address on my websiteto help with local searches

[Ron10]

If I put my address on my website, does it help that page to rank for local searches?  especially if it's the same address that i am using for moz local and all my citations?

I want my other pages to rank in different cities as well as i have a service that travels to all cities in my state.  Will that address of my home town on my home page make google think that i don't service other cities?

Thanks,

Ron

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Ron,

It's perfectly fine to run your business out of your home. No danger of being banned for this. Just be sure you are obeying Google's guidelines regarding how your address is displayed based on your business model:

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en

[Ron10]

My business address is a residential listing as I run an onsite service business and don't have an office other than my home office.  how does Google differentiate legitimate home offices like mine and fake residential listings from spammers?  am I in danger of being banned because I have a home office?

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Ron,
Yes, you can report competitors you know are spamming. 51Blocks has a good tutorial on how to do this:

http://www.51blocks.com/report-spammy-google-listings/

[Ron10]

They would be residential addresses.  It sounds like a bad idea if i am risking being banned.

My competitors have been listing the general addresses of office buildings in different cities without listing an office number.  I know for a fact these are bogus listings and they don't actually have an office in these office buildings.  Can i report them via a SPAM report to Google?

[RyanPurkey]

I think that partly depends on the level of trust you have with your workers. If they are high trust and business dealings take place at those addresses then it might make sense, but if these are residential addresses you could be playing with fire as they, and your primary listing, could get banned.

[Ron10]

THanks for the help Ryan!  Another question,  I have some of my workers living in some of the cities where my services are performed and was wondering if i could list their address in those cities as my business address in those cities for a google local listing.   They would be able to answer any letters that google sent those addresses to verify them.  I could then use moz local for the citations in those cities using the landing page on my site specifically for those cities.   This way, i'll have local listings coming up in the cities that i service helping customers to find me.  I see my competitors doing this a lot and it works wonders for them.  Is this a good idea or bad idea?

[RyanPurkey]

Hi Ron. Yes, having a Name Address and Phone (NAP) that matches queries and listings on your landing page is part of what goes into ranking a specific page. See: http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors and, "HTML NAP Matching My Business Page NAP" You should be able to set your service area within Google, see: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038163, which shouldn't conflict with your landing page. Be sure to avoid creating something like fake business addresses though, as that and other factors are negatives. Cheers!