My Google+ NAP is different from all other NAP citations online

[Mike T]

Hey Guys!
So one of the first things I did when I was starting my business (SAB business) is create a G+ business page. I used my home address (I also used the hide my address setting). Shortly after I got a UPS mailbox for to be more proffesional and for privacy reasons. I have used my UPS address for 100's of online NAP citations. I didnt think twice about my G+ address since it was hidden.

Thru my research it seems that google still uses the hidden address from the dash to match up with citations. I feel this is hurting my local serp results. I logged into my business page and went to the edit section. At the top it says there is incorrect information in red. Below it underlines the address in red. So it seems google knows that address is not matching.

Although when I use moz local to check citations, it does not show my google listing as "inconsistent" or any of the others for that matter. This leaves me confused. Maybe the G+ NAP is not being used??

I do not want to change the address in google to the UPS for reasons of them seeing the UPS violation, possibly verification process again or they close out the current listing and create a new one loosing reviews.

From my understanding these are my 3 options:
1. redo all citations with my home address.
2. Change the Google NAP to the UPS address and eventually get it deleted.
3. Leave it as is.

Option 1 and 2 are a no go

So I feel i need to leave it as is.

QUESTIONS:
Does this situation effect my ranking?

Is having the g+ NAP(hidden address) different a big deal? or is it like having one random citation out there incorrect?

If i decide to put my NAP in the footer of my website which address would I use? The google hidden NAP or the same NAP as my 100's of citations?

Any other info that can be added would be appreciated.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Must leave home address and must be hidden. Ya it won't match citations but that's your only option.

If you are not super worried about privacy I would def put your home address somewhere on the site. Maybe just lower down on the contact us page.

Your website is the most important citation of all so should match up.

Then I'd just change a couple of the major citations.

No hiding address does not hurt ranking at all. Used to, but no more.

 

[Mike T]

Must leave home address and must be hidden. Ya it won't match citations but that's your only option.

If you are not super worried about privacy I would def put your home address somewhere on the site. Maybe just lower down on the contact us page.

Your website is the most important citation of all so should match up.

Then I'd just change a couple of the major citations.

No hiding address does not hurt ranking at all. Used to, but no more.

Thanks Linda!

I may be ok with putting my home address in the bottom of the contact page, maybe in black font on black background.

I feel worried about changing some of the citations. Isn't that a big no no to have mixed NAP citations out there? Would it bring the inconsistency to a bigger level?

 

[Linda Buquet]

"black font on black background"

That's been a huge no no for years. It's called hidden text and that's what spammers do. (Or used to, it's a pretty old trick.)

But if your phone and contact form are up high and address is at the bottom, most won't even scroll down if they find your contact info on top.

Not sure about 2nd Q and need to run out for the day. One of our citation experts might have better advice but not many consultants are on over the weekend.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Mike, I would definitely suggest updating your citations to the correct business address. It's not a good long term solution to have the UPS address out there since it's not really the proper business address. As Linda said, at the very least update the Major Data Aggregators and any offline sources like Government related records.

---------- Post Merged at 04:55 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 04:50 PM ----------

Mike, you might want to check out this article that Phil Rozek wrote a while back - http://www.localvisibilitysystem.co...you-list-your-business-but-hide-your-address/

 

[Mike T]

Thank you Colan, man o man o man this sucks.

 

[Eric Rohrback]

Yeah I was going to mention the UPS box issue but Colan beat me to it. Google won't allow PO boxes (which you mentioned in the original post), so really the only option is to chip away at updating citations. There are many citation sources which allow for service area businesses with home addresses (listing only city+state), but many of the major ones require a full address. I understand that's not ideal for your situation, but it's just kind of the way the sites are set up.

What type of business are you? I don't see that clarified, and I think knowing the vertical would definitely help. Otherwise we're just giving out vague advice that may or may not be applicable. To get real help from the community, consider pointing us to the G+ page or the website (or both) and one of the pros here may be able to do some digging for you. The more information we have, the better the recommendations we can give.

 

[JoyHawkins]

"Although when I use moz local to check citations, it does not show my google listing as "inconsistent" or any of the others for that matter. This leaves me confused. Maybe the G+ NAP is not being used??"

This is because your address is hidden so the Moz Tool (or Yext or any other tool) cannot see what your home address is. However, like others have mentioned, Google can see it so it's definitely important to make sure the major citations match the address you use in GMB.