Your Google Business Profile address
and how to get it right

Why the address matters so much

When someone near Park Road searches for a repairer, a framer or a dog groomer, Google leans heavily on location to decide which businesses to show. A real, verified address in Blackpool helps you appear in those searches. A vague or borrowed address can hold you back, or get your profile suspended.

Many people working from home avoid listing an address because they do not want strangers at the door. Moving into a unit changes that. You can show a proper business address without giving away where you live.

Your address also appears in other places that feed into local search, such as directories, your website footer and social media pages. Getting it right on Google first gives you a reference version to copy everywhere else.

Storefront or service-area business

Google treats businesses in two broad ways, and you need to pick the one that matches how you really work.

Storefront, where customers come to you

If customers visit you at the address, for collections, fittings, repairs or appointments, you can show the address publicly. Google's guidelines expect the location to be staffed during the hours you list and able to receive customers.

Service area, where you go to customers

If you travel to customers, such as a gardener, cleaner or mobile mechanic, Google expects you to hide your address and show the areas you serve instead. The address still matters for verification and ranking, it just is not displayed.

Some businesses are a mix of both. Google allows a hybrid set-up where you show the address and also list service areas, provided you do receive customers there.

What Google's guidelines say

Google publishes guidelines for representing your business, and they are worth reading in full. The points that matter most for a small unit are these:

• Use the precise, real address where your business operates, including the unit number.
• Your business should be able to make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours.
• Use your real-world business name, without extra keywords or locations added.
• Keep hours, phone number and categories accurate and up to date.

• Virtual offices, where you rent a mailing address but do not operate there, are not eligible.
• PO boxes and mailboxes at remote locations are not acceptable addresses.
• A coworking address is only eligible in limited circumstances, such as clear signage and your own staff present during business hours.

The common thread is simple: Google wants the pin on the map to be somewhere customers could genuinely find you.

Using the Rock Factory address

Tenants may use the Rock Factory address on their Google Business Profile. Because you rent a real unit and work from it, you are not in the virtual office situation that Google excludes. You can also receive mail and clients at the unit, and there is 24-hour access, so you can set opening hours that match when you are actually there.

Format your address clearly and consistently, for example with your unit number, then The Old Rock Factory, Keswick Road, Blackpool FY1 5PB. Use exactly the same wording on your website, invoices and social profiles. Consistency helps Google trust that the details are correct.

If you want to put up a sign to help customers and support verification, ask us first about what is possible.

Think about your opening hours honestly. If you are at your unit by appointment only, say so in your profile description rather than listing hours when nobody will be there.

Getting verified

Google asks most new or moved profiles to verify that the business is real and at the address given. The method varies, and Google decides which options to offer you.

1. Set up the profileEnter your business name, category and address exactly as they appear in real life.
2. Choose a verification methodFollow the options Google offers. Some involve recording a short video of your premises and business.
3. Show you trade thereIf filming, show the location, your equipment or stock, and anything that proves you run the business, such as branded materials.
4. Wait, then checkReviews can take a few days. Do not keep editing the address while you wait, as that can restart checks.

Because our units are windowless and enclosed, good lighting in your video helps. Open the roller shutter or door so the entrance and surroundings are visible as well as the inside.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Adding "Blackpool" or a service keyword to your business name when it is not part of your real name.
• Showing an address for a service-area business that never receives customers.
• Listing hours when nobody is there to answer the door.
• Creating a second profile for the same business at a new address instead of updating the first.
• Using different address formats on different websites.

If you are moving an existing profile from home to a unit, edit the address on your current profile rather than starting again, so you keep your reviews. Our tenant IceWork can help with this kind of thing, and their web design page explains their tenant offer.

Keeping your profile healthy

A profile is not a one-off job. Google rewards businesses that keep their information accurate and active, and customers notice when a listing looks neglected.

1. Add real photosShow your work, your products and the entrance, so visitors know what to look for when they arrive at Keswick Road.
2. Answer reviewsThank people for good ones and reply calmly to criticism. Future customers read the replies.
3. Update hoursChange your hours for holidays and quiet periods, so nobody arrives at a closed door.
4. Post occasionallyShare new products, offers or finished jobs. It keeps the profile looking current.

If clients will visit you, our find us page is a useful link to send them alongside your own directions.

Before you act on this

This is general information, not legal advice or official guidance from Google. Google changes its policies and verification process from time to time, so read the current Business Profile guidelines before you set up or change a listing. Google, not us, decides whether a profile is approved.

Questions

Sources and official guidance

• Guidelines for representing your business on Google (Google Business Profile Help)
• Business eligibility and ownership guidelines (Google Business Profile Help)

Prices are subject to availability. Minimum rental term: one month, then one month’s notice to leave. Electricity usage is charged separately at the supplier rate, with no markup. Business use needs prior approval. Car storage is not permitted.