What city to use for citations?
-
Hey everyone,
I have a question about what city to use for citations in this case.
My client is a service-area business in the Seattle area. The business is home-based, in Everett, WA, which if you’re not familiar is in the northern part of the Seattle metro area. They only serve clients outside the home.
For their GBP that’s no problem, as of course their address isn’t shown. For all the citations we’ll be building though, I’m not entirely sure what we should do.
The client does not want their street address anywhere online. So, since their city won't be listed on their GBP, should we still use Everett as the city for all the citations, or should we use Seattle?
I'm unsure here because with some citations you have to list a full address, and then you're able to hide the street address later. And since they don't technically have a Seattle address, I'm not if that would be the way to go.
But I’m wondering because no one will be searching for “[service] in Everett”, they would search for “[service] in Seattle”.
What do you think?
-
It is generally recommended to use the city that your client's target audience is most likely to search for in their citations, even if it is not their exact street address. In this case, it sounds like your client's target audience is more likely to search for "[service] in Seattle" than "[service] in Everett."
If your client's business is listed in Google Business Profile with a Seattle address, then you should use Seattle as the city for all of their citations. This will help to ensure that their listings are consistent and that they are visible to potential customers in the Seattle area.
However, since your client does not want their street address listed online, you will need to contact each citation site individually to see if they allow you to hide the street address. Some citation sites may allow you to do this, while others may require you to list a full address.
If you are unable to hide the street address on some citation sites, then you may want to consider using a virtual office address or a post office box. This will allow you to list a Seattle address for your client's business without revealing their actual street address.
𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬
Rahul Gupta (Digital Marketing Consultant)
Suvidit Academy - Digital Marketing Course & Training Institute -
In this case, it's a good practice to use "Seattle" as the city for your client's citations, even though their business is located in Everett.
(PMP Exam Prep)
Since their service-area business doesn't serve clients at the home address and their Google My Business listing doesn't display the address, listing "Seattle" as the city on citations is more likely to align with how potential customers search for their services.
(Canada PR)
People are more likely to search for services in a major city like Seattle rather than a specific suburb like Everett.
(Study abroad)
Additionally, as you mentioned, you can later hide the street address on citations to maintain your client's privacy while still appearing in relevant search results for the broader Seattle area.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How Do You Think My Local SEO Multi-location Geotargeting Strategy Will Work?
I have a question. I just got a full-time job at Zavza Seal, an upstanding insulation contractor targeting neighborhoods of Suffolk and Nassau counties in New York. I was hired as an SEO content specialist. (Thanks Rand! You're one of my mentors~!) So, they handed me a spreadsheet of pages for city-specific terms, and they had a system in place for local rankings. But I was taught to do service-specific city pages a certain way. If the search term is for people looking for a service in that town, that's what you give them. However, I was told to proofread them, and as an SEO specialist, I couldn't keep my hands off of them. The pages were skimpy. (Example: h2, paragraph, bullets, short paragraph summary, short paragraph about the city.) What threw me off is that the content, while it was service specific, it was blog topics localized. Those are great (when long enough and optimized to compete in SERPs) but I've never seen them done on service pages. (Example: Why is Mold Remediation Necessary in Baldwin?. Now, this went in two directions in my mind. (and I wanted to do the best for the company, because I'm a wicked brat for teams, AND I get commissions on leads, so that was motivation, too.) 🐷 Anyway, 1. This could be a new approach and worthy of an SEO study on my startup site, where I take on part time clients after work, because I've never seen it done before and it could, if optimized for the target service and city rank high in SERPs AND build thought leadership and authority as a local expert. (Whereas city service pages in standard format would just promote your service. ..) What do you guys think? I just put the topic up for discussion for my team, asked them about it in detail and asked if they wanted to A'/B test a few to see what get's better traction organically. Mr. Fishkin was one of my mentors. I really wish I just had his number for this one LOL.
Local SEO | | ThisTimeWereOn0 -
Content Page URL Question
Our main website is geared toward the city where we are located and includes the city name in content page URLs. We also have separate websites for three surrounding cities; these websites have duplicate content except the city name: MainWebsite.com
Local Website Optimization | | sharon75025
City2-MainWebsite.com
City3-MainWebsite.com
City4-MainWebsite.com We're restructuring to eliminate the location websites and only use the main website. The new site will have city pages. We have well established Google business locations for all four cities. We will keep all locations, replacing the location website with the main website. Should we remove City-IL from all content page URLs in the new site? We don't want to lose traffic/ranking for City2 or City3 because the content pages have City1 in the URL. Page URLs are currently formatted as follows: www.MainWebsite.com/Service-1-City1-IL.html
www.MainWebsite.com/Service-2-City1-IL.html
www.MainWebsite.com/Service-3-City1-IL.html
www.MainWebsite.com/Service-4-City1-IL.html Thanks!0 -
Using PO Box/Virtual Address for local citations, but not GMB?
