Business owners trying to figure out how to rank a service area business in multiple cities are often presented with conflicting or unhelpful advice.
Implementing a successful Local SEO strategy is more challenging for businesses that provide services outside their primary location.
These businesses, known as service area businesses or SABs, often serve dozens of smaller cities within a general area.
Google’s local algorithm is not engineered for these types of businesses because the local map pack results are shown based on the searcher’s proximity to the businesses’ verified addresses.
For home service providers like HVAC and pest control, this confines their Google Maps clicks to a small sub-section of the consumers they are trying to reach.
Luckily, with innovative software solutions and website content tweaks, SABs can rank on Google in multiple cities.
Steps to Ranking a Service Area Business in Multiple Cities
Since the early days of SEO, small businesses have consistently faced the problem of ranking for keywords in multiple cities. This is incredibly challenging for service area businesses (SABs), which often serve many areas and communities.
Although their office address (or home office) may be in a small suburb, they can travel 10 minutes to reach consumers in a much larger metro area. But how are these consumers going to find them?
The following steps reveal how to rank an SAB in multiple cities on Google:
1) Create Unique City Pages
Google’s organic algorithm (the traditional ten blue links) is less constraining than its Google Maps counterpart, providing a better opportunity for SABs to rank.
Considering this, service area businesses should publish high-quality city pages that target their service type (e.g., pest control) in specific cities (e.g., Plano, Mesquite, Allen, etc.).
Like any page that Google ranks on its first page, the content must be 100% unique and provide value to the customer based on E-E-A-T principles, which means experience, expertise, authority, and trust.
2) Utilize DataPins
DataPins is the software we created to include on city pages for service area businesses, such as HVAC and pest control companies.
DataPins generates pins based on recent jobs, consolidating local SEO signals such as geo-coordinates, schema markup, job descriptions, unique photos, and mini-maps.
Pins are a digital hand raise for Google, displaying 100% unique content based on real jobs.
3) Establish a Digital Brand
The final step in this process is more of a long-term investment in building your digital brand.
While you cannot become a household name overnight, regularly accumulating Google reviews, showcasing proof of your work, and publishing E-E-A-T signals on your website can help you achieve this over time.
As your brand gains authority, your city pages and Google Business Profile can rank for a broader range of keyword terms than a run-of-the-mill competitor.
4) Create Separate Websites (for Legitimate Locations)
Suppose your service area business has multiple verified Google Business Profile addresses that are at least 2 hours’ driving distance from one another. In that case, it can be beneficial to create a separate website for each location.
The further away a location is from your primary location, the more beneficial it is to create a new website for that location.
Some SABs even have locations that cross state lines, in which case a separate website with a locally-focused SEO strategy becomes crucial for maximizing rankings in both areas.
Other Considerations for Ranking in Multiple Cities
Google Maps Results Favor Address Proximity
Many local SEO experts have demonstrated that Google Map Pack rankings favor the local listing whenever possible. The location data is based on the verified address of your Google Business Profile.
If you are a roofer whose business listing is set in Plano, TX, you will have trouble showing up for terms like dallas roofer, or roofer near me when the searcher’s device is pinged within a Dallas zip code.
See an example below:
Plano roofing companies will have difficulty ranking for queries containing “Dallas.”
Organic Rankings are Based on Other Factors
Generally, local SEO city landing pages will only rank if A) they are endorsed through links from other relevant entities within that community, or B) they have original content (such as user-generated reviews and pins) that validate a business’s credibility within a specific geographic radius.
With DataPins’ technology, reviews and pins are added to location pages (automatically), which allows the page to rank in a city that your business has serviced but is not actually located in. See an example:
It’s easier to rank outside of your address city on traditional organic results (with city pages)
Google Business Profile Service Area Challenges
Google Business Profile is an essential tool for marketing your business. It makes it easier for people who need your services to find you. But what if you are a service area business?
Ranking outside your main zip code is notoriously tricky because Google prioritizes local searches based on which businesses have a physical address within the specified area.
And the further you venture out from your physical address, the more competition there is. You may only have ten competing businesses within your zip code, but that number balloons to dozens the further you go out.
Google is continually striving to enhance its user experience, and location specification plays a significant role in that effort. That’s why it has been so tricky for service area businesses to get ranked in the areas that they serve.
The following guide examines the challenges related to Google Business Profile service area ranking. We will also discuss some ways you can overcome those challenges and increase your visibility to more people outside the city where your business is physically located.
Google Business Profile Areas Served
Google Business Profile used to have a feature that allowed businesses to set their physical location and then an “areas served” radius that surrounded that centralized location.
It was a nice and convenient feature, to be sure. But people started abusing it. Businesses frequently exaggerated their service area radius to appear in more searches, even though they didn’t really work in those areas.
