Jeff Woelker : Chicago SEO, SEM, and Social Media Consultant

So I’ve been asked recently, “Hey Jeff, when I search for something chicago, it comes up with a map of Chicago with local businesses pinpointed on there. How do I get on there?”

Well, if you have a business, you can easily add yourself to Google’s local business center. It only takes a few minutes and they will mail you a postcard to verify your address or give you a call. I’ve set up a number of business in Google local, and never had the opportunity for verification via a phone call. This is the legitimate way of setting yourself up.

The “other” version of setting this up is via a PO box. So say, you have “Tony’s IT Consulting” and the nature of your business is distributed. You probably only have one office in one city, but technically you can work in any city since you either do everything over the web or you will fly to that location if business requires. For example: Tony has an office in Cleveland, but the clients he wants to obtain are in El Paso. Just follow these easy steps to show up in Google local results, sans local office:

1. Decide what markets you want to be in. (i.e. El Paso)
2. Search Google maps for the city center of El Paso.
3. Then search for the closest UPS, FedEx, or other business which offers PO Box service.
4. This is the hard part: Fly, drive, or train to that city, since the only way to set up a PO box at these offices is to get one in person, usually with two forms of ID.
5. Have your mail forwarded to your Cleveland office.
6. Set up a Google local business in El Paso, the mail is forwarded to your Cleveland office, and Voila!
7. You now have a Google local business listing in El Paso, when your office is in Cleveland.

This is right on the razor’s edge of Google’s terms of service, so proceed at your own discretion.