A Cautionary Tale for “Home Based” Service Business Owners
Mike had spent years perfecting his craft as an independent electrician. After working for big-name companies, he decided to go solo, launching Mike’s Ideal Kilowatt Electrical from the comfort of his home.
Like many small business owners, he knew that getting his name on Google Search and Google Maps was crucial. So, he set up his Google Business Profile (GBP), proudly entering his home address as his business location. He figured—why not? After all, that’s where he managed his scheduling, stocked supplies, and parked his van at the end of the day.
What he didn’t realize was that this simple mistake would cost him visibility, credibility, and customers.
The Fallout of Listing a Home Address on GBP
At first, everything seemed fine. His profile was live, and calls started coming in. But then, strange things started happening.
📍 Confused Customers: One afternoon, a frustrated homeowner knocked on his door, tools in hand, expecting to drop off a faulty circuit breaker for repair. “I thought you had a shop,” the customer said, clearly irritated.
🚨 Google Suspended His Listing: A few weeks later, Mike woke up to a dreaded email from Google—his Google Business Profile had been suspended. Competitors and automated algorithms had flagged his listing because Google discourages home-based businesses from using residential addresses unless customers can physically visit.
📉 His Business Disappeared from Google Search: Without his GBP, his business was nowhere to be found in Google Search or Google Maps. Inquiries dropped overnight.
Mike learned the hard way, but you don’t have to. Here’s the right way to set up your Google Business Profile if you serve customers at their locations instead of a storefront.
How Home Service Businesses Should Set Up Their Google Business Profile
Setting Up A Service Area:
- Sign in to Your Google Business Profile (business.google.com)
- Choose the Google Business Profile you wish to manage.
If you manage multiple locations, click on the business you want to update. - Click on “Edit Profile”
- Go to the “Location” section of the Business Information Popup
On the menu click on “Edit profile” to access your business details. - Edit Your Service Area
- Scroll to the Service Area section.
- Click Add and enter the cities, counties, or zip codes you serve (maximum of 20).
- You can add multiple locations, but avoid adding areas too far from your actual base of operations.
💡 Pro Tip: Adding too many distant areas can weaken your rankings. Stick to locations where you actually serve customers and remember you are limited to listing 20 locations, so choose appropriately.
- Remove a Physical Address (If Applicable)
If you don’t have a storefront where customers visit, you can remove your physical address. This ensures Google recognizes you as a service-area business rather than a location-based one. - Save Changes and Verify
Click Save to update your business profile. On occasion Google may require additional verification, which may include a phone call, postcard, or email confirmation.
💡 Pro Resource: For a complete step-by-step guide with screenshots click here.
Let GBP Rocket Manage Your Google Business Profile
At GBP Rocket, we take the guesswork out of managing your Google Business Profile. Our AUTOpilot software system pulls over 10K points of data on your specific competitive landscape to determine what actions need to be taken to elevate your GBP up the rankings.
✅ “Instant Optimization” performed on all Google Business Profiles
✅ Improve your rankings in Google Search and Google Maps.
✅ GBP Management includes custom daily core optimizations, weekly summaries and monthly reports.
🚀 Get started with GBP Rocket today! Click here to compare our GBP Management packages.