Do Service Areas Impact Local Rankings? Darren says YES, Joy says NO

[Durandl]

Two very interesting articles/videos came out on the same day from the most respectable local SEO gurus I know.

According to @JoyHawkins Service areas do not impact rankings:

Does the Service Area in Your Google Business Profile Impact Ranking? - Sterling Sky Inc

Sterling Sky's Colan Nielsen tests whether setting a service area in your Google My Business listing affects your organic or maps ranking. Read on to find the scoop!

www.sterlingsky.ca

According to Darren Shaw @whitespark they do

Interesting Case Study on Service Areas

Interesting new case study on service areas. What is going on?

whitespark.ca

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Interested to hear what everyone thinks

 

[JS Girard]

Oh hey everyone. I figured I should update this thread with the latest info on this case. Here you go:

Do Service Areas Impact Rankings for Local SEO in 2023?

Here's some NEW and surprising information on how your business address can impact your rankings.

whitespark.ca

Between your case and mine, Darren, my theory is that the likely cause is moving a SAB to a new address while the original address is still hidden. What do you think?

 

[whitespark]

Between your case and mine, Darren, my theory is that the likely cause is moving a SAB to a new address while the original address is still hidden. What do you think?

I don't follow what you mean.

 

[JS Girard]

I mean that if you switch the address by entering the new address directly onto a GBP where the address is hidden seems to be a key element to this bug. At least it sounds like that's what was done in your client's case

If I ever have to move a SAB again, I'll try making sure to display the original validation address first to see if the bug can still happen in that case.

 

[JS Girard]

I see. Well, it's not possible to edit an address on a SAB. You can either have an address on the listing, or you can remove the address. Here's the history with this case:

1. There was no address on this listing when it was created. But, to receive a postcard for verification, an address had to be entered. This was the address in Draper, higher up on the map in my video.
2. Later, the business moved south to Saratga Springs, but no change was made to the GBP because it was already set up as a SAB with no address on the Profile.
3. On a whim, Jimmy thought he'd test to see what happened if he showed his address. So he entered his NEW Saratoga Springs address. Rankings in the service areas he was tracking dropped, because now Google was situating his business location down in Saratoga Springs.
4. When he removed the address from the listing, Google then defaulted back to the address it was originally verified at, so his rankings were now based on the address up in Draper.

It makes sense why this was happening. Google's local ranking proximity is defined around the address of the business, and if there is no address set on the Profile, it will use the address that the Profile was verified at.

In our case, it we acquired a SAB we were told was validated on the North Shore (it was ranking there for a while too!). When it started inexplicably ranking in Laval, we actually revalidated it at the desired address, and we've had this discrepancy ever since: correct rankings while address is shown (she has 57 reviews and there is literally no other realtors with an address in this municipality!), which shift over to Laval (a tougher proposal because that's her agency office with stiff competition) as soon as we hide the address...

 

[keyserholiday]

Here is a great myth-buster example. Two of the business profiles ranking are hiding their address and one of them has no reviews. You don't need to have your address showing or need reviews to rank.

 

[Rich Owings]

Okay, so if an SAB client has moved but wants to rank at the new address, is there anyway around this short of showing the address?

 

[Anonymous_Dude]

My Google Business profile has 7 reviews and a service area with NO visible address (I have hidden it as it is my home) however I never see my profile showing up at all. I see other Realtors in my area with 0 or 1 reviews showing up instead, that are much less active than me too. I post almost every single day on GMB by providing updates and uploading pictures too, I am trying to do everything right but for whatever reason my profile seems to be stagnant. What gives?

 

[keyserholiday]

My Google Business profile has 7 reviews and a service area with NO visible address (I have hidden it as it is my home) however I never see my profile showing up at all. I see other Realtors in my area with 0 or 1 reviews showing up instead, that are much less active than me too. I post almost every single day on GMB by providing updates and uploading pictures too, I am trying to do everything right but for whatever reason my profile seems to be stagnant. What gives?

