One of the best, easiest and most powerful tools you have for being discovered in local Google searches is a Google Business Listing – like we have here at the Silicon Valley Business Center.
It is important, however, to keep a few things in mind when establishing and maintaining your Google Business Listing as a member of a coworking facility, as your business exists in a slightly different way from traditional businesses in Google’s eyes.
That said, following a few simple tips can help you get the most out of your GBL and get discovered – free – on local searches every day!
1.) You must physically occupy the space. Any other scenario revokes eligibility. That means members of our Virtual Office packages are unable to leverage a Google Business Listing, but all other membership levels can. If you’re interested in exploring options, check them out here – or stop by the front desk!
2.) You must be able to receive postal mail at the coworking space or you won’t be able to receive your Google My Business verification postcard. If you have requested a postcard to be mailed here to your attention, let Nelia, Tina or Olivia know at the front desk.
3.) While we have a central receptionist who takes calls and messages, you will be better off listing your own phone number on your website and citations, instead — a number that connects directly to you (like your desk line or mobile number, even). Your clients (and Google) want to know they’ve reached your business if/when they call.
4.) Your Google Business Listing hours of operation must accurately reflect the hours that you are actually at the office – not just the hours that the Silicon Valley Business Center is open for business.
5.) If you rarely or never meet with clients at the office, but mainly go from the coworking space to meet them at their locations, your business model is a service area business (SAB) and should hide its address in the Google Business Listing dashboard in order to be Google guideline-compliant.
6.) If you do not accept walk-in traffic but meet clients by appointment only, again, you should hide your Google Business Listing address.
7.) Do not generate fake suite numbers. Unless you have been assigned a permanent, dedicated suite number in the office, simply list the main office address on your website and all citations. Concerned about citation consistency? Do a quick lookup with a tool like Check Listing to be sure you aren’t publishing variants of the address around the web.
8.) Do not create multiple Google Business Listings for the difference services or goods you offer. You are just one business, and are eligible for just one listing. You can add Services and Products to your Google Business Listing to increase Google’s understanding of your business and to create a more robust organic footprint in order to appear in a wider range of searches.