Should you put your home address on your website?

Key takeaways

You usually do not need to publish your home address, and for privacy you may not want to. But buyers look for a real location, and some UK rules require a geographic or registered address. Use a registered office or business address that receives post, show your service area, and be honest that you work from home if asked.

• Many home-based businesses can avoid showing the home address.
• Limited companies must show their registered office on the website.
• Online sellers to consumers must give a geographic contact address.
• A service area plus a business address is credible and private.

Do you have to show an address on a UK website?

It depends on your structure and what you sell. Limited companies must show their registered office address on their website under the Trading Disclosures Regulations 2015. Businesses selling to consumers online must give a geographic address under the Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 and Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. Check your situation with an adviser if unsure.

• How website design influences brand credibility
• Legal requirements for a UK business website

Why do buyers look for an address?

Buyers look for an address because it suggests a real, accountable business that can be found if something goes wrong. The Stanford guidelines for web credibility recommend showing there is a real organisation behind the site, including a physical address. No location at all can make a business look temporary or anonymous.

• How customers check a business is legitimate
• The Stanford web credibility guidelines, applied today

What are the alternatives to a home address?

Credible options for home-based businesses:

• A registered office at your accountant's or a formation agent's address.
• A business address service that receives and forwards post.
• Your town and the areas you cover, without a street address.
• A map of your service area instead of a pin on your house.

• NAP consistency: same name, address and phone everywhere
• Local SEO for a small business website

What about Google Business Profile?

Google lets service-area businesses hide their address on their Business Profile and show the areas they serve instead. You still verify an address privately. Keep the business name, phone number and service area consistent between the profile and your website.

• Website for multiple locations: when to restructure

When does a virtual address hurt credibility?

It hurts when it implies premises you do not have, such as 'our London office' for a mail-forwarding address. Buyers who visit or search the address may find a shared service. Describe it honestly, as a business or registered address, and use your real working area in your copy.

• Should a small business try to look bigger online?

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a sole trader removes their home address for privacy and leaves no location at all. Enquiries from new customers drop. Adding 'Based in Harrogate, covering North Yorkshire', a service area map and a business address for post restores the sense of a real local business.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Address checklist

• Check which address rules apply to your business.
• Show your registered office if you are a limited company.
• Show your town and service area clearly.
• Use a business address service if you want privacy.
• Describe any virtual address honestly.

• The website credibility score: rate your site out of 10
• Website footer design: what to include and leave out

Next step

Check your footer. If there is no address or service area, add one this week.