I replied to your original thread and your issue are a lack of citations and your website.

 

[Anonymous_Dude]

I replied to your original thread and your issue are a lack of citations and your website.

What does the website have to do with GMB? Both are independent and one or the other is not a mutual requirement.

 

[Marcin Karwowski]

What does the website have to do with GMB? Both are independent and one or the other is not a mutual requirement.

It is not a requirement. But the website has a significant impact on GMB. GMB has the same effect on the website in the ranking.

 

[Anonymous_Dude]

It is not a requirement. But the website has a significant impact on GMB. GMB has the same effect on the website in the ranking.

So perhaps would you say it might be beneficial to remove the website URL from the GMB listing and see how that would fare for a few weeks, as a sort of trial period and/or experiment?

 

[Marcin Karwowski]

So perhaps would you say it might be beneficial to remove the website URL from the GMB listing and see how that would fare for a few weeks, as a sort of trial period and/or experiment?

Yes, you can do such a test. However, I have not yet encountered a situation where deleting a website has improved the ranking (if everything is fine with the site), most often the total lack of www having interferes with ranking, especially if your competitors have your own websites.

 

[Anonymous_Dude]

Yes, you can do such a test. However, I have not yet encountered a situation where deleting a website has improved the ranking (if everything is fine with the site), most often the total lack of www having interferes with ranking, especially if your competitors have your own websites.

All of this sounds absurd in all honesty. Why not just show all of the results? My thought is because Google loves to "prioritize" those profiles that advertise. It's all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$!

 

[Anonymous_Dude]

I currently have the address for my GMB listing hidden. If I want to show it, I have to enter an address. However, if I enter an address that doesn't necessarily match the origin address used to verify the listing, am I at the potential for losing my reviews? I honestly can't remember which address I used to verify, as I used to have 2 listings - one for my home address, and one for a previous office address. I deleted the one with less reviews but can't remember which one that was.

 

[JS Girard]

I currently have the address for my GMB listing hidden. If I want to show it, I have to enter an address. However, if I enter an address that doesn't necessarily match the origin address used to verify the listing, am I at the potential for losing my reviews? I honestly can't remember which address I used to verify, as I used to have 2 listings - one for my home address, and one for a previous office address. I deleted the one with less reviews but can't remember which one that was.

You will not lose your reviews, but you may be asked to validate the profile via postcard again. If it moves significantly away, you are liable to trigger the bug being described here.

 

[SSMMatt]

@keyserholiday Didn't want to start a new thread. I have a client who created their GBP Profile as SAB with an address in a different city than where they are now. They were in Mesa and now are located in Queen Creek, AZ. I've updated citations but not the GBP address. They are struggling to rank on the maps. Are you saying I need to create a whole new GBP profile in order to have the new address in Queen Creek? If so, how do I go about doing that?

 

[Claudia]

@keyserholiday Didn't want to start a new thread. I have a client who created their GBP Profile as SAB with an address in a different city than where they are now. They were in Mesa and now are located in Queen Creek, AZ. I've updated citations but not the GBP address. They are struggling to rank on the maps. Are you saying I need to create a whole new GBP profile in order to have the new address in Queen Creek? If so, how do I go about doing that?

You just need to edit the address. Just make sure you have good documentation to send to Google should it trigger a suspension or reverification. Right now the address is hidden but you can still hit the edit button and unhide the address and edit it to the new location. I know you updated citations but make sure the website is also updated if the address is present there. Your service area can only be a 2 hour driving distance from the new address so make sure you update that at the same time.

 

[SSMMatt]

Thanks, Claudia. Right now it's showing just the city and state on the website. Is that enough? It's a home address that they don't want to publish on their website.

 

[Claudia]

Yes I have seen many SAB do that. They typically put the service area on the site.

 

[JoyHawkins]

When you update the address, definitely check in a week or 2 to see if you're ranking now in the new area. If not, you're impacted by the bug referenced on the thread here.