Curious what everyone else thinks about fake locations using UPS boxes in different cities. Doing this allows you to score higher in seo in more areas, puts your google business page in more areas organically etc. It falsely implies to potential customers or public that you are local or have local divisions when in fact you are/do not.
This is considered “moral” in some circles. I dont think its “smart”, I think its dishonest. Should I change my mind? What do you think?
It is a given that doing this will gain you more customers and free of charge (with exception to the monthly box cost).
You just need one centrally located to the market you want or the area you can make the most money with the least amount of work. It’s just a business mailbox at that point and virtual mailboxes are prominent from small business to big business.
As long as it is ethical, u not braking any laws.
It is like having different numbers, one un SC and one in NC and an 800 number.
All answered by the same person.
Do you want to travel to all 10 or own the city with the most money? If that city is Golddubloonsville, TN I’d start tagging pics on facebook your my google my business profile “Working in Golddubloonsville again!” and then tag it via pin. YouTube. The whole bit. Own Golddubloonsville and get ancillary calls from surrounding cities to fill in the spaces.
If you want to do all 10 and if people ask if you have a separate crew or division there just tell them them the truth. You like spending $250 a month for mailboxes so people can find you online.
Also, you can do the same thing through your google my business page, facebook, etc. Every time you work somewhere tag that place in your google my business post, facebook, etc.
Working in Johnstown today!
Another great project in Smith City!
Etc…
And then you can add a button with the GMB app to go straight to your website or offer a free estimate to a specific area. Google loves when you use their stuff.
Make sure the areas you service are on the footer of your website for every page. Doesn’t have to be huge. Google will find it.
I get what your trying to do though…the 3 place snippet on the map section of a google search is usually based off location (depending on users settings). Location through your google my business (official addresses). Google has made it hard though, cause they want to keep it honest.
A tree service by me has 5 different phone numbers for 5 different areas he services but all go back to same office. His office is 45 mins from me. He asked me if I would have called him if I knew he was 45 away. I said no.
By the way 45 minutes away might not sound bad to some guys here but in Jersey that’s far. There are 50 people I could call between him and my house.
4. You have multiple verified listings for the same business
According to the guidelines: “Do not create more than one page for each location of your business, either in a single account or multiple accounts.”
Google will often suspend both listings (the real one and the duplicate you created) but will un-verify the legit one (soft suspension) and remove the duplicate (hard suspension).
Some of the younger guys just don’t know but this is a old game and any legit SEO will tell you to avoid it. That said you should be safe but if you get a competitor who reports you or google eventually figures it out don’t be shocked if it goes away along with all your reviews.
Luckily, Google is well aware of this problem, and allows business owners to claim multi-location business listings. However, in order to be verified by Google as such, a few conditions must first be met. A business must:
I have been avoiding it. My competitors are doing it. I think its kinda lame to have 8 or 10 false locations. Kinda like starting a facebook community for small local businesses but outlaw any other PW business aside from yourself. Screams dirtbag.
