NAP-safe way to display second address (P.O. box) on website?

[BrianAlpert78]

I understand that only listing one address on a company website helps maintain NAP consistency, but is there a way to safely have a second address listed?

A client of ours recently asked us if we could put their P.O. box address up on their website, so that THEIR clients would be able to conveniently look it up when mailing in documents, paperwork, checks, etc. They presently have their physical office address listed on their site, as well as in local listings.

One idea we had would be to have the P.O. box address listed only on an image, so the crawler won't see the address, but there are potential accessibility issues with that solution.

Would any specific kinds of markup or meta tags prevent the P.O. box from getting picked up and causing NAP confusion in local listings? Or am I simply overthinking this one?

Thanks!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Brian!

So, normally, yes, you'd just put that in an image, but as you've mentioned accessibility issues, I'm not sure. For example, you might want to be sure that people with visual impairments or other challenges can access this information. If this is an important consideration, then you could be sure that your physical address is clearly marked-up in Schema in a variety of places on your website, and that you list the P.O. box as a mailing address and don't mark it up. Will this be 100% safe ... unfortunately, no. There is a chance NAP confusion could arise, but I'm afraid I've not dealt with a case exactly like this to be able to say what % of risk there would be. An image pretty much nullifies risk, but other methods may carry some.

It would be nice if we could get some feedback from community members who are expert at accessibility. I think you've asked a good and important question!

[BrianAlpert78]

I think what we'll do for now is use an image as a (potentially) temporary solution, but also look at our Schema options.

Thanks!