Would 2 Google Places locations help my Google Places ranking?

[theideapeople]

Hi.

Our agency office is located in a "bad" zip code relevant to active businesses who would need our agency services.  In a nutshell, we get really bad inquiries who can never afford our services...and it's coming directly from the Google geolocation function.

We plan to relocate our offices within 1 year.  Would it help us in Google Places if we created a "new" physical office location to cover up the "bad" one we are currently in?  We could use a paid location like a UPS Mail Center physical address that is located within a more desiring zip code.

Thanks for any input.

Jay

[zharriet]

I've had two situations with Google Places that might help you.

First, for some reason they have chosen to use the state road number for the name of our street even though Google Maps shows both state road number and street name. The street name has been in effect for more than five years. I've tried for several months to get it changed. Places refers me to Maps and says I have to be the owner, which I am, to make changes and Maps won't quit calling the street the state road number which no one around here knows or uses. So far nothing I've done has fixed it.

Second, we have a legal name and a dba for our business. I mistakenly made submissions for both to Google Places--a duh moment.  It took several months to fix it.

Taking the "speed" of changes to listings in Google Places into consideration, I suggest that you wait until you have a physical location with a landline phone. Otherwise, you will have to make two changes (to P.O. Box and then to physical address) which could take a long time to happen. Verifying with a phone number is really fast.

[theideapeople]

Michael. We only have the 1 location but our current location is the one that is located in the non-desirable business zip code. My thought was to establish a mailbox location in the new zip code we are moving to next year and use that new address now to replace our current zip code location for Google Places. Jay

[TheEvilchippy]

Jay,

I'm not an expert, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt.

If you legitimately have two business locations then you should by all means list all of them - with an accurate description of what they are. This includes warehouses, retail locations, etc. If a customer is looking for your warehouse (for example) I don't see how listing it in Google Places is manipulative. Just make sure you describe the location accurately.

[theideapeople]

Hey Dan.

Thanks for your input on both questions...really good advice.  I agree with you on the Places response...I would be worried about appearing deceiving and I do not want to appear such.

[evolvingSEO]

Jay

I would be very careful with this.  I had a friend who was temporarily removed from Places for doing a similar thing.

It seems to me, the way things are going with Places, is it should follow the logic:

1. "I have a business with a physical location" ----> 2. "I should be sure its listed on Places"

You should read through the guidelines for Google Places to know what you're getting into, and if you do try this, use two different Google accounts maybe?  If one listing gets banned, all of them do under that same account, as far as I understand.

I'd ultimately try to find more creative ways to appear in the desired searches though.

-Dan