Google Business Profile for Service-Area Businesses
For the longest time, Google Business Profile was primarily for businesses with a fixed location, as you needed a publicly visible address. Since many service-area businesses don’t have a physical location that customers can visit, GBP was not a viable option.
Service-area businesses are not restricted to a physical location so they should not be restricted online either. Google has since updated their guidelines, allowing service-area businesses to create Google Business Profile listings without displaying an address publicly.
The time to create your service-area Google Business Profile listing is now.
Local Listing for Service-Area and Hybrid Businesses
The service-area option on Google Business Profile tells potential customers the area your business services. If users are confused as to what areas your business operates in, you risk losing potential customers. You can easily remove this resistance to conversion by having a fully optimized GBP listing.
While the service-area option is technically open to anyone to use, it should primarily be used for service-area businesses or hybrid businesses.
Service-Area Business
A business that visits or delivers to customers directly but does not serve customers at a business address. It is important to note that you may create only one profile for the metropolitan area that you serve.
Hybrid Business
A business that serves customers at a business address, as well as directly visits or delivers to customers. This could be for a restaurant that also delivers food or a retail store that delivers purchased goods. Hybrid businesses can show their storefront address, set their hours for when they are staffed at that address, as well as designate a service area.
Let the Google Business Profile Experts Take the Lead
While the opportunities and rewards Google Business Profile brings for service-area businesses are large, there are still many rules and regulations that must be followed. If these are violated, you risk having your listing suspended or even worse, removed completely.
Let the Google Business Profile experts at Foundery deal with all the technicalities while making your business more visible online so you can focus on what matters most, your customers.
Want to grow quality leads for your business? We’ve got you covered.