What Address Should We Use For GBP?

[ForwardMotion]

I'm needing some guidance on optimizing my client's GBP listing for a service based business. My client set up there GBP before I took over the account and they have no clue what address they used when setting it up. I'm finding that they are not ranking well for the main city they are wanting to rank for, so I'm assuming the address they used to originally set-up the account might have been a current or older home address, but since we can't see it we have no clue. So here is what I'm trying to figure out. The town they live in is to the South of the main city they want to rank for. They have a PO Box setup for the business in the main city, which I know we can't use a PO Box for GBP, but I also found out that they keep all their vehicles and equipment in the back parking lot of another business in the main city. They have an agreement with that company to use this space for storing all their work vehicles and equipment. Since their business mailing address is a PO Box in the main city and they keep all their work vehicles and equipment in the main city, can I change their address to the location where they keep all their vehicles and equipment and then just hide that since they don't service their clients there? The business where they store their work vehicles and equipment is not related to their business at all. This would then help them with their GBP optimization since the GBP listing would be setup under the main city address and not their home address, which is a small town to the South of the main city? Hopefully you followed all that. I'm not sure what is best practice in this case and would greatly appreciate any feedback. I was getting ready to change their address to the address where they store all their work vehicles and equipment, but figured I would ask here first. Thank you very much for any help you can provide.

 

[keyserholiday]

They can only use their home address. Add the current home address to the GBP and hide it.

 

[JS Girard]

They can only use their home address. Add the current home address to the GBP and hide it.

Jason, a hidden address cannot be updated without some serious shenanigans.

The only way for this business to get an address and toknow that it's where they want is to find a physical non-home space to formally operate out of that they can put on the map. Doesn't really matter whether people actually visit as long as the address is a proper and legit office location.

 

[ForwardMotion]

After doing some further research I have found that the business was originally verified under an old home address that they don't live at anymore and it is not located in the main target area they are wanting to optimize for. What is the best method to add the new verified address and hide it? I can clearly tell that rankings are strong around the old home address. We really want to move that at least to their new home address. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[JS Girard]

After doing some further research I have found that the business was originally verified under an old home address that they don't live at anymore and it is not located in the main target area they are wanting to optimize for. What is the best method to add the new verified address and hide it? I can clearly tell that rankings are strong around the old home address. We really want to move that at least to their new home address. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

As I noted above, it will not be possible to change the address as long as it is hidden, no matter how many times to validate the new address. We have a client that we did it three times with, so I can assure you of that!

It is a stupid bug that google seems to refuse to acknowledge. The only method known to 100% work involves asking google to move reviews between profiles. Personally I wouldn't feel confident enough to ask the increasingly incompetent google support for this kind of help, but it is an option.

Otherwise, the only actual option is to move to a physical address in the target area.

Honestly, I feel like this is the more straightforward and safe option, especially given the unpredictable penalties applied to some SABs. Any other option known to actually work involves validating a new profile. I.e. fusion with a new profile at the correct address is also an option, but it runs the risk of the older profile address overwriting the new one anyway and then you're back to square one.

 

[AspiringMapExpert]

I'm needing some guidance on optimizing my client's GBP listing for a service based business. My client set up there GBP before I took over the account and they have no clue what address they used when setting it up. I'm finding that they are not ranking well for the main city they are wanting to rank for, so I'm assuming the address they used to originally set-up the account might have been a current or older home address, but since we can't see it we have no clue. So here is what I'm trying to figure out. The town they live in is to the South of the main city they want to rank for. They have a PO Box setup for the business in the main city, which I know we can't use a PO Box for GBP, but I also found out that they keep all their vehicles and equipment in the back parking lot of another business in the main city. They have an agreement with that company to use this space for storing all their work vehicles and equipment. Since their business mailing address is a PO Box in the main city and they keep all their work vehicles and equipment in the main city, can I change their address to the location where they keep all their vehicles and equipment and then just hide that since they don't service their clients there? The business where they store their work vehicles and equipment is not related to their business at all. This would then help them with their GBP optimization since the GBP listing would be setup under the main city address and not their home address, which is a small town to the South of the main city? Hopefully you followed all that. I'm not sure what is best practice in this case and would greatly appreciate any feedback. I was getting ready to change their address to the address where they store all their work vehicles and equipment, but figured I would ask here first. Thank you very much for any help you can provide.

Darren Shaw of Whitespark did a really great series on his YouTube Channel that sounds similar. It is an 8 part ( but not long) series where he personally walks a client through the process. Her name is Annie and her business is Charlottesville Hair and MakeUp artist. Check it out. I learned tons.