When potential customers search for a product or service on Google (or any other search engine), you want them to be able to find your business, don’t you?
So when you don’t have a brick-and-mortar storefront, how do you optimize your online presence?
Although not having a physical address does make it more difficult to rank high on Google, with strategic planning your service-area business can still gain a competitive edge.
How? Keep reading!
What Address Should I Use?
Regardless of whether you have a brick-and-mortar business or not, you must provide an address to Google, for verification purposes.
First, you must decide under which address you will use for your business, and then make sure to use it for all of your online listings. Consistency is key!
If you do not have a brick-and-mortar, then do you plan to use your home address? Your business partner’s home?Choose the home address of whoever lives closest to the center of your business’s service area.
For example, if you are offering lawn care services near Birmingham, Alabama, then choose the home address that is located closest to the center of the city. Why? Because businesses located closer to the center of your main service area tends to show up higher in map search results.
What address is on your bank business loan? What about the address you provided when registering for a phone line or when you bought equipment or a vehicle? These addresses should match the address that you input into Google My Business (GMB).
No matter what address you choose, a systematic approach will build online credibility for your business.
Should I Hide My Address from GMB?
If your business is a service-oriented model and you travel to your clients, maybe they don’t need to visit you.
The point of hiding your address is not to be completely undiscoverable; it’s simply to cut down on unexpected visitors. However, if you do have business hours or a staffed office, you want to make sure to list that!
If I Hide My Address, Can I Still Rank Well?
Even if you do not include your street address on your website, there are a few things you can (and should!) do to make sure you that Google gathers the correct information from your website:
Make sure to include your business name and phone number on every page of your site.
Select the areas that you serve. Use Google My Business to input zip codes and names of cities. (Keep in mind, Google will find the center and put a business radius and marker there.)
How Else Can I Strengthen Google’s Perception of My Business’s Service Area?
You could set up real offices in the cities that you serve. If that’s not practical, there is another great way to establish an online presence for your intended service area: develop relevant content. In search results for a local business, Google shows a pack of the top-three ranked businesses, and if you want to rank for a local pack for your city, it is important to create content that is interesting to your audience.
Creating website pages and blog posts about satisfied clients that your business has served will prove that you are a legitimate business.
Include customer testimonials and mention names of neighborhoods in which you have completed jobs. Use content to target long-tail keywords and Google’s organic section of search results. These different types of content will further promote your business in your intended service area.
Eager to See the Benefits of Local SEO?
Local SEO is hugely important, but it can be a confusing process, especially for businesses without a physical storefront.
Located in Birmingham, Alabama and Destin, Florida, our experts use their out-of-this-world local SEO knowledge to help you optimize your Google Search results and better reach your local market.
Contact our team and let Uptick Marketing design an effective marketing strategy for you today!
