Any tips on how to increase map pack ranking in surrounding areas around my GBP business?

[fetch]

I have a single-address (not service area) GBP. I am ranked in 1st position of map pack for the city that my GBP address is listed in, but my GBP ranking drops pretty considerably as I move to surrounding cities.

I understand that I could theoretically move to SAB to expand my reach, but don't want and can't do that.

What are some of the things that I can do to gain similar map pack rankings in my immediately surrounding areas? I would assume:

-Reviews from customers in those surrounding areas
-Service location pages of those surrounding areas on my website
-WHAT ELSE....?

Thanks everyone!

 

[ElizabethRule]

Making your listing an SAB will not improve rankings in surrounding towns, in fact hiding your address will likely hurt your rankings Does Hiding Your Address Impact your Google Business Profile Ranking? - Sterling Sky Inc

Do you have specific keywords you are looking to improve rankings for? It can be harder to improve your ranking radius for "implicit keywords" (no location modifier) vs "explicit keywords" (includes location modifier). Especially in competitive areas/competitive industries, it can be almost impossible to increase the ranking radius of a single GBP listing for implicit keywords.

This article might be of help, as it explains how to focus your efforts on keywords you have the most potential to see increases for Understanding explicit vs. implicit searches: The key to dominating local SEO

 

[fetch]

Making your listing an SAB will not improve rankings in surrounding towns, in fact hiding your address will likely hurt your rankings Does Hiding Your Address Impact your Google Business Profile Ranking? - Sterling Sky Inc

Do you have specific keywords you are looking to improve rankings for? It can be harder to improve your ranking radius for "implicit keywords" (no location modifier) vs "explicit keywords" (includes location modifier). Especially in competitive areas/competitive industries, it can be almost impossible to increase the ranking radius of a single GBP listing for implicit keywords.

This article might be of help, as it explains how to focus your efforts on keywords you have the most potential to see increases for Understanding explicit vs. implicit searches: The key to dominating local SEO

Thanks @ElizabethRule! Great articles, and I'm understanding about the explicit.... Let me ask your advice in a different way. But allow me to set it up....

1). My business is FETCH Junk Removal. We are located in a town called La Mesa, and that's the city in which our GBP address is located. We rank well on the map pack for "junk removal," "junk removal La Mesa," "junk removal near me" in La Mesa, however I'm looking to expand that distance reach in 3-pack map pack to other bordering cities of La Mesa. We also rank well in organic results for 'junk removal La Mesa.' (typically 1-3).
https://www.google.com/search?q=junk+removal+la+mesaI know that being a pinned address business in La Mesa, in combination with proper GBP optimization, reviews, activity, etc., all helps my ability to be 1 or 2 in the map pack consistently for those main keywords. (90% of traffic and results come from those above mentioned keywords).

2). I would like to rank in the 3-pack map pack for a nearby city, El Cajon. I know that I may have a hard time with ranking in the map pack for "junk removal near me" for users who are located in El Cajon, but I also notice that there's a significant amount of search volume for "junk removal + city name," in this case "junk removal El Cajon," of which I would love to show up in the 3-pack for.
I rank in organic results for junk removal el cajon - Google Search fairly well (2nd position), but don't show up in the 3-pack. ...and even though I have #2 position in serps for that keyword, and even though I have a far better optimized GBP, and more reviews than several of the competitors, I still do not show up in that 3-pack for "junk removal El Cajon."

I could give several other examples of this same "junk removal + city name" scenario where I show very well in serps, have triple the reviews, have a far more optimized GBP, and yet can't seem to show up even in 3rd position in the 3-pack.

So, I guess that's my question is: what more can I do to improve my chances of landing in the 3-pack of for example "junk removal El Cajon," a neighboring city to my business, where I rank well in serps for, and for where I offer a better match to google users/searchers.

Thanks for any additional advice or info you can offer up! (-:

 

[ElizabethRule]

It's hard to rank for a city if you are not located in that city. That said, if you can get more reviews, consistently over the next few months that may help. There are quite a few competitors ranking above you that have more reviews.

Make sure you add all relevant categories too, there seem to be a TON of related categories in this industry, so having as many as possible on your GBP can help give you an edge over the competition.

I also do not see "El Cajon" as part of your service area, so I would add that.

Are you using a grid rank tracking tool? If not, I 100% recommend using one because it can show you your true local rankings across the city, rather than doing manual searches which can be unreliable to measure progress. LocalFalcon is a good option you can do one-off scans with and see all the competition ranking for a particular keyword. PlacesScout is also a good option.

 

[Tony Wang]

If there are more than 3 competitors that are physically located in El Cajon, I think it's very unlikely you'll get into the 3 pack for "junk removal El Cajon". Same holds for any other city outside of your actual address.

You could do better with "near me" terms if you are near the border and the searcher is closer to your side of El Cajon. As Elizabeth suggested, a grid ranking tool would show you that.

Organic rankings for those other cities would be your best bet. Localized pages on your site, plus reviews from those locations would help.