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Location Location Location…and Service Areas
Posted by on 2017-09-27 at 9:56 AM
Hello Forum Family,
I’m back with another lengthy Q&A! This time about your main address, service areas, the difference between the two and why the system works the way it does.
This is all about how your location services work, I understand how many of you will have your eyes will glaze over. Don’t want to read this, it’s okay, you can shoot me a message @Directory_Admin or an email to [email protected] and I’ll get you all fixed up. But! In case you have/had questions and want to know more about how everything works, read on!
What is the difference between my location and service areas?
The best way to think about the difference is to image how it applies to a large company with many franchise locations. Take Pizza Hut for example. If the CEO of Pizza Hut filled out the account information, they would put their location (in the Contact Details Page) as Wichita, Kansas, because that’s where their headquarters are located. Then they would add Service Areas in every city, of every state in their Service Area page, because that’s where their stores are, and those are the locations they ‘serve.’
You have 1 main location (your headquarters) and 2 additional service areas. All 3, (your location and service areas) will appear in the search results when clients search for you.
Okay, but why can I only have one main location…you used to list two for me, what gives?!
This platform has been coded for one main location. A LOT of computer code is tied to your singular location. Your specific page URL is generated based on location, and all location services are based on that location. This system simply wasn’t set up to link a single account to multiple specific addresses, we actually pay a monthly fee to keep Service Areas active for our site, because we knew so many of you would want a way to list yourselves in additional locations.Well, Service Areas are cool, but I literally live in two locations…isn’t there anything you can do for me?
Before we even launched we started working on a way to provide the option of having more than one distinct physical location. There are still bugs to work out and we think we know how this’ll eventually work, but right now it’s just not ready. We’ll keep you posted.
Okay, so how do I update my location?
Login, and click Contact Details under Manage Profile:
Here’s what the Location part of the Contact Details form looks like:
The easiest way to enter your location is to type it into the box above the map that says “Enter a location” Doing so will automatically fill the form below the map. Even if you choose to manually type in your address into the form, you will still need to enter your state and country via the “enter a location” box above the map.
But, why you ask? Because this location is very very important to the code of the website. If you were to have a typo or try to enter two countries or something, you will not be geocoded. You will not be searchable. Your account would not work. Period. That’s why the state and country boxes are grayed out, you have to enter those two pieces of information in the “enter a location” box where the system offers you a drop-down menu of options to correct potential mistakes and typos.
Even if Ignatius (the test member whose profile photos I am using) decides to add Whoville, or Santa Claus Land as his address line 1 or city, he would still be findable in the search results where he actually is: in California.
Clearly my location in the Contact Details is very important…is there anything else I should know?
Yes! DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT add a second address in address line 2. It will not work, you will not be searchable there. That’s why the helper text (the gray text under the textbox) says, “This is NOT a second address…etc” Address line 2 is provided for adding apartment information or suite numbers…not a full second address. It is an optional line to enter information and most of you will not use it.
And, if at all possible, you want to add a postal code.
But why is a postal (zip) code so important?
It’s important because of the way Google maps works. Think about it like this, you live in Paris, France, but you really want to drive to go visit Germany. When you type in Directions from Paris, France, to Germany here’s what your driving directions look like:
You gave google a GIANT area to Direct you to, all of Germany in fact, and yet, google maps picked a specific pinpoint location to direct you. The pinpoint was roughly in the center of the country. This is how google maps works. If you pick a giant area, google will return results having picked a very specific location in the center of whatever you were searching.
Okay, but what does that have to do with me picking a postal (zip) code for my location?That same principle applies to states and cities too. If you want to list yourself in New York City…well New York City covers 305 square miles and has about 200 specific postal codes. It’s Giant, and without a postal code…well google maps will pick your account’s location as dead center of New York City, and not where you actually practice. This information becomes more important when you consider the radius search implications…
What do you mean radius search implications?Our entire search function works off of Radius searches. There are two types of location searches: bounds searches and radius searches. Bounds searches stay within specific borders. If we set up our Directory to use bounds searches when a client searches for Kentucky, only people who are located in Kentucky show up. This is particularly ridiculous for people who live close to the borders of a state or country. If you live on the border of Germany and Austria, you’re going to want people who are searching for nearby practitioners in both countries to find you…and that’s why our Directory is set up to always use a radius search.
Our Radius is very large, 1111 miles to be exact. Where ever a client searches, if your main location or your two service areas are within 1111 miles of that location, you appear in the search results. This is where adding a postal code becomes a good idea. Some cities are very large, and if you let google pick the center point of a large area instead of providing a postal code, you may be missing from some search results you could have appeared in…because you didn’t give google specific enough information to include you in as many search results as possible.
When you don’t specify a postal code, google picks the center of your smallest listed area (city, state, country) and uses the center point of that as your location…which is not always desirable.
But, I live in a tiny city next to a major city, I want to list myself in the big city…now what?That’s all up to you. If you live just outside of Los Angeles, California and you want to list yourself in Los Angeles anyway, pick a postal code in Los Angeles and enter that. The more information you give google maps to work with, the better the location services will be.
Wow. All of that was just about the main address location..you haven’t even gotten to Service Areas yet…
True, but most o
f the information above applies to Service Areas as well. Service Areas are additional areas you can tell google maps you work in. You can’t put a specific address, but you can pick a specific postal code, city, county or state.If a client searches in a location and you’ve listed a Service Area that’s within 1111 miles of location they searched, you will appear in the search results.
How do I add Service Areas?
Service Areas are another option under Manage Profile:This is what the Service Area page looks like:
Just follow the Instructions listed at the top of the page
1. Enter an address in Step 1 box, you can click enter once you’re done, or as you type a drop-down box will appear and you can select a suggestion from the list:
After clicking enter or selecting from the drop-down menu, Step 2 will populate and you need only click the teal ‘add+’ button next to one (or two) of the listing options and your selection will appear below, as well as be saved in the Directory. I clicked the Add button next to New York City:
And that’s all there is folks!
To Recap:
– Only 1 main location exists for your profile
– We are working on a way to add the option of more than one true location, but it’s just not ready yet, stay tuned
– Our search radius is 333 miles, if your main location or Service Area reside within 333 miles of a clients search, you appear in the search results
– Please add a postal code, it makes location services more exact
– Service Areas are a good work around for the only one address listed on your account limitation, until we can offer you something better.
– If you don’t want to deal with any of this, you do not have to, just message me and I’ll fix it for youPlease let me know if you have any questions via comments, messaging me @Directory_Adminor sending an email to [email protected]
Lauren
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2 Replies
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Thank you Lauren! Happy Chinese New Year!
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Thanks Lauren. Wonderful work.
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