Service Areas and Physical Address

[keyserholiday]

I well versed in the Atlanta region. I have a client with 37 location in and around Atlanta. There are zero searches for Cumming lawyer, cumming attorney. It's lawyer or attorney that is being searched for sans the geo-modifier. Cumming has a population of 5,400.

A buddy of mine has a client that is outside of Atlanta and they are ranking in Atlanta bc they are in a non-competitive market.

To quote a great friend of mine and a mentor:
"Anything works in a non-competitive market."

 

[AndySimpson]

As someone who lives in the area "cumming car accident lawyer" wouldn't be that difficult to rank organically, your nearest city, Alpharetta, would be the challenge.

 

[whitespark]

My brain is hurting from reading all this.

1) We know you have increased the ranking radius of your client. Awesome. That's the goal. You did it with good local seo work.

2) I know you're saying you need to do both. You need to increase authority AND set the service areas in GMB.

3) We don't think that setting the service areas in GMB had ANY impact on that. We think it was ONLY because of the other work you did.

4) We can test whether or not the service areas had an impact simply by taking them out. If they are contributing in any way, then we would expect to see rankings drop a little by taking them out. To test this, we just need to set up rank tracking before and after you update the service area settings. Please email me the client domain/ & GMB, keywords, and a series of zip codes/locations that correspond to your service area settings and I'll set up the rank tracking.

Thanks!

 

[jonathon]

What is the point for a SAB that also has brick and mortars to list service area then? If not to be relevant to people searching for the service, then what? VERY few people know that the service area view is even a thing, much less use it.

Also - for a service area business, doesn't it stand to reason that Google takes your service area into account when delivering results to a searcher (even if it is the smallest amount)?

We have a home and commercial services business with 18 locations across six states. Each has a physical office and surrounding service area. I've noticed Google repeatedly reducing our service area settings back to only the city our address is in for several locations. The problem is I can't really glean much from our bookings in those areas as they are new locations for our business and are still building trust. The older, more established pages never have their service area challenged but they have a lot of reviews built up.

I'm considering an experiment where we change a couple of our GMBs to Service Area Only to see if the number of leads sees a significant change.

Overall I agree with Joy - it's nearly impossible to isolate a single ranking factor unless your online presence is in a vacuum.

 

[JoyHawkins]

I'm considering an experiment where we change a couple of our GMBs to Service Area Only to see if the number of leads sees a significant change.

I wouldn't suggest trying that without reading this thread.

 

[keyserholiday]

If you update a brick and mortar to a SAB, it may cause the listing(s) to become suspended. The listing will not show up until the listing is reinstated. I am all for test everything, but this would be the equivalent of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

[BipperMedia]

@whitespark -- I appreciate that.

@jonathon - 100% agree with your statement (I think... if you are saying what I think you are)... why would Google allow you to specify service areas if there was absolutely no value in doing so?

@JoyHawkins -- my point in bringing up the car accident lawyer example was to specifically show how authority can influence a location that's at the peripheral of a proper city radius... i.e. this location is 10 miles north of the center of the city where all of their competitors are gathered.

I'm NOT trying to generate a cheerleading squad to celebrate a #1 ranking for this car accident lawyer.. my intent was to present another perspective on the impact that authority plays in creating presence and productivity for locations.

Which (sorry @whitespark but you have to hear it again) was also the founding premise of why I completely disagree with everyone who's saying that adding service areas / zip codes has zero impact on rankings in those areas.... from my perspective and experience this is false.

Not only do I think that's false, but I'm confident I have data to prove otherwise... just not all nice, neat, and clean the way everyone would like to see it right now.

*** I'm literally going to get in my car and drive out to these surrounding zip codes and search keyword phrases related to my client's business... and when I see them in the 3 pack -- probably at #1 -- I'll share it back on this forum.

@keyserholiday --- our client has increased personal injury case count by 50% year over year... not leads, but cases... since their presence and rankings have increased to this level (based on the last update they shared with me) --- and 99% of those cases were leads that came from phone calls where people found them in Google....

