criteria:

1. Has a unique street address (not a PO box, not a virtual office)

2. Has a unique local area code phone number in the city of location (not an 800 number or tracking number)

3. Has face-to-face transactions with its customers, either at the place of business (like a hair salon) or at the customers' locations (like a window washer).

It sounds like #3 may be the sticking point for you. Do you have in-person transactions with your customers? Feel free to provide further details on this.

[polarking]

I agree with Matt. I have an online store with a local pickup option. I ship all over the US but do not do local SEO in the city where I am based. If your product is specific to the region you should be allright with a local SEO effort.

[theLotter]

Thanks! Could doing this limit my SEO to specific cities.  For example, if I have a listing in Paris could my SEO efforts in the rest of France be negatively affected since the listing is not in those cities?

[matbennett]

I'd double check the terms, but I reckon this is ok.  You have a real physical location at each spot, which is exactly what Google wants to map. They specifically ask whether you serve customers at each location or not when you submit to places, so that isn't a criteria to be listed.