Google just announced a new exciting feature for businesses that are not based in an office. This new feature will let many businesses enhance their local SEO as well as an online presence. You can now set up your Google My Business page without the need of having an office for your business.
What is it?
According to Google, this feature is for the businesses in the service sector which don’t have an office. It lets you share your service area. Here is what they say about it: “We’ve recently made a few updates to Google My Business, so you can now share your service areas and information.” They further add that it lets you get found by people looking for businesses like yours every day. Clearly, this move will benefit small businesses and service providers alike.
How to avail it?
If your business doesn’t have an office, then it must be a service-area business. This means you must be targeting a specific area or provide services in the same. There are two scenarios regarding the use of this feature:
If you already have a GMB page:
If you already own a Google My Business page, then all you have to do is to visit your dashboard and click on the ‘Service Area’ tab. There, you can select the area you provide services in. They have separated ‘storefront address’ from the ‘service area’ now. While you’re editing the information on your GMB page, be sure to check if the address entered is correct or not. If it’s wrong, you can change it.
If you don’t own a GMB page:
When you will start setting up the GMB page, it will ask you, “Do you want to add a location customer can visit, like a store or office?” if you’ll answer no, you’ll be prompted to the service area section. Before this step, you simply have to follow all the instructions they provide. The instructions aren’t any difficult so you will not face any problems during the setup. Under the ‘service areas’ section, you can add multiple areas where you operate, instead of a fixed address. You can make your service areas more specific and clearer through the postal codes and the cities you operate in. The more accurate you are, the easier it will be for the customers to find your business.
How will it help?
Through this update, Google has made things easier for small businesses. Many startups and small businesses do not have a fixed office. Freelancers, solopreneurs and blue-collar professionals tend to work without a fixed office. If you work without an office, it will help you avail all the advantages of a Google My Business Page. Your prospects will find your business with ease and if you’re lucky your number of customers will increase too.
Conclusion
This new update on Google My Business shows how much Google cares about the user experience. We hope to see some changes in the market due to this new feature. What do you think of this new feature? Let us know.