So naturally, as part of Google’s ceaseless quest to please its users, it struck this feature down.
As many businesses have found out, ranking using the Google Business Profile service area feature isn’t easy. However, as Google shut one big door, they opened a window simultaneously.
Service Area Businesses (SABs)
Service area businesses were thrilled when Google unveiled its new service area features. While it’s not as easy as expanding your area’s served radius on a map, it increases the quality of search results, which, in the end, is better for your business.
A Google Business Profile wizard now helps you specify all of your unique areas served. And while it can be a bit tedious (especially if you operate in many cities), it is very simple.
The Google Business Profile setup process now includes a “Where do you Serve Your Customers” section.
You can list as many areas as you want in this section. The city names you enter will then appear under the Overview section of your Google Business Profile.
Zip Code SEO Rank
Business owners operating in large cities like Los Angeles and Dallas may encounter another challenge with their Google Business Profile service area.
These cities are massive and have multiple zip codes within their specific areas and neighborhoods.
The problem is that these smaller areas are still covered under city names like Los Angeles and Dallas. So, business owners in these areas haven’t been able to let their customers know that they serve their area until recently.
In addition to including city names, Google has made it easier for searchers to find businesses in large metropolitan areas.
You can now enter specific zip codes for areas that may not have their own specific name.
Adding New Service Areas to GMB
Another way Google has made it easier for businesses to manage their Google Business Profile service area is by not locking them into one area after they set up their profiles.
You can go into your Google Business Profile dashboard and change the Storefront Address and Service Area sections as needed.
This is an excellent feature for growing businesses and frequently adding new cities to their service coverage area.
Projecting Future Google Business Profile Updates
The challenge of ranking outside one’s own zip code is just one in a series of many more. As Google finds ways to improve its service, there will surely be more changes that will frustrate business owners and DIY marketers.
It’s important to understand these challenges as they arise so that you can find ways to overcome them.
Here at DataPins, we must stay abreast of all such changes in ranking criteria and other marketing trends. Our software was designed specifically to address these service area challenges.
Google Business Profile Address Requirements
Google requires a physical address to verify your Google Business Profile, but it does not have to be visible to the public.
Google sends a verification number to the physical address you provide to verify you as a real business. Your listing will be verified once you confirm this verification number with Google.
Once you verify your address through Google, you can mark your listing as a Service Area Business (SAB), which allows you to hide the verified address from the public.
You must verify your physical location with Google, but you can then hide it from the public
Using a Home Address for Your Google Business Profile
Home services providers can use their home addresses to verify their Google Business Profile, even if it is not a storefront or official office.
Before you consider not creating a Google Business Profile and focusing only on organic results, please understand that it is critical for service area businesses to have an active GBP.
Your Google Business Profile is where customers leave reviews for your business, and it is what will show up when people search for your brand name on Google.
Hiding your GMB Address
The process of listing your home address on Google Business Profile but keeping it invisible to the public is actually very easy:
- Navigate to the dashboard of your Google Business Profile
- In the top right-hand corner, click the button that reads “Manage Now.”
- Provide the business name information it asks for during the prompts
- Once you have filled out your business name information, you will be prompted to list an address for your business.
- List your home address or the residential address you wish to use
- Check the “I deliver goods and services to my customers” box
- Then, check the “Hide my address (it’s not a store) box
- Complete the setup process as normal
Now, your business can be verified, and your home address will not be visible to the public.
Service Areas
Now that you know how to set up your Google Business Profile listing without using a business address, it’s time to list the areas you serve.
Listing service areas on GBP is absolutely crucial for service area businesses.
When people click on your Google Business Profile, they will see whether or not you operate in their area under the overview section.
97% of people will use online resources like Google Business Profile to research local businesses.
You simply cannot afford to omit this step. Luckily, the process is pretty easy, if not a bit tedious.
Google My Business now allows you to enter as many locations as you want when setting up your listing. In the setup wizard, you will see a section titled “Where do you serve your customers?”
In the field they provide, you can type in the names of the cities that you service. If you want/have to be really specific, you can also enter zip codes.
Using DataPins to Rank in Multiple Cities
The DataPins software is designed to help SABs rank in multiple cities throughout their service areas. Hundreds of businesses are already using this tool on their websites.
To expand your ranking radius, you should create unique city pages, implement DataPins, and build a long-term digital brand. The software helps you achieve all three of these goals.
Google and its users really want the same thing: to be presented with helpful content that meets their search intent.
When a homeowner in Plano, TX, requires a pest control service, they seek the most qualified company rather than the closest office (since the provider will have to come to them).
While the Google Maps algorithm will continue prioritizing businesses with nearby addresses, the organic rankings will showcase websites and city pages that best meet users’ specific needs.
