List Your Music Studio on Google Maps

Next to word-of-mouth advertising, Google Maps was the most consistent source of new students when I started my music school. Oh, and did I mention it’s FREE?

“But I don’t want my home studio address showing up on Google Maps…”

In the early days, Google required businesses to display an address publicly to show up on Maps. This didn’t bother me since I had a dedicated business location, but for home-based studios…teachers are understandably leery.

I was excited to discover that Google has changed this policy! Now, through Google My Business, you can list your home studio on Google Maps without displaying your exact address!

How to List Music Studio on Google Maps

If you are listing a studio where you don’t mind the address being public, just log in to Google My Business (you’ll need a Gmail account) and follow the prompts.

If you want to keep the address private, keep reading.

List Home Music Studio on Google Maps

Google has a Getting Started Guide to walk you through the process of listing your studio, but I want to draw your attention to one very IMPORTANT NOTE: When registering your studio, you will encounter this statement: “I deliver goods and services to my customers at their location.” Even if you are not a traveling teacher, select “Yes” here to indicate that you are a “service-area business.”

After entering your service area details, you will see a second similar (but opposite) statement: “I serve customers at my business address.” The phrasing of these statements doesn’t make the implications completely obvious, but Google’s Help section clarifies:

“Select the box next to “I serve customers at my business address” if you want your complete address to appear on Google and your business location is staffed and able to receive customers during its stated hours.” [emphasis added]

Unless your home studio is staffed and open to the public during all your stated business hours, you should NOT select this option. This article provides more details and specifically addresses piano teachers.

That’s about it! It took me a while to wrap my brain around these “service area business” options, so hopefully this post will save you some trouble. 🙂 Feel free to leave questions in the comments.