When you are a local business looking to gain clients in your area, having a Google My Business listing can be crucial to not only help you get more exposure, but improve your rank as well.
However, for small businesses that run their companies out of their homes, displaying a personal address on maps not only isn’t ideal for privacy, but it also is against Google’s guidelines.
Follow our steps to creating a profile that can help you get results while abiding by Google’s rules.
How to Create a Service-Area Listing on GMB
- Go to google.com/business and sign into your Google account. If you do not have an email associated with Google, you will need to create one.
- After you are signed in, click “Manage Now” and then “add your business to Google.”
- Enter your business name, the category that best describes your business, and then when asked “Do you want to add a location customers can visit, like a store or office?” – select “No.”
- If you are told your business category requires a location to visit, you will need to try a different, relatable category.
- Once that step is completed, you will then be prompted to add in the areas that you serve customers. You can select up to 20.
- Next, you can add in your phone number and website URL. If you only have a personal cell phone number, we suggest a service such as CallRail that allows you to create a new number that forwards to your real number.
- Lastly, you will need to enter your address to receive a verification postcard that assures Google that your listing is real. This step can also be skipped, but your listing will not be live until it is verified.
While you wait for your postcard to arrive, you can start optimizing your profile with other pieces of information such as your hours, business description, products, services, and more.
4 Ways to Get the Most of Your GMB Listing
Once your listing is live, there are a variety of local SEO tactics you can do to optimize your profile’s potential:
- Get reviews – Not only do reviews establish trust with potential customers, but they can also help your listing look trustworthy to Google as well.
- Add quality media – Photos and videos are a great way for users to get a better look into your business operations and prove that you are legitimate.
- Include additional categories – While you chose a main category when you created your listing, you can also add four additional categories that fit your business type to help improve your chances of being found.
- Remove spam – For a lot of businesses, spammy listings could be what is holding your listing back from ranking. Thankfully, there are various ways to submit spam to Google to have them removed.
Get More Help with Local SEO
Be sure to check out some other insightful blog posts to help you learn more on local marketing.
- Google Offers Upgraded GMB Profiles with Guaranteed Badge
- New Review Attributes Rolling Out on Google
- A Guide to Appearing More Prominently in Local Search
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