Hello. So, I am aware that it is in violation of Google My Bussiness's terms of service to use register a PO box/virtual address with GMB, but is it problematic to use such addresses for general link building with local citations, such as local directories and resource pages? Would the cons outweigh the pros (more backlinks)? And what about using one of these kinds of addresses on my website, but not GMB? Is it all so interrelated nowadays that I should steer clear of publishing a virtual address anywhere? That just seems hard to wrap my head around as PO Boxes have served a valuable function for small businesses for some 150 years. Thank you, Jon
Local Listings | | custardextract0 -
A question for a real citation building PRO (I am totally lost on this one) Thank you for ANY help!
Quick Q for your (local) SEO gurus. I have a client who has bought a number of local companies. (advertising, printing, graphic design, vehicle wraps) to compliment his screen printing, embroidery, etc business. ALL of these companies run out of the SAME address. What makes it even harder is he wants to continue operating them as separate companies. Fortunately, he is OK with using different phone numbers for each business but on the website (we are building for him) ALL the companies are represented like it is all one big happy company. How the H@#$ do I build citations for this business! 🙂 ??? THANK YOU FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS!! If I use the one 'parent' company building citations is a challenge bcs they do so MANY things in one location. If I try and build citations for 5 companies w the same address - that can't be a good idea either. If the plan is to eventually fold all these companies into the one parent company *(waiting to hear back on that) I would think the BEST advice would be to use the ONE phone number and address and just shoot for a general 'marketing' category. Thanks for any thoughts!! Matthew Saw Web Marketing Quick Q for your (local) SEO gurus smarter than myself. I have a client who has bought a number of local companies. (advertising, printing, graphic design, vehicle wraps) to compliment his screen printing, embroidery, etc business. ALL of these companies run out of the SAME address. What makes it even harder is he wants to continue operating them as separate companies. Fortunately, he is OK with using different phone numbers for each business but on the website (we are building for him) ALL the companies are represented like it is all one big happy company. How the H@#$ do I build citations for this business! 🙂 ??? THANK YOU FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS!! If I use the one 'parent' company building citations is a challenge bcs they do so MANY things in one location. If I try and build citations for 5 companies w the same address - that can't be a good idea either.
Local Listings | | Mrupp440 -
Local Citations Name
Hi Everyone, I am creating local citations for a company, let's call it "Gray Marketing". That is their legal business name and has been this way for about 23 years. Recently (over the past year) they have been going by the name "Gray Marketing and SEO". They had a new logo made that appears on their companies website and location. When creating local citations. The four primary aggregators (Axicom, Localeze, Infogroup, Factual) have the legal business name. My question is, should I change it to the new name or leave it as the legal business name? Side note: I am not able to change the legal business name on Axicom. Any advise would be awesome, thanks. -Michael
Local Listings | | Mike.NW0 -
Searches without adding my city
Hi all, I have a small IT business and run it out of my home. My main keywords are: "Computer Repair Services". I have been optimising my site for awhile now. I am in Douglasville GA. If I search: "Computer Repair Services Douglasville" I am on pages 1-3 at any given time. I also show in maps on page 1 at times. If I only search "Computer Repair Services" I am nowhere to be found. I see other companies in my town listed but not me. I am missing out on opportunities from everyone outside my small town who does not include the city in the search. Also from all nearby towns. I know I do not have many backlinks and I need more Domain authority. I have run Open Site Explore on a competitor and his site has less authority and links than mine. He is always listed on page 1 without the city in the search. Can someone explain how I can be found without using my city in the search. Thanks
Local Listings | | twoacejr0 -
How To Change Image Used In Business Knowledge Graph...
How can one change the image that Google shows in a business' knowledge graph in the SERPs? And the image I am referring to is the one that typically appears to the left of the map within the knowledge graph box, above the business' name. The current image that is being used in my client's case is an image that was uploaded in their Google+ My Business profile, but there doesn't appear to be any particular reason why that one was chosen (it wasn't the first or last image uploaded, nor is it selected as the profile picture). As user-interaction increasingly becomes important in rankings, I would like to change this to something more attractive. Thank you for any help and guidance!
Local Listings | | gbkevin1 -
Why does it take so long for citations to get listed?
I understand that several citation places take over a month to get listed, but I just don't understand why. Granted, there's nothing I can do about it, but I'm just curious what the hold up is based on. Thanks, Ruben
Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup0