Any Legit Local Address Services Out There?
-
I have a client who lives in the UK but runs a US ecommerce site. I'd still like to get him some local trust signals but he has no options when it comes to getting an address here. Has anyone found a reputableplace where you can rent an address that isn't already being used by umpteen other companies?
-
might be best to use a professional mailing company. that could also help if you get any actual mail there. most mail forwarding companies will do additional services like mail scanning too. we recommend- US GLobal Mail- www.usglobalmail.com
-
There are actually a lot. One thing it depends on is the price range. One that I have had clients use before is regus and using their virtual office packages. http://www.regus.com/products/virtual-offices/virtual-office-bundles.aspx
-
But if he is not trying to get a Google Places listing, but just establish that they are a US based business for Google.com organic listings, then I think that would be appropriate use of a mailbox service in the US. He is trying to show to Google that they do service the US via an ecommerce websites.
I have used Earth Class Mail earthclassmail.com as we are a virtual company in the US. Everyone works out of home offices, but we deliver services via the web. ECM can give you a physical address (not a PO box) and scan all your mail in and then you can access online. If you need the actual copy, you just pay the forwarding fees. Has worked great for us.
-
Often you can use the address of an attorney as a local address. If you have a relationship they may not charge you. They will charge you time for any calls they have to answer as well as the time and cost associated with forwarding any mail. If these terms are acceptable this works fairly well.
-
Hi Erick,
Good question. There are services like ActivSpace.com which will rent a small, legitimate office with a front door and phone hookup for a modest fee. This would normally be utilized by local business owners who do not have an established professional office, do not want to publish their home address as their office, and who are hoping to make headway in the local search engine rankings with a modest but legitimate local address that will be staffed during normal business hours so that customer can come to conduct face-to-face business.
In my opinion, this would not be an appropriate option for your client for two reasons:
1) You do not mention that your client plans to staff an office. Without staff in place to accept face-to-face business and phone calls during normal business hours, the location does not qualify as truly local.
2) E-commerce businesses are not deemed to be truly local, and therefore must pursue organic rather than local visibility.
Here are the sections of the Google Places Quality Guidelines which refer to this:
"Only businesses that make in-person contact with customers qualify for a Google Places listing."
"Do not create a listing or place your pin marker at a location where the business does not physically exist. P.O. Boxes are not considered accurate physical locations.Your business location should be staffed during its stated hours."
While it may make sense for your client to set a goal of establishing a physical presence one day in USA as his company grows, it would not be honest for him to fake a presence in the meantime. I would explain to the client that honesty in business trumps all other concerns as there is no more important factor that earning client trust. In order to earn real trust, he must present his business as it genuinely is.
Hope this helps!
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
-
Internal pages targeted for local keywords
Hello, Simple question: how do you target local SEO with internal pages, where the home page may or may not be local?
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Local SEO NAP issue
Hello, All of my citations addresses have the street address 913 S. Latah Street except there are other businesses in this building with the same address. Should I have included "Room H"? Also, is "S." different than "South"? Is "St." different than Street? Looking for correct consistent citations.
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Google local
If you perform a search in Google maps for our company and you are not signed in, it returns our Google + page, with reviews, photos, directions and about tabs, which is fine but, when you click on any of the photos, there is a window that opens to the right where you can edit the location where the photo has been taken, a comment box, photo details and above all, right at the top, MY NAME! Why my name? This is the business page, I don't want people to see that. The snip is below. Thanks! g3OTPRp
Image & Video Optimization | | echo10 -
Multiple Businesses at the Same Address - Avoiding Google Places Trouble
I'm trying to avoid problems with Google Places; this is like "address confusion", but is rather "business confusion". We have a gym at a street address with a suite number, and a number of personal trainers who work out of the gym. Several of them have their own websites and their own Google Places pages. 1 trainer has a Yelp account that lists the gym's street address including the suite number, and a Places page with the gym's street address. 2 trainers have the gym's street address on their personal/individual business websites, 1 with and 1 without the suite number. Is any of this going reduce Google's confidence in the accuracy of which business is really at the street address and suite number? What should we tell/require of our trainers in relation to this, if anything? Is there a chance Google will merge the Places pages? Am I paranoid? (Google Places sometimes does at it wishes, to the dismay of several of my clients.....) I do know that there are often many businesses in a building, each with their own suite numbers, and nothing bad happens. But ours is a case of multiple personal training businesses (including the gym: a small personal training studio) all at the same address And suite number. Thanks for any insight or ideas!
Image & Video Optimization | | TheSEOWiz0 -
Google Places Hide Address
I've read about the changes in requirements for Google Places - and hidden the address for my relevant local clients. Is there any step I can take to speed up the edit being recognised and displayed in SERPs. In addition, I would like to know, will the address also disappear from the actual Google Places page as well?
Image & Video Optimization | | catherine-2793880 -
Local SEO - Confirming an Address that Does Not Receive Mail
Hi guys, I have a question that might have been asked previously but warrants asking again. What is the best workaround for Google Local verification for a business that is located at a physical address that does not receive mail. I have a friend who lives in an area that does not receive mail. This particular person tried using a local PO box to verify, but as it turns out that is a poor option a) because it is not allowed within the guidelines of Google Local, and b) because the listing was not accepted as a unique address and is listed without an address in Local because of this. Is there anyone with recent experience in terms of getting around this and verifying perfectly legitimate businesses in no-mail areas? I would have thought Google would have provided a workaround for those types of businesses. Any thoughts / experience would be appreciated!
Image & Video Optimization | | toddmumford0 -
Can or should you use a residential address for Google places?
My first thought is no. But I am definitely looking for some loopholes. If there is any way to make this work, please share your thoughts.
Image & Video Optimization | | itrogers0 -
Maximising Local Search
Hi, I work for a weather company. I have recently begun to define a keyword strategy to target specific keyphrase segments with the objective to maximise webpage visibility and increase CTR. One growing keyphrase segment is "location weather" based searches (e.g. "London Weather", "Manchester Weather"). I am keen to understand how I can maximise our presence for location weather searches within the SERPs. This seems to be a common trends seeing as Google announced that over 20% of all searches contain a relevance to locality. I have been trying to understand if there is a way to maximise our location based weather pages, perhaps using the Google Local search tactic and if there are any recommendations you could suggest? ISSUE: In order to maximise your presence through local search you need a fixed address, something our site does not offer, however it does offer bespoke landing pages for a specific weather forecast based on locality (city, town etc) Essentially, are there any recommendations you can provide a website that offers specific location based pages (without a fixed address) to maximise our location weather based search rankings within the SERPs? Many thanks Simon
Image & Video Optimization | | simonsw1