How to Choose Your Google Categories, Services and Service Area

These three settings tell Google what kind of business you are, what you do and where you work. Google says your categories affect your local ranking and which searches your profile can show up for, so they are worth getting right once. Plan on 20 minutes.

You need: a claimed and verified profile. If you do not have one yet, start with How to Claim and Verify Your Google Business Profile.

Part 1. Pick your categories

Choose the primary category

The primary category is the one that says what your business is. Pick the most specific one that fits. Google's own example is to choose "Nail salon" over "Salon." Other examples of the kind of names you will see are "Plumber," "Electrician," "HVAC contractor," "Hair salon" and "Mexican restaurant."

1. Go to business.google.com and open your profile.
2. Select Edit profile.
3. Next to Business category, select Edit.
4. In the Primary category box, start typing what you do. Pick one from the list that appears. You cannot invent your own, and the list shows the exact names Google accepts.
5. Select Save.

If no specific category fits, choose a general one. Do not stretch to a category that sounds good but is not what you are.

Add other categories only when they are true

Add another category only for a special department or service that really is part of your business. Do not add one for every product or service. Google says to use as few categories as needed to describe what the business is, and not to use categories as keywords.

To add one, go back to Business category and select Add another category. Remove one with the remove icon beside it.

A warning from Google: adding or changing a category can mean you have to verify your business again, so make your changes once, on purpose.

Part 2. Add your services

Services are the individual things you do, such as "Drain cleaning" or "Panel upgrade" or "Eyebrow wax." They give customers and Google a clear list.

1. Go to business.google.com and select Edit services.
2. Select the suggested services that fit your business. Google tailors the suggestions to your category, so use them when they match.
3. Select Save.

To add something that is not on the list:

1. Select Edit services, then Add more services.
2. Select Add custom service, then Save.

To add details to a service, select it and add a short description and, if you want, a price. Prices are allowed as an optional detail, but do not put a price in a custom service name. Keep names clean: no phone numbers, no personal information, no gibberish. Google says custom services that break its rules are rejected automatically.

If you offer several kinds of services, group them under the matching category.

Only list prices you are sure of and will honor. A wrong price on your profile is worse than none.

Part 3. Set your service area, or hide your address

Do you have a storefront?

• Customers come to you (a restaurant, a salon, a shop): show your address. Keep it exactly as it appears on your sign and your website. Google does not allow P.O. boxes, remote mailboxes or virtual offices as addresses.
• You go to customers (a plumber, an electrician, a mobile esthetician) and nobody visits: hide your address and set a service area.
• Both (for example, a shop that also makes house calls): you can show the storefront and set a service area, as long as the location is staffed and open to customers during your stated hours.

Set the service area

1. Go to business.google.com and select Edit profile, then Location.
2. Next to Service area, select Edit.
3. Choose a suggested area or type your own. Add the cities or neighborhoods you really serve. You can have up to 20.
4. Select Save.

Google says an approved edit can take up to 48 hours to appear.

Google's guidelines say a service area generally should not extend more than about two hours' drive from your base. List where you actually go. In the West Valley, that might be Buckeye, Goodyear, Surprise and Avondale if that is where your trucks run, and not the whole state.

If you work from home, hide your address. Google's help pages explain how to remove it. If you move, change the address on the existing profile. Do not make a new one.

Check your work

• Search your business name on a phone. Your category should show under the name.
• Open your profile and read the services list as if you were a customer. Is anything missing? Is anything there that you do not do?
• Your service area matches where you actually work, or your address matches your sign.
• You have one primary category, and extras only for things that are real.

Keep it up

Look at these settings whenever you add a service, stop offering one, or move. Mark it on your calendar for each quarter's review.

For Google's own wording, see Manage your business category, Manage your services and Manage your service areas. Screens change now and then, so look for the closest match if a button is named differently.

If you would rather hand this off

We set and keep these details matching your website and other listings as part of the monthly plan. See Google Business Profile Management, or get started.