When it comes to Google My Business’s rules and guidelines, there’s a lot of room for improvement.
Yes, they have rules written down, but those guidelines are often vague and contradictory in spots.
That makes things confusing for even the smartest marketer or business owner. Trying to understand some of GMB’s guidelines is almost like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube in a dark room.
And the rules pertaining to Service Area Businesses (SABs) seem to be the most confusing.
In this column, you’ll learn about the most common problems SABs experience in Google My Business — and how to solve them.
### What is Unique About Service Area Businesses in GMB?
Service Area Businesses are those lacking a physical storefront location where customers can visit. These businesses have employees that go out to their customers to provide services at their locations.
Common examples include plumbers, landscapers, pest control companies, and locksmiths. Many of these businesses are run out of the business owner’s home. Any eligible local service business – a painter, roofer, contractor, etc. – will benefit from claiming and optimizing their Google My Business listing.
The problem? Many Service Area Businesses have set up their GMB profiles incorrectly and are violating Google’s Guidelines for Representing Your Business on Google.
Violating these guidelines generally means trouble for them either instantly – such as when you verify your SAB listing and the listing immediately gets suspended — or down the road because of some other infraction.
Here are some common Google My Business Service Area Business problems and how to avoid the pitfalls associated with them.
### How to Correctly Claim Your GMB Service Area Business Listing
The old Google My Business claiming process was flawed for Service Area Businesses. Google asked these businesses to enter their physical address during the early part of the claiming process. The business owner would first enter the name of their business and then were immediately asked to enter their address.
The catch? There were two little checkboxes many people either skipped or didn’t know what they meant:
– I deliver goods and services to my customers.
– Hide my address (it’s not a store) Only show region.
Google didn’t do a very good job of explaining these checkboxes and their importance. Thus, many SAB Google My Business listings are set up incorrectly. Google does not allow SAB businesses to display their home address or a non-storefront business address on GMB listings.
There are probably thousands of incorrect SAB GMB listings from this flawed claiming process. And because these business owners have likely not checked the frequently updated Google guidelines, they might not even realize their listings are in violation.
The good news is that Google has finally cleaned up this claiming process and made things a little clearer. Let’s take a look at the new claiming process.
### The New SAB Claiming Process
First, the business is asked to enter their name and category. Then they are asked if they want to add a location that customers can visit, like a store or office. It’s a simple Yes or No radio button.
This is much clearer, although it would be even more helpful if Google added a link to a section in the guidelines that clearly discussed the difference between a storefront and a SAB.
When the Service Area Business owner selects “No,” they are given the opportunity to list service areas.
It’s not until the end of the process that they’re asked for their address to send the verification postcard with the PIN number. And the good thing? Google already knows that they are a Service Area Business, so when they go into their GMB dashboard, they are already set up as a SAB with no address displayed! This helps all the new service businesses claiming their GMB listings.
### Go Ahead – Delete Your Address Already!
If you run your business out of your home or out of a location where you don’t allow customers (and don’t have permanent signage and your staff working there during business hours), you must delete your address from your GMB listing and select service areas. You can select up to 20 service areas. Keep in mind that the service areas should be within a two-hour drive from your location.
Also, fair warning: sometimes deleting your address can automatically trigger a suspension or cause you to re-verify your listing. So before you delete your address, make sure you have formal proof of your business’s legitimacy in the way of documents with your company’s name and business address. You’ll need to provide this to Google during the GMB listing reinstatement process, should you get suspended.
You will need to provide Google proof in the form of a business license, a record of your business, a utility bill with your company’s name and address, photos of your service vehicles with signage, etc. You have to prove to Google that you are a legitimate business to get your listing reinstated.
But keep in mind that if you don’t delete your address from your GMB listing, you are very likely going to get suspended sooner rather than later anyway for violating GMB’s guidelines.
### What Is a Google My Business Hybrid Business?
A Hybrid Business is a company that has a storefront where customers come to (with permanent signage and staffed employees) and also goes out to customers to service them at their location. Examples include restaurants with indoor dining that also deliver food or a home improvements store with a showroom and service technicians.
Hybrid Businesses can show their address (as long as they have permanent signage at their storefront) and can select service areas. However, if they don’t have permanent signage, they can only be categorized as a SAB and cannot display their address in their GMB profile. Google doesn’t consider vinyl signs to be permanent signage.
### Employees, Extra Locations, and Metro Listings… Oh, My!
According to Google’s guidelines, Service Area Businesses should have one profile for the central office or location with a designated service area. However, if you have different locations with separate service areas and separate staff at each location, you’re allowed one profile for each location. Additionally, Service Area Businesses can only create one profile for the metropolitan area that they serve.
The boundaries of your SABs GMB profile’s overall service area shouldn’t be more than about a two-hour drive from where your business is based. For some businesses, larger service areas may be appropriate. However, bending these rules can result in suspension.
### Not-Real Offices: Let’s Get Real
Businesses with a physical address often rank better than those that do not display their address. It’s tempting for some Service Area Businesses to think they can game the system by renting out a UPS box address, virtual office, or co-working address just so they can have an “address” in their GMB listing.
Google knows where all the major co-working and virtual office locations are physically located. If you think you can trick Google, you are just biding time until your listing gets suspended.
According to Google’s Guidelines, if your business rents a physical mailing address but doesn’t operate out of that location (a.k.a., a virtual office) that location is not eligible for a Business Profile on Google. You can’t list an office at a co-working space unless that office has clear signage, receives customers during business hours, and is staffed by your employees.
### How to Select the Best GMB Categories for a Service Area Business
Select the categories that are most specific to your business. Since categories directly impact your rankings, choosing the right categories for your GMB listing is critical.
For some Service Area Businesses, it makes sense to choose several different categories. You can choose up to ten, and some may need to be changed depending on the season or other circumstances.
### Spammy SAB Categories
Some industries are more prone to GMB listing suspensions than others. These categories include trades like locksmiths, plumbers, pest control services, HVAC, etc. If you are in one of these industries, be prepared at all times for a suspension.
Sometimes Google performs a sweep and suspends a whole bunch of listings for no reason. You have to be prepared with your paperwork to fill out the reinstatement request form.
### Service Area Business Suspensions
If your listing gets suspended due to using a virtual office or co-working space address, you need to replace that address with the address you actually operate out of, then delete that address and add your service areas. You must be thorough in explaining to Google that you fixed the address error and be prepared to submit documentation to prove the legitimacy of your business.
### SAB Sob Stories
Many Service Area Businesses have had issues when they didn’t follow the guidelines. Make sure your Service Area Business Google My Business profile is correctly set up to avoid these pitfalls.
To your success!
### More Resources:
– How to Use Google My Business to Boost Your Content & SEO
– Google SEO 101: Updating Your Google My Business Listing
– Local SEO: The Definitive Guide to Improve Your Local Search Rankings
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Image Credits: All screenshots taken by author, May 2021
