How a Physical Address Can Help You Rank Online
You’re well aware of the impact a professional office space has during in-person client meetings. A well-appointed office communicates that you’re credible, reliable, serious, and successful.
But that’s not all it can do: having a physical address for your business can also help you rank in online searches, thanks to Local SEO (that is, local search engine optimization).
In this post, we’ll explain how your physical presence can help people find you online and how to maximize your digital visibility to make it easier to connect with new clients.
How a Physical Office Space Helps in Online Search
Today’s Google algorithm is smarter than it’s ever been. It’s gotten much better at predicting searcher intent and serving results that fulfill that intent. For example, if someone searches “tax accountant,” Google knows (from millions of searches and clicks over time) that that person is likely looking to hire a tax accountant and will show local business results rather than, say, a Wikipedia definition.
It might even suggest the person search “tax accountant near me;” if they do, Google can deliver results even more confidently.
Google serves those local results based on two factors: location data from the searcher (gathered via IP address or GPS) and address data provided by the businesses.
So that’s the first piece of the puzzle: by providing your physical address in the right format online, you can show up when potential clients search with the intent of working with a business like yours. Now let’s get into what the “right format” entails.
Communicating Your Physical Address in a Google-Friendly Way
“Google-friendly” is another way of saying local SEO: presenting information in a way that’s optimized for people searching for local businesses.
There are two essential things to do to communicate the location of your physical office:
Complete your Google My Business (GMB) profile. This helps you show up in the Local Pack (pictured in Figure 1). The data in your Google My Business profile (which includes information like your industry and operating hours) is optimized to show up in these listings. If you include a physical address, you can also show up as a pin on a map in search results.
Publish your physical address on your website. It should match the address you publish in your GMB profile. The best place for this is a Contact page.
Figure 1: Local Pack results for “law firm Austin”
Publishing your address in these two places is the baseline of showing up in search results. If you want to be listed as one of the three businesses featured in the Local Pack (again, see Figure 1), you’ll need to go a step further in local SEO.
Before we get there, though, it’s worth noting that simply having an address is only part of the equation. The address itself also conveys a lot of information. Businesses that operate from a home office, for example, may do better not to list a physical address in Google My Business results, instead indicating that they are entirely digital.
Why? Imagine searching for, say, a personal injury attorney and seeing a local attorney who operates out of an entirely residential neighborhood. The implication, of course, is that the practice is not profitable enough or not serious enough to maintain a dedicated business location – neither of which is likely to attract new clients.
But a location in an established business district conveys trustworthiness, stability, and maturity. Practices too small to lease a dedicated space in coveted downtown areas can secure a shared space, so long as it’s designed for privacy and discretion.
Optimizing for Local Search
If you know anything about digital marketing, you probably know that SEO is a complex and ever-evolving field. The same is true for Local SEO – which means there's more to showing up in those top three results than filling out your GMB profile.
One indicator Google uses to decide which businesses to display is ratings (see Figure 2). The more ratings and reviews your business has – and the more highly rated it is – the more likely it is to show up in the Local Pack.
Figure 2: Average and total Google ratings
But ratings are far from the only element that matters in local SEO. For more, check out this guide to Local SEO.
Don’t be overwhelmed by how much there is to learn: if you already have a system in place for connecting with new prospects, you don’t have to win in Google search to stay profitable. But taking steps to make sure you are visible in Google results may translate to a bonus lead here and there.
It also subtly conveys that you possess a baseline of tech savviness that can be reassuring for clients and prospective clients who prefer to communicate and conduct business via digital channels.
Send the Right Message, Online and Off
For many small and newer businesses, winning new clients can translate to years of revenue in the form of ongoing, mutually rewarding relationships and referrals. Operating in a physical space that conveys your seriousness and commitment to quality can go a long way toward winning those clients at the start.
The digital equivalent is to signal that you understand how to communicate your whereabouts in a way that makes you easy to find in search. Start on the right foot, in web searches and client meetings, and you’ll establish a foundation of trust that makes for rewarding long-term relationships.
Need a better address for your business? See what Firmspace has to offer.
Photo by William Hook on Unsplash