So if... as you said... there are zero searches happening, then what exactly would you propose these people are searching when they find my client and become a personal injury / car accident client? (I'm very confused with your absolute, definitive statements about the personal injury / car accident lawyer search market in Cumming, Ga.)

@keyserholiday -- also, if you strip away the city name (cumming) from the search terms, you are left with general / category level searches... of which our client also carries the same ranking and presence from within the geographic area. something I also feel would reinforce my perspective on the impact of the authority of the GMB.

@AndySimpson -- thank you, I appreciate that... I'm always looking to learn more and get better at local SEO -- would you mind sharing with me your experience of how you easily ranked a personal injury / car accident lawyer who shares similar characteristics? (video, podcast, blog posts, FB group... anything? I searched and tried to find something... but couldn't)

 

[AndySimpson]

@AndySimpson -- thank you, I appreciate that... I'm always looking to learn more and get better at local SEO -- would you mind sharing with me your experience of how you easily ranked a personal injury / car accident lawyer who shares similar characteristics? (video, podcast, blog posts, FB group... anything? I searched and tried to find something... but couldn't)

Anytime Bobby, just "hit me up" on Twitter (as they say) and we'll have a coffee...just give me a couple of weeks as I'm heading up to Boston for a small bike ride next weekend...cheers

update: btw, it's never easy, just a challenge!

 

[AndySimpson]

@keyserholiday --- our client has increased personal injury case count by 50% year over year... not leads, but cases... since their presence and rankings have increased to this level (based on the last update they shared with me) --- and 99% of those cases were leads that came from phone calls where people found them in Google....

Just reading though this more, what does it say in the clients Insights GMB data for "Queries used to find your business", cheers

btw I don't have a client in the area, but "we" do have a client in Atlanta.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Quick reminder to everyone on this thread: It's 100% okay to disagree with each other but please always make your replies friendly and polite. I don't want this discussion to turn into a boxing ring

 

[Mindquest]

Which (sorry @whitespark but you have to hear it again) was also the founding premise of why I completely disagree with everyone who's saying that adding service areas / zip codes has zero impact on rankings in those areas.... from my perspective and experience this is false.

Not only do I think that's false, but I'm confident I have data to prove otherwise... just not all nice, neat, and clean the way everyone would like to see it right now.

*** I'm literally going to get in my car and drive out to these surrounding zip codes and search keyword phrases related to my client's business... and when I see them in the 3 pack -- probably at #1 -- I'll share it back on this forum.

The way to prove this point is clear and has been already laid out by @whitespark generous offer. If you do this test we will know what if any effect this one factor (service area zip code insertion) has on ranking. That is the only question this thread is asking.

Would really appreciate your help in proving this one point. In respect of your time if this test isn't something you can do then it becomes more of a "in my experience" conversation on this thread.

And there is nothing wrong with great debate, but in the end without data it is just one persons experience vs anothers.

 

[BipperMedia]

@JoyHawkins -- this will be my last post here in this discussion... so if you decide to remove it, so be it.

@keyserholiday -- I'm assuming your comments were removed - probably for good reason...

For some reason I'm taking heat because I simply disagreed with people who you call "local SEO experts".

Just because you think someone is a "local SEO expert", does that mean that everyone in this forum should be like... "oh, [local SEO expert] spoke... so that's it - nothing more needs to be said, and definitely don't disagree... because [local SEO expert] already gave the final word"?

First of all, this discussion somehow morphed into focusing on our car accident lawyer client.

I never intended for this to be the focus -- as I said multiple times, I brought that example up as evidence to show the impact of location authority, and how prominence can in fact influence and improve rankings for a location that's further out on the radius spectrum / outer regions of a city.

This client / this location proves this theory to be true (in my opinion anyway).

Two years ago this client was sitting around #5 in maps -- and yes, that's because there's not a lot of lawyers in this market.

