Can I Use Google My Business if I Don't Have a Store Front?

can you use google my business if you don't have a brick and mortar store the answer is yes but there are some conditions find out what they are right after this hey my name is luke duran the founder of rankingacademy.com uk if it's your first time here today why don't you subscribe and click on the bell button before the end of this video so you don't miss any of my future tutorials if you run a business with a storefront creating a google my business listing is a no-brainer and should be an essential piece of your marketing strategy not only is the best way of being found by customers in your area when they are searching online for a local business but it's also free there are however plenty of small businesses who operate without a storefront either because they can't afford it or because the nature of their business doesn't require it if you fall into this scenario it doesn't mean you don't qualify for a google my business listing as specified in google's guidelines business profiles on google my business can only be created for businesses that either have a physical location that customers can visit or and this is the important part businesses that travel to visit customers where they are this means if you visit or deliver to customers directly at their home you are eligible to create a google my business listing while setting up a listing for a brick and mortar business is fairly straightforward creating a listing for a business that doesn't have one is a little trickier google has a set of strict guidelines you should abide to and failing to comply with them could result in your business listing being suspended for example so before you rush to your computer and start creating your business profile i suggest you watch the rest of this video to ensure your listing is set up correctly and to avoid any nasty surprises further down the line if your business visits or delivers to customers directly at their home it will most likely fall into one of these categories a service area type of business a home-based business a hybrid business a virtual business it's important to identify which category is the most suitable for your business as it will impact the way you set up your google listing let's start with the first one a service area type of business this is the most common example of a business without a physical store and will fit the following criteria you provide a service at the customer's location you have no location customers can come to you operate in a fairly large radius within your desired area typical examples of such businesses would be electricians plumbers pest control specialists window cleaners and so on if you feel this category applies to you this is what you need to remember when setting up your google listing to abide to the guidelines you must travel to visit customers where they are you mustn't display an address in your google my business listing panel and leave the business location field blank when creating a listing for the first time google will ask if you want to add a location customers can visit to which you should answer no you will then be asked to specify which areas you serve instead if you've already set up a listing and used an address you should log into your google my business dashboard remove it from the business location information and add the areas in which you operate instead google will use this information to display a map on your listing panel outlining in red the boundaries where your business delivers to customers you can have up to 20 service areas but they should not extend farther than about two hours of driving time from where your business is based the areas you specify will have no influence when you rank on google maps they are just used for information purposes you may notice some of your competitors have chosen to add an address in their listing as opposed to selecting a service area option while this may provide them with a visual advantage as it will generate a red pin on google maps to indicate where the business is located i wouldn't recommend it firstly because it's totally against google's guidelines and secondly because the street view associated with the address is likely to show their home and mislead customers finally don't be tempted to create multiple listings using some of your employees or friends addresses to increase your chances of being found in google maps doing so will put your business at risk and could lead to your listings being suspended let's now look at the other category your business might fall into this one is for those of you who run a home-based business with kobe 19 this category has increased a great deal over the past 18 months as more and more business owners have decided to start a business from their home or relocate an existing one for cost purposes you will be eligible to create a google my business listing for your home based business as long as you are able to serve customers at your home address typical examples of home run businesses could be any kind of therapists with their own home office personal trainers with a home studio music teachers pet sitters children day care hair stylists dog groomers and so on when setting up a listing for a home run business you'd follow the same process as if you'd have a storefront when asked if you want to add a location customers can visit you'll need to answer yes this time and fill in your home address which google will automatically add to your listing panel for best results google recommends you represent your business as it's consistently recognized in the real world across signage stationery and other branding the best approach for a home-based business to do this is to add permanent official signage outside of your home not only this will help customers find you but it will also provide google with proof your business is legitimate don't overlook this aspect as google may ask you to supply photos with permanent signage outside your house to prove you are real please note a sign on a gate or a banner above a door like in these examples will not constitute permanent signage if you are concerned about your privacy and security and don't want your home address to be displayed on your listing here is what you need to do set up your listing as a service area type of business as described at the start of this video just answer no when asked if you want to add a location customers can visit and add the areas you serve not being able to display your address will somehow be a little more limiting especially if you want to add your business details to other directories you can however find directories where you can submit your business details that will allow you to keep your address private and enable you to benefit from further online exposure there is a list of such directories available at weisspark.com and i've put the link in the description below for those of you who are using your home address and serving customers at their location you will be considered as a service area type of business this is what i have already covered at the beginning of the video and will typically apply to plumbers electricians pest control professionals window cleaners etc let's now have a look at our third category also known as hybrid businesses if you have a storefront where you serve customers and in addition deliver services or products to the client's location you will be considered as a hybrid business the most obvious example would be in the catering industry where you run a restaurant but also offer a delivery service when creating a listing for a hybrid type of business make sure you answer yes to the do you want to add a location customers can visit like a store or office then enter your business address you will then be asked if you provide deliveries or home and office visits tick the yes button and continue then add the areas you serve the advantage of a hybrid listing is that you get a red pin on the map but the areas you serve are also listed on the listing itself if your business hours are different between the services you offer at your business location and the services you deliver at the customer's location you can set them separately just sign in to your business panel select the info option from the left hand side menu then click on the more arrow option select the appropriate service then add the respective hours time to look at our last category virtual businesses what comes under the virtual business category are businesses that only operate online from some of the biggest brands such as ebay or groupon to the smaller web designer operating from his home office or a consultant that only takes virtual meetings these businesses do not interact with customers face to face on any level or do not have a brick and mortar store this means according to google's guidelines they are not eligible for a listing and cannot show up in local search results and google maps while this can be highly frustrating for small business owners who do not have a massive budget for paid advertising and rely heavily on organic traffic google's guidelines are very clear they are not eligible businesses for a listing if you fall into this category i would discourage you to try creating a listing even if you are successful at creating one all the work you will be putting into it might be erased overnight when google finds you out and suspend your listing that's it for today guys by now you should know if your business is eligible for a listing or not and the best way of creating one if you are eligible and need further assistance to create the listing i suggest you watch my tutorial called google my business listing set up step by step if you have any questions post them in the comments below and i'll do my best to answer them if you found the video useful please click on the like button as it helps support my channel don't forget to subscribe if it was your first visit and until next time happy marketing [Music] you

Channel: Ranking Academy

Views: 20,908

Keywords: google my business tutorial, google my business seo, google my business 2022, google my business explained, google my business tutorial 2022, how to setup google my business listing, google my business optimization tips, google my business listing, what is google my business, google my business

Id: CWQTcFBnHM4

Length: 10min 12sec (612 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 02 2021