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Verifying Address for Lead Gen Site

by scout99
7 replies
Sorry if this has been covered already -- I've searched and my head is about to explode.

I'm about to roll out a few lead generation sites for different niches in different cities. None are costing me that much to produce, and they look good (a lot better than my competition). The plan is to get traffic to them organically and get ranked for local keywords, then send leads to prospective clients to buy. Piece of cake (ha!)

But now that Google+ Local is becoming so vital to ranking on first page, how can I do that if I don't have a "real" office? I work from home, and don't even live in the cities I'm targeting. I have a Callfire tracking number to use as the "local" number, but what about the address? I've read several times that a mailing address (not just a PO box, but virtual office addresses which google seems to know are used for such purposes) is required for goog to even get included. Plus, I want these lead gen sites to cover an entire city, not just a section of it.

I know there must be other businesses out there that don't have an official "business" address and don't want their home addresses listed. What to do?

Is my only option to generate traffic via PPC? That is a large part of my strategy anyway, but it sure would be nice to rank highly organically, which I know I could do if I could get around the address issue?

Anyone have any tips?
#address #gen #google local business #google local offliners #lead #lead gen #site #verifying
  • Profile picture of the author shockwave
    Originally Posted by scout99 View Post

    Is my only option to generate traffic via PPC? That is a large part of my strategy anyway, but it sure would be nice to rank highly organically, which I know I could do if I could get around the address issue?

    Anyone have any tips?
    Yeah.....rank above Google+ Local. If you're using EMDs and Videos, that shouldn't be too much of an issue.
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  • Profile picture of the author David B.
    A marketing company (I think) here is advertising on CL for people to use there address to verify Google places and they will get paid $50, saying that they will opt to keep there address private after verifying.

    There is also another ad asking people for $5 to receive a "code" by text on their cell phone...phone # verification?

    Probably someone from WF?
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian Lett
    What has worked for some people in the past was to rent a P.O. Box from a UPS Store. While Post Office P.O. Boxes did not work, UPS Store P.O. Boxes did work. Having said this, I have no idea if UPS Store P.O. Boxes still work. If they do, they are way more affordable than a virtual office.

    Unfortunately, without an address to receive the verification post card at, there is no way to get a Google+ Local listing. Additionally, once you get a listing, there is an entire process to get it to rank on Google's 1st page. You can actually begin the process prior to receiving the post card from Google, but that is an entire course in itself.

    What I would suggest is that you also focus on ranking authority sites which typically do well when they are geo-targeted, such as Facebook Pages, Craigslist Posts and YouTube, DailyMotion, and Metacafe videos. I think if you make this your focus, you will do well.
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    What happens if you can rent an actual street address but only long enough to get the postcard with the pin to verify the address? Can it be done that way, and does not having that address after verification change anything?
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    • Profile picture of the author joeynortel
      I used to rent physical mailing address from different city( I live in Texas and rent one in New York). They charge us $50 a month just for have an address and forward mail. If you look around you should be able to get this service.
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  • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
    Can't you just use the addresses of friends and relatives?

    Thats what I did when I got started.

    I have 4 local authority sites in 4 different niches.
    One registered under my address, 2 under my brothers, 1 under my parents.

    If I need more, I have more brothers and then I'll start asking friends.

    I'd usually just say "Hey, I had google mail you a card with a verification # on it. It should be at your home in 1-2 weeks, can call me when you get the card?"

    If they pried for more details, I'd just tell them what I was doing like I'd explain it to a 5 year old.

    I'm sure you can also just make posts on Craigslist and tell people you'll pay them $50 if you can use their address to verify a google listing.

    Also, just ftr. I have 4 google places ranking HIGH for many different keywords. But my organic rankings on my sites pull in like 5-10xs the amount of traffic. Google listings do provide traffic, but on my latest site I've decided not to do one at all. For a lot of keywords I'm able to rank videos right over the 7 box in a matter of weeks. And I get more traffic from my huge, geotargeted YT channels than I do from my google listings.

    Its a bit more work, but well worth it.

    -RS
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    Thanks, Red. That was helpful. I guess the only question I have lingering in my head is, does that address still need to be held onto after verification's done?
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