What is a service area business?
Definition
A service area business is one that goes to its customers, at their homes or job sites, instead of serving them at its own storefront or office. Plumbers, cleaners and mobile mechanics are typical. On Google, it can hide its street address and show the towns or area it covers instead.
Why it matters how Google sees your business
Google treats service area businesses differently. If customers don't come to you, Google's guidelines say not to show your address on your Business Profile; you set a service area instead, by towns, ZIP codes or regions. If you also welcome customers at a shop or office during staffed hours, you can show both.
With no address to anchor it, your website has to say where you work. Many don't: a Jobber survey of home-service owners found that 65% of home-service businesses don't show their hours on their website, and 43% don't list the area they serve. Naming your towns, in plain text, is one of the easiest fixes there is.
For plumbers, the service area decides which emergency searches you can win, so set it to where you can really get to fast. For HVAC companies, the area is often bigger for installs than for repair calls; say so on your site. For pest control companies running regular routes, list the towns on each route and how often you come by.
Working from home is normal for these businesses. Keep your home address private if you like, but keep your business name and phone number identical everywhere you're listed (NAP). If you later open a shop or office that customers can visit, update your profile to show it.
How to set up a service area business online
- On your Google Business Profile, hide your street address if customers don't visit.
- Add your service area as the towns or ZIP codes you really cover.
- List the same towns on your website, in plain text, not only on a map image.
- Give your busiest towns their own service area pages.
- Use one business phone number everywhere, ideally not your personal cell.
How Future handles it
Future has room for a page per town you serve, up to 50 pages on Starter, 150 on Pro and 1,000 on Premier, and nothing makes you show a street address. Your number can sit in the header of every page, one tap away for the person with water on the floor.
Future doesn't set your Google service area for you; you do that in your Business Profile. Use the same towns on both, so your website and your profile tell Google the same story.