Setting up a service area business on Google

Does your business count as a service area business

Google defines a service area business as one that visits or delivers to customers directly but does not serve customers at its business address. Most trade companies fit this.

Check this first, because every later step depends on the answer.

A business that also serves customers at its own address, such as a showroom with a counter, is a hybrid business. Hybrids can show an address and set a service area too.

Why this setup goes wrong for trade owners

Most owners start their profile by typing in the address where the trucks are parked. That address may be a house, a yard or a unit with no sign on it.

Google's guidelines say a business showing an address needs permanent fixed signage with its name at that address. They also say a business without a storefront is allowed one service area profile. A profile set up as a storefront when it is not one is a common reason owners get stuck with suspensions and edits that do not show up.

How to set up a service area business Google profile

Work through these on the profile itself, from Google Search or Maps while signed in to the account that manages it.

1. 1Open your Business Profile and choose to edit the service areas.
2. 2Add the cities or postal codes you actually drive to.
3. 3Remove your street address if customers never come to you.
4. 4Save the changes and wait, because Google says edits may take up to 48 hours to show.
5. 5Search your business name on a phone and confirm the address is gone and the areas appear.

Google says to be as specific and accurate as possible when you set your areas. A list of the towns where you take jobs is better than a long list of places you would like to reach.

How to pick your service areas

Google gives three limits for the list.

1. 1Set no more than 20 service areas.
2. 2Use cities, postal codes or other areas, since a radius around your business is not allowed.
3. 3Keep the whole area within about two hours of driving from where your business is based.

If you cover more than 20 towns, group by postal code where that works. List the towns that bring in the most jobs first in your own notes so you know which ones to keep.

What to do about the address

This is the step owners skip most often, and it is the one that keeps a home address off the internet.

Google says if you do not serve customers at your business address, remove the address and enter only your service area. Its guidelines also say a service area business should hide its address from customers.

Do not swap in a mailbox or a rented mailing address. Google lists post office boxes and mailboxes at remote locations as unacceptable. It also says a virtual office is not eligible unless it is staffed during business hours.

Wording to use in your description

The description box is a good place to say where you work in words a homeowner uses. Here is a version you can adapt.

Replace the trade and the town names with your own. Leave out prices, links and promotions.

A rule for deciding whether to show your address

What this will not fix

• ×It will not guarantee a spot in the map results, because Google says nobody can pay for a better local ranking.
• ×It will not remove a suspension, since that needs its own steps.
• ×It will not let you list a mailbox or a rented address as a shop.
• ×It will not make you show up in a town more than about two hours of driving away.

Common questions

Root's free check looks at this on your own business.