Forum Moderators: anallawalla & bakedjake
How can a business with a single location, but who provides services to several cities, rank in Google Local for those cities?
For example, what if a waste management company was headquartered in San Francisco, but provided services for Walnut Creek, Concord, Vallejo, Napa, and Fairfield? How could that company rank for a phrase like "waste management vallejo"?
Google tech support says "We don't currently offer the ability to list in Google local for additional cities, but we do appreciate the suggestion".
So what's the work-around? PO Boxes in each city?
Welcome to WebmasterWorld.
When you do a search on the GLocal and YLocal there is proximity, user ratings, and keyword relevance at play. The proximity variable, which you are questioning, is arguably the most important factor of the equation but at the same time is a slippery slope. You say you service these 5 cities, but what is to stop any "local" business from selecting the 50 surrounding cities as their target geo. Especially when there is currently no cost associated on a per visitor basis.
Ultimatly the SEs need to draw lines inorder to protect the user experience. To do this they are bringing it down to the physical address. Both Y and G require a phyical buisness address and do validation of that address (your PO work-around would not work as a result).
While this works great for a store that is visited(restaurant), it doesn't work as well for a service that comes to you (plumber). I could see this algo being more refined on a per geo, per vertical basis. (NYC vs, smallville, montana or hardware store vs waste management)
For better or worse, right now that is the situation.
Given the state of inventory today, the answer to your question is to use PPC in the natural serps and the Local Match and/or geo-qualified keywords.
If you really wanted to push the work around you would need to set up a true physical mailing address in each city under your business name as well as request to have your address inserted into InfoUSA. That might work.
I would ask at that point if your trying to fit the round peg in the square hole.
Most large cities have some form of company offering virtual offices. Instead of a PO Box you get a true address with a suite number and the ability to add your own phone line / directory listing. The directory listing helping with the data agregates and the address for physical validation.
It all depends on home much you think coverage in that city is really worth.
The virtual office idea sounds like a valid one. The question is: how do you get those additional locations into Google?
The Google Local Business Center has a add business [google.com] page, where they state:
"Please create separate listings for each of your business locations."
So it looks like multiple business locations are cool with them. As to whether they are cool with virtual locations, it's questionable. But I suppose it would be difficult for them to determine whether a location was virtual.
But I suppose it would be difficult for them to determine whether a location was virtual.
My guess is that as more businesses use virtual addresses... say those provided by mail-drop stores... those locations will begin to stand out and Google would catch on.
Google also spiders sites, so that your submitted data alone would not suffice. Your site would have to reflect all these locations. Reverse phone info is another possible reference.
As local search grows and Google uses more data sources, there will be more cross-checking as well.
Imagine a free-for-all print YP. What a mess that would be!
While a P.O. box will not work...
One website I maintain is for a business with a physical presence for customers in one city, but a business address in another city with a P.O. Box. Google Local thinks the business is at the P.O. Box.
RFM
Your options are not mutually exclusive. You do both.
>>Google Local, which is still in Beta, is not really used that much by consumers. Why the urgency to get listed there?
Inventory availability
Result set propagated on Traditional SERPs
Advertising efforts by SEs to drive traffic to local search
Early mover advantages as an advertiser
Its Free
Its Easy
Learning it opens your eyes to numerous other inventory types
User conversions are high
Accurate Business Information propagation is critical to search
Because search segmentation is the future
Because small business adoption will grow significantly over the next few years
Because local business is the overwhelming majority of all business
Because interesting, new algorthms are at play
Because reviews, ratings, social networking, and mapping are becoming fundemental to the futue of search
Because your customers will ask
Because diversification is key to a quality, long-term internet marketing strategy.
Because local search mimics the real world
It is neatly aligned to local consumption behavior patterns
It is a 9 billion dollar industry in a few years
It is still search and quality search inventory (all of it) is at a premium due to the quality of the prospect
Every search click lost to a competitor should be of concern/interest to you
Your right. I misread.
I agree with your point.
Thanks for the clarification. Sorry bout'that.
