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:
https://www.sterlingsky.ca/does-the-service-area-in-google-my-business-impact-ranking/
According to Darren Shaw @whitespark they do
https://whitespark.ca/blog/do-service-areas-impact-rankings-on-google-in-2023/

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Interested to hear what everyone thinks

 

[SSMMatt]

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.

Thanks, Joy. So I've updated the address and triggered re-verification. Do I need to hide the address now before starting the verification process?

 

[JoyHawkins]

I would verify it first, then hide.

 

[SSMMatt]

Thank you, much appreciated, Joy.

 

[Claudia]

Thanks, Joy. So I've updated the address and triggered re-verification. Do I need to hide the address now before starting the verification process?

Yes you need to hide your address. You should have edited the address then select hide your address.