But going from #5 to #1 in this market was no small feat -- regardless of how easy you think it is, or could be, to pull that off. Even though there aren't a lot of competitors, there are very well funded competitors... and maybe I'm just not as advanced of an SEO as you... but it took me 2 years and a lot of experimentation, failures, adjustments... not to mention a lot of patience and confidence from the client.

The original point -- my original post 127 comments ago -- was to say that I simply disagree with the premise that "there's no value / zero value in adding zip codes as service areas".

I completely disagreed with this statement... I have clients that prove my position... and I believe there is in fact a reason why the service areas exists in GMB, and if you aren't seeing any value from them then its because your client (or your location) simply lacks the location authority to drive rankings in those outer areas.

So you all can go on discrediting service areas... we (and our clients) will continue on with leveraging service areas... and we will all agree to disagree.

Perhaps it was my comments that created this environment of taking an aggressive position toward my views... this certainly wasn't my intention -- again, I simply disagreed.

I respect this forum - I respect and follow all of the heavy hitters in this forum who are leaders in the local SEO space - and I wish you all the best of luck!

Bobby

 

[JoyHawkins]

Bobby,

Just clarifying - I have no need to remove this post and I didn't remove Jason's post either. People are welcome to disagree with each other on the forum.

The way to prove this point is clear and has been already laid out by @whitespark generous offer. If you do this test we will know what if any effect this one factor (service area zip code insertion) has on ranking. That is the only question this thread is asking.

^^ Couldn't agree more.

 

[BipperMedia]

My brain is hurting from reading all this.

1) We know you have increased the ranking radius of your client. Awesome. That's the goal. You did it with good local seo work.

2) I know you're saying you need to do both. You need to increase authority AND set the service areas in GMB.

3) We don't think that setting the service areas in GMB had ANY impact on that. We think it was ONLY because of the other work you did.

4) We can test whether or not the service areas had an impact simply by taking them out. If they are contributing in any way, then we would expect to see rankings drop a little by taking them out. To test this, we just need to set up rank tracking before and after you update the service area settings. Please email me the client domain/ & GMB, keywords, and a series of zip codes/locations that correspond to your service area settings and I'll set up the rank tracking.

Thanks!

Hi @whitespark --- what's your email address?

I'll go ahead and proceed with sending you what you need so we can get this test underway.

 

[whitespark]

Hi @whitespark --- what's your email address?

darren@whitespark.ca

 

[BipperMedia]

darren@whitespark.ca

I'll get the info to you shortly - thank you again for being willing to help in this research.

 

[keyserholiday]

@BipperMedia I elected to remove my post out of respect to my friend and colleague Joy.

 

[BipperMedia]

@BipperMedia I elected to remove my post out of respect to my friend and colleague Joy.

Great

 

[whitespark]

Hey Bobby,

I think we all agree with your premise that "location authority, and prominence can in fact influence and improve rankings for a location that's further out on the radius spectrum / outer regions of a city. " Absolutely. 100%. I think we all also recognize that it's not an easy feat to accomplish. Getting a client to rank in a super wide radius is kind of like the holy grail of local SEO.

My take on this is that the work you did to increase location authority and prominence is what increased your rankings. I suspect that you would have had the same effect with or without adding the service areas. I suspect this, because I have personally tested adding/removing service areas a few times, on locations that had authority, and I didn't see any impact.

But my tests are just a tiny drop in the pool of possibilities. I am not 100% convinced that there is no impact (I'm about 98% convinced). If you have data to the contrary, then I would LOVE to be proven wrong. If the industry is holding assumptions that are wrong, and you present evidence to show that these assumptions are wrong, then that's a major win for everyone. I love it when that happens. It's the best.

So yes, please, let's do the test I suggested. If we take out the service areas and we see a drop in rankings, then that will be some evidence that the service areas were providing some benefit. If we take out the service areas and rankings don't change at all, then I will remain at 98% convinced that they have no impact.

FYI, according to Google, the reason for setting the service areas is simply to show your customers on the map what area you serve. The purpose of setting them is so that Google can draw this map on your listing:

Looking forward to testing this with you!

 

[keyserholiday]

I would love to review and compare your data with mine as well.