Listing a physical address on an ecommerce website?

[RainmanCreative]

Hey Mozzers!

Got a question for you. I’ve been assigned my first ecommerce client. He doesn’t want to list his physical business location, as he fears that including his address will hurt him on a national level (he ships all over the world). He’s not particularly interested in ranking locally, although he wouldn’t mind it. He only wants to show a PO box address. Will this help or hurt him? I believe it’s the latter. Also, he has 16 shipping points across the U.S. Is it helpful to add these cities and states to the site?

Thanks in advance!

-Kanya

[RyanPurkey]

Hi Kanya. This would hurt in terms of Local Rankings as Google doesn't want PO Boxes listed, "Use a precise, accurate address to describe your business location. PO Boxes or mailboxes located at remote locations are not acceptable." from: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177. Is he interested in having walk in traffic to his business? Or is it even set up for that? If not, Local probably isn't the answer. Cheers!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Kanya!

Local SEO and local rankings are meant for businesses that make in-person contact with their customers. This generally does not apply to e-commerce companies, most of which operate virtually. So, whether you use a P.O. box or not may be a bit of a moot point here. If the customer DOES make face-to-face contact and does want to rank locally, he cannot use a P.O. box on most citation platforms - it won't be accepted. He would need a real physical address.

Regarding adding cities and states to the site, of course, he should explain which places he ships to, but if like most businesses he ships to the 48 states or something like that, then this really isn't a reason to create unique content, as presumably the shipping process is the same for all customers. Don't just add a list of states or cities for the sake of SEO. Google frowns on such practices.

Likely, if the client makes no personal contact with his customers, organic SEO is going to be where you need to put focus - not Local SEO. Hope these thoughts are helpful!

[RainmanCreative]

Hi Ryan! He's not interested in having walk in traffic. His goal is to rank nationally and he feels adding a Google + listing and including his address on the site will hurt his national campaign.

[RainmanCreative]

Thanks for your response, Miriam! So, since local SEO isn't what he's aiming for, is it safe to say including a PO box on the site will not hurt him on a national scale? Thanks again!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Kanya,

That's right - if the company is not local, having a P.O. box where they receive mail is totally fine. No worries about that.

[RainmanCreative]

Thanks a bunch!!