Data Quality Guidelines for EZlocal Business Profiles

To help customers find your business online, accurately represent your business name as it’s known to customers and consistently represented in the real world on your website, print marketing, digital ads, and other online profiles.

Your business name must not include:

• Keywords
• Promotional taglines
• Trademark/registered symbols
• ALL CAPITALS
• Phone numbers
• Website URL’s
• Hours information (e.g. Open 24/7)
• Service or product information
• Location information

Your address should reflect your actual, real-world location. Completing the Address Line 1 field is required. Use an accurate address and service area for your business location. Virtual offices and PO boxes are generally not considered real-world addresses and you should avoid using them to create local business listings.

We encourage using an address format that complies with USPS standards. Use Google Maps formatting guidelines as a reference or use a lookup tool to normalize your address (ex. USPS lookup, MelissaData address check).

Service-area businesses

Business profiles on EZlocal are for individual locations, and a full address is required, even if it’s your home address. For local service providers (e.g., plumbers, contractors, various home services, mobile tire repair, etc.) who use residential addresses, in most cases the business address should be hidden from customers unless this information is intended to be displayed.

Do not include cross streets, directions, fictitious suite numbers, phrases like ‘not applicable’, or service area descriptions in the address field. The address line should only contain a verifiable numerical street address (ex. 123 Main St Ste 111, or 123 Main St # 111).

Do not create more than one profile for each location of your business. Individual practitioners and departments within businesses and hospitals are permitted to have separate profiles.

Common USPS standard abbreviations for reference:

Expy

Full Name	Normalized
Avenue	Ave
Boulevard	Blvd
Building	Bldg
Center	Ctr
Court	Ct
Drive	Dr
Expressway
Floor	Fl
Junction	Jct
Parkway	Pkwy
Place	Pl
Road	Rd
Route	Rte
Square	Sq
Street	St
Suite	Ste

Provide a website that represents your individual business location. Common rejections:

• Tracking URLs
• Social media links
• Irregular capitalization (ex. HTTPS://EZlocal.com)

Phone number should match the listed number on your primary website, social media, etc.

We prefer a local number when available.

Avoid using tracking phone numbers as the primary phone.

For multi-location and multi-practitioner businesses, it’s acceptable to point the listings for individual franchises, operators, branches, departments, or practitioners to their respective landing pages on the main site.

Your business description must be a minimum of 200 characters and should not exceed 750 characters.

Use the business description field to provide useful information on services and products offered, as well as any information about your business that's relevant and useful to your customers. Consider including your value or mission statement, how long you’ve been in business, what makes you stand out from competitors, awards, or how your business solves a problem for customers. Be sure to check grammar and spelling for accuracy.

Content published in the business description field should not:

• Mislead users. Do not provide inaccurate information about your business or the services and products offered.
• Display links. Links are only allowed in link designated fields.
• Display irrelevant or spammy content.
• Display offensive, inappropriate, or unpermitted content. Marketing dangerous or illegal products or services is strictly prohibited.

Local businesses & services: businesses with physical locations that users can visit or that offer a service locally

Local service area (SAB) businesses with home-based locations that users can visit or that offer a service locally.

Mobile service-based businesses that do not have a fixed location. For example, mobile tire repair, dog walkers, and local home service providers such as plumbers, HVAC contractors, and window cleaners who show up at a customer’s residence to provide service.

Service area type businesses are encouraged to choose the ‘Service Area Business (hide address from public view)’ checkbox option to hide their street address unless the address is public facing.

Seasonal businesses, like sports and recreational facilities only open during the summer months, are eligible.

The following businesses are not eligible for a business listing:

Online-only or e-commerce businesses – businesses that do not provide face-to-face interaction or local services. Professional service businesses that operate remotely (from a home office) are acceptable, but there should be some local interaction. For example, a local travel agent who works primarily via phone and email is acceptable, but an online travel-booking website is not.

Direct sales products and multi-level marketing (MLM) businesses.

Online directories and referral services – third party online directory websites and lead generation services are not eligible.

Lead generation agents or companies.

Rental or for-sale properties such as vacation homes, model homes, land, empty lots, or vacant apartments. Sales or leasing offices, however, are eligible for verification.

An ongoing class, service, or meeting at a location that you don't own or have the authority to represent.

Kiosks/vending machines

Spam - We define spammy/fraudulent listings on EZlocal as deceptive listings that either resemble fake businesses not located at given address, or multiple listings attempting to represent multiple businesses, when there is only a single business location. Business categories where spam prevalence is high include: locksmith services, garage door businesses, towing services, psychics, online-only businesses, and lead generation companies.

EZlocal reserves the right in its sole discretion to deem any business eligible or ineligible for a profile on EZlocal.