Is this business considered a SAB to Google?
-
Hi All,
We have a client who designs and installs custom closets, garage systems, wall beds, home offices, etc. They have a showroom that displays all this for their potential customers to visit.
I have hidden the address for this business but the client has an idea that, since they have this showroom that customers can go to, they should not be considered a SAB.
My issue is with this part of Google's quality guidelines
"If you don't conduct face-to-face business at your location, you must select "Yes, this business serves customers at their locations""
This client does occasionally conduct face-to-face business at the location BUT they serve the customers at their locations.
Opinions and suggestions greatly appreciated!
-
You are very welcome, Amber. I think you've made the right decision!
-
Hi Miriam,
Appreciate your feedback on this. Your reasoning is exactly why I chose to hide the address in the first place but, after the client questioned my decision more than once, I started to wonder if I was almost being too strict.
That response was the reassurance I needed to keep it hidden. Well, that AND avoiding a potentially endless dialogue with Google!
Thanks!
-
Hi Amber,
This is one of those grey area businesses. I can understand why you'd want feedback on this, for sure. I think the answer lies in this statement from you,
This client does occasionally conduct face-to-face business at the location
(emphasis mine)
Given that the bulk of the business model is go-to-client, your client will be safer hiding their address. Now, should they choose not to do so, and should a penalty occur down the road, they could potentially argue with Google staff that the business has a showroom and good reason to have their address shown and you might be able to win on that, but, if you'd prefer to play it safer, then hiding the address is definitely the easiest route for this client.
So, this isn't a totally clear scenario. You could choose to go either way with this client, realizing that one route may lead to a penalty that would then require a potentially endless dialogue with Google, whereas the other route will likely be problem-free. In my opinion, different Local SEOs I know might handle this situation in different ways, so you'll have to make a gut-feeling decision on what you, as the Local SEO on this project, feel is the smartest route for your particular client, weighing all potential outcomes of the 2 choices.
-
If your client serves his customers at their locations it is a SAB. No-brainer is you ask me.
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 News Publisher Benefit?
I'm curious about the benefit of verifying your website in the Google News Publisher Center. Right now my website isn't showing up under "My Sites," and it recommends I submit the site to be reviewed for inclusion. However, when I go to news.google.com and search for news topics we cover, our site does show up sometimes. Will verifying the website in the Google News Publisher Center help to include it in News results more frequently? One thought I had is that perhaps Google will start to ONLY include sites in Google News that the webmaster has verified here. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Image & Video Optimization | | davidkaralisjr0 -
Google+ Local ranking for company with no website
Hi,
Image & Video Optimization | | Ant71
Im about to start helping a small business who has a facebook account but no website. Has anyone got any experience of getting a business ranking locally without a website? Just wandering if NAP details from a facebook / Google+ account helps with local citation building? Or whether a basic website is required? Antony0 -
How do you know if you are listed in google+ local?
OK This Google+ local and Google places merge is confusing. My first question is how do you know if your company is listed in Google+ local? I've done a search in Google Plus (logged in with another gmail account) but couldn't find my company on the results. Second question is that I am also not able to be found in maps.google.com, is this related? Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | donovanfox0 -
Google Places - Bulk Upload Solution
Hi we have a client who currently has over 50 stores in the country (Australia). Some of these stores already have a Google Plus Local Pages and manage them individually. Most of them have reviews, and images. The corporate office wants to place all these stores under one bulk account to bring consistency with the brand and it's image. Now this presents a issue. From our research we have 3 options: 1. Un-verify the listings in each of the accounts and once this has been done, claim them individually in the account you want to manage them under. 2. Delete the listings from Maps and then recreate them under the bulk feed in account. This will allow you to manage them with the rest of your listings more efficiently, however if the stores have any reviews these may be lost. 3. Create new listings and leave the other ones and these should get merged, the issue here is the data could be incorrect and it could cause some duplication. Our goal is to transfer the listings to a single bulk account without losing the - reviews, and images.Or avoiding new problems such as duplicate listing or the listing gets somehow deleted for weeks during the process, causing massive frustration with all the stakeholders involved. I think our best bet is (1) to get the stores to individually unverify their account. However this may risk the lost of reviews and images. Plus it will be highly unlikely that the store owners will follow through or like doing this, and would be a painful long communication process which may take 2+ months. Are they any suggestions on how to best approach this situation? Thanks, Matt Carter
Image & Video Optimization | | Mattcarter080 -
Anyone notice significant impression drops in Google Places on February 20th?
We've read reports, heard from colleagues and some of our clients have experienced a drop in impressions starting on February 20th. Going from an average of 500+ impressions to 10-30. Anyone else experiencing this?
Image & Video Optimization | | WrightIMC0 -
How do you handle local SEO when a business has had multiple names?
Hi, Here is a quite simple question... that comes from a real life example. When a local business, with one phone number and one business location, has been promoting itself with up to 4 different names over the years. How do you handle local SEO? Do you try to update all pages (and directories) on the Web to the new name? Do you keep the existing records as they are and find some ways to show Google - and people - that those are all the same business? Thanks, Adrien O'Leary
Image & Video Optimization | | AdrienOLeary0 -
Google Places Multiple Locations Strategy
Hi, I have client who is a psychology college that has multiple locations across the United States. We currently have a Google places setup for their main location which is in Chicago. They also have multiple locations in California and Washington d.c. My question is what is the best strategy for setting up Google places for each one of their locations? can it all be done from the Chicago Google places account or do I have to build out individual Google places accounts for each location. Thanks!
Image & Video Optimization | | MasonInteractive0 -
Google places: how to deal when competitors spam?
My competitors are spamming in google places, how do I report them? following are a few examples of how they are spamming: Some of them are not local businesses, they somehow managed to get a number and some random address. Some of them have keywords as company names, their exact company name doesn't have any keywords. Some of them have multiple places pages with keywords as company names. how does one deal with it?
Image & Video Optimization | | virtualhandshake0