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Google Maps hidden address and citations

by Jeff Lenney
7 replies
Heya Folks

I never did do any A/B testing on this to figure it out.

Do any of you know if you're able to get citations to be counted if you have the google places address HIDDEN? (For example, for a home based business where they serve the clients at their location?)

Thanks!

Jeff
#address #citations #google #hidden #maps
  • Profile picture of the author Catalyst eMarketing
    Jeff, not absolutely certain about citations.

    But as far as ranking it seems there may have been an algo change. A few months ago hiding your address would typically tank your ranking. But lately I've seen lots of listings that still rank high even with a hidden address.

    However we have to keep in mind if the keyword is pulling a 'blended' result that algo is 90% based on the strength of the site and organic ranking factors rule.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Lenney
    Awesome thank you - to be honest though - I ranked a friends local business 1 1/2 years ago with the address hidden, and got him to #1 google/google maps quite easily.

    This is interesting, thanks for the feedback - would love to hear others opinions too!

    Jeff
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Lenney
    Anybody else have thoughts on this? I've got a local client thats a wedding photographer BUT they work out of their home.

    They DONT want to show their address on their profile, which is no problem of course, but I'm curious if I can still get citations if that's the case?

    Obviously, citations would need to have the address listed on them as well..

    Any ideas,thoughts,workarounds for this?

    Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author theaer
    What about using phone numbers in the citation? As long as the phone number is in the listing and citation, when Google comes across the citations it should automatically link them up.

    That is, assuming your client wants to have a public phone number.
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    • Profile picture of the author RKCastillo
      For me a citation is a business Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP)

      If you take the address out it's taking away most of the important part of the citation.

      And with Google ranking a place page by relevance, distance & prominence the address will be a big part of that.

      I guess hiding the address but having a highly prominent website would make up for it?
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      • Profile picture of the author somacorellc
        Originally Posted by RKCastillo View Post

        I guess hiding the address but having a highly prominent website would make up for it?
        Yeah I'd have to agree with this. Focus on the website and the Places should follow even with a hidden address. With the blended results these days you're bound to rank above/in the middle of the places pack with your organic site anyway.

        So then it follows that you absolutely need to geo-target your website to the specific areas that you service in order to make up for the lack of address. So for example:
        1. Areas served on the homepage
        2. Site structure like weddingstuff.com/locations/dallas-tx/
        3. Footer links to service areas
        4. Youtube videos talking about specific areas you service, on the pages of the place specific locations
        5. Place specific images that have place names in the name,
          smith-wedding-dallas-tx-1.jpg
        and so on.
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  • Profile picture of the author iInvent
    Good question!! I think many businesses are working from home and would not want their addresses revealed to the world.
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