Service-area businesses: ranking without a shopfront
How Google treats businesses that travel to customers - and the settings that matter.
Electricians, roofers, mobile mechanics - businesses that go to the customer instead of the other way around. Google has a specific way of handling you, and getting one setting wrong can hide you from your best suburbs.
Storefront or service area? Pick honestly
Google lets a profile show a physical address, a service area, or both. If customers never visit your premises, hide the address and set a service area. Listing a home address as a shopfront is against the rules - and profiles get suspended for it.
Your service area is a claim, not a wish
You can set a service area covering half the state, but Google still ranks you strongest near your real base of operations. A tight, honest service area matching where you actually work beats a giant circle drawn in hope.
What service-area businesses should focus on
- ✓Reviews that mention the suburb: ask customers to say where the job was
- ✓Photos of completed jobs, added regularly - they carry location signals
- ✓Every service listed individually, so you match more specific searches
- ✓Consistent name and phone number across every directory that lists you
Without a shopfront, your reviews and job photos do the work your premises can't. The trades that dominate a suburb are the ones whose profiles prove they work there.