Self Storage Article Directory

Storage-Locator.com : History

Storage-Locator.com is an online self storage directory who offers online advertisement and facility listing through their web page. Some of their clients include Door to Door Storage, Executive Self Storage, and they also list Shurgard Storage Centers. However, Shurgard Storage Centers was sold to Public Storage in August 2006, which makes the listings for Shurgard outdated.

Storage-Locator.com states that they “make it easy to find and compare self storage facilities including mini storage, public storage and storage containers”, claiming to save customers hundreds of dollars by searching for self storage through their web page.  Storage Locator goes on to state, “Our Storage Facilities provide all services…”

Considering that Storage-Locator.com lists only three self storage providers, one of which is irrelevant because the company no longer exists, Storage-Locator.com is not considered a comprehensive self storage search engine, but rather an exclusive listing for Door to Door Storage and Executive Self Storage. It does not offer a wide range  of self storage options.

Storage-Locator.com does have a separate hyperlink for customers searching for vehicle storage and RV storage. Clicking on the “Vehicle & RV Storage” link would ideally take users to a list of storage providers. However, the hyperlink goes directly to the Public Storage website (who acquired the former Shurgard Storage Centers properties). Storage-Locator.com offers no option or range in RV and automobile storage. Directing consumers to Public Storage does not guarantee them RV storage, as Public Storage does not offer this specialty storage at every location, nor does the company own a facility in every city.

Other self storage search engines provide more comprehensive self storage, automobile storage and RV storage directories and allow consumers to choose among a range of self storage providers in order to meet their needs.

The ascetic value of the Storage-Locator.com web page, when compared to other self storage search engines, appears significantly less appealing and does not draw the attention of online browsers. If a minimalist approach is what the company’s goal was, they’ve outdone themselves; there is no impression of sophistication, reversely, the web page design portrays and elementary layout.

If self storage customers looking online for storage decide not to click the “Back” button on their toolbar, a further look into the Storage Locator website leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, traffic details from Alexa.com indicate that the Reach for Storage-Locator.com is 0.000002%. Reach indicates the percentage of all global internet users that visit a website. Additionally, of the minimal percentage of global internet users that visit Storage-Locator.com, those users only visit an average of two pages before exiting the site.

Presumably, the two pages would be the home page and then a click on either the “free quote” link or “locate storage” link. Which means that a majority of users do not begin searching for storage using the Storage Locator search engine.

Storage Locator does not offer any company information or “About Us” section in their Storage-Locator.com web page. This raises a red flag for self storage customers as well as prospective self storage businesses looking to join a search engine service.

Because Storage Locator offers no company contact information, it is uncertain where the business is headquartered or how long it has been in business. There is no mention of founders, sponsors, executives, etc. of Storage-Locator.com.

Online users are weary of businesses who mask or hide their business information, especially when the website asks the consumer to give personal contact information. Storage-Locator.com makes no mention of whom the give personal data to.

Upon further investigation, information about the origin, objective, business practices or articles relating to Storage-Locator.com can not be found on AboutUs.com. In fact, searching AboutUs.com results in an error message stating that they are unable to compile data and have not heard of the website before; they go on to ask the researcher if they’ve spelled the domain correctly or if it is a valid domain.

Storage-Locator.com is not a member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) or BBBOnLine Program. This is also another hurdle for both self storage customers and potential Storage Locator members to overcome, a hurdle that only seems to get bigger.

Storage-Locator.com can be found on the whois.net web service. Just when it seems like you’ve made a breakthrough, you’ll be disappointed to find that the administrative contact, technical contact, registrant contact and status are all locked or protected by Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc. The only tidbit of information that offers any clue as to the identity of Storage Locator is the creation date listed on the Whois.net site. The date originates on March 21, 2003 and expires March 21, 2008. So it seems safe to assume that Storage-Locator.com began in March 2003 or is at least that old.

Other promising news for customers and storage providers looking into the legitimacy of Storage-Locator.com is that the McAfee SiteAdvisor, which tests web sites for adware, spam and online scams tested Storage-Locator.com and did not find any significant problems.

These pieces to the puzzle of who Storage Locator is and what they’re about don’t satisfy the consumer’s need, and right, to know. Upon delving into the deep web, where 80% of the Internet remains unseen, by using turbo10.com results were no more satisfying than the visible web.

The deep web is estimated to be 500 times larger than the searchable web. After extensive researching through nearly 119 deep web databases, some of which were search engines dedicated to business directories, not one article or piece of information was found regarding Storage Locator. It is not a promising sign that throughout the visible and invisible web, Storage-Locator.com remains a ghost, completely invisible.

The result of in-depth research resulted in the finding of several other domains with names extremely close to Storage-Locator.com. Names of directories similar to Storage-Locator.com are storagelocator.com, storage-locator.net, storage-locator.org and wwwstorage-locator.com.

It is possible that Storage-Locator.com was created as a venue to capture online customers who incorrectly enter the URL of one of these more prevalent self storage search engines.

After all that research, a self storage customer would actually have to enter the “Advertise With Us” tab, usually reserved for potential members, to find any contact information about Storage Locator. Under this tab is a form for potential self storage businesses to fill out for more information about becoming a member of Storage-Locator.com; at the top of this form is a phone number.

By conducting a reverse phone number search from whitepages.com, a self storage customer can learn that Storage-Locator.com has a land line in Phoenix, AZ. No address is given on whitepages.com; the Even with this new information, no results are found in the BBB, AboutUs.org, or additional information from whois.net.

The deep web offers no more insight as to who Storage Locator is. However, in the “Advertise with us” tab, Storage-Locator.com claims to offer affordable online advertising at a “fraction of the cost of traditional advertising” to help members reach more than 150 million internet users. The company offers sales leads for self storage, self storage listing, banner advertising and pay per click advertising through Storage Locator and Storage-Locator.com.

Storage Locator largely remains a mystery to self storage customers looking online for self storage. While the company may offer big results to its members, the bottom line is, if the web page doesn’t draw consumers in and lead them to self storage providers, it is useless to consumers and ineffective for Storage Locator members.

Sarah Little

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