Local SEO: Ste vs. Suite vs. #

[BobGW]

Hi,

I used the spelled out "Suite" in my local NAP, but sometimes it's been shortened to Ste by citation websites. I'm trying to remain consistent here

Should I use Ste H, Suite H, or #H?

This is a good article on it:

http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local-citations/1605-suite-vs-ste-vs-your-citation-addresses-2.html

but I'd still like your opinion.

[RepLoc_Tim]

I have been testing this thoroughly for the last two years.  I am aware of that article, but it has a lot of the blind leading the blind in my opinion.

The first thing you have to decide is whether you are going to use both address lines or a single one.  Google tells you to use the second address line for your unit # or suite.  Everyone else tends to lean that way because Google does.  Unfortunately, this does not play out in the real world.  There are lots of sites that scrape and pull data, and many of them ignore Line 2.  If you doubt this, then test it and you will start to see all the sites that don't have your suite or unit.  So you get a lot of broken citations that don't have the # or suite on them.  I can't stand this inconsistency, therefore I have chosen to not use the second line - ever - and I think it has paid off.

So now to address your question.  You should choose either Ste or #.  The only caveat you might consider is if your client has had tons of citation work in the past with Suite spelled out, and even then it still might be worth it to clean it all up.

'Ste' is the USPS version and a lot of sites still scrub their data and convert it to USPS, so even if you use '#' it might get converted to USPS.  On the other hand, if you use 'Ste', InfoGroup (ExpressUpdate) will convert it to '#' no matter what, and every site that pulls its data from them will have the # in it.  So how do you decide?

We have tested it both ways.  Up until about 4-5 months ago, we found the 'Ste' method to be our preferred method.  Then we started noticing in Google+ Local that they started converting the 'Ste' to '#'.  [SCREAM]

So here is my recommendation (for what it's worth)...

On all new campaigns that haven't had anything done, use the Line 1 address only and use '#' instead of 'Ste'.  Also, we have found it best to have the # next to the number without a space - for example, use '#400' instead of '# 400'.

If you have an existing campaign running where you have used Ste or Suite, you will need to decide if there is any reason to change it at this point.  If all is going well, don't mess with it.  If you have not been getting your desired results, then consider changing to my recommendation above - just make sure you cover all of the major data aggregators, search portals, review sites, IYPs, and biz directories with your new change as quickly as you can.

I know this might be controversial (since it includes ignoring Google's recommendation about using line 2), but just sharing our opinions based on a lot experience testing this specific issue over the past couple years.

[BobGW]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. It sounds like you're really tested this thoroughly.

So my suite is actually "H", so is #H going to work?

I'd also be interested in hearing Mariam's comments on this.

[RepLoc_Tim]

Yes.  I know it seems strange to put a # in front of H, but it works.

Incidentally, I have found that Google listings will maintain the space between '#' and the letter (H), just like ExpressUpdate, whereas we are seeing them remove the space when the # is a number.  Either way, this 'space' issue has not caused us problems so we made it part of our method of operation to just not use it in new clients that have not had work done.

The key comes down to search engine recognition that the citation is the same.  In the past, I found it necessary to be anal retentive about the precision.  But now it seems like the SEs are better at correlating the citation despite extra spaces, commas, etc.  I have a feeling that being so specific with citations may not be as necessary in the near future, but it seems to still have impact so we all have to choose our method of operation.

[JimLivesay]

@Tim Berry:

Thank you for your answer above, it's very interesting. My business address is listed all on one line, but using Ste instead of # (3975 University Dr, Ste 325) on our website, and that is how we've been submitting the address for citations. But, of course, I noticed that Google Places converts the address to one line using # instead of Ste: 3975 University Dr #325, and that's how the address appears in Google Maps.

What you write about using just one line, and # instead of Ste, makes a lot of sense.

But just to be clear, in my situation you would recommend using 3975 University Dr #325 on both our website, and in all our citations? In a sense, that would be starting with the way Google Places lists the address, and then "working backwards" and matching that exactly on our site and in our citations. Do I understand that right?

Also, I notice that Google Places/Maps uses "Drive" in some places for our address, and then "Dr" in the display.Most of our citations use Dr. When I go into the About tab on our Google Places (we merged our Places and Google Plus listing for this address), it displays Dr-- but when I click to edit it opens an edit screen in Google Places, where "Drive" is shown.

Do you have a recommendation as to Dr or Drive in that case? It seems that Google might be using Drive but converting it to Dr, so I'm wondering if I should be using Dr or Drive in citations. I believe I originally had gone with the shorter Dr partially based on a factor you discuss-- fitting the entire address onto one line in various places online where that's required.

Thank you again for this!