18 June Ranking Up: Debunking the Service Area Myth on Google June 18, 2024 By Melisa Rana Marketing, Social Media business website, digital marketing, Facebook, Google, SEO 0 RANKING UP: DEBUNKING THE SERVICE AREA MYTH ON GOOGLE June 18, 2024 | Social Media, Marketing | Google, Facebook, Digital Marketing, SEO, business website By Zach Vesper, NPI, Inc.'s Senior SEO and Marketing Strategist As a multi-national property inspection franchisor, our marketing team gets a lot of questions about how to increase ranking on Google. Of course every small business’ marketing efforts should be multi-faceted, with a mixture of in-person relationship-building efforts and digital campaigns. With that said, there is no question that Google is king for digital marketing, and that all starts with optimizing your Google Business Profile. There are many features on a Google Business page that can be utilized to improve visibility and ranking, but we commonly see people turn to their service areas for answers. Many business owners seem to think that slight changes to the service area field could create the presence bump they need in certain areas. But we’re here to say that this probably won’t be the solution to any Google ranking frustrations. To better understand why this is the case, let’s discuss what service areas actually are, how they should be properly set up, and which strategies are the real secret for ranking up on Google. Defining Service Area Businesses Google Business Profiles can be created for free and are broadly set up in one of two different ways. First, there’s the standard brick-and-mortar option where owners enter and verify their address so that their business appears on Google’s maps as a pinpoint. This option is fairly straightforward since businesses can easily take a picture of their storefront, send it to Google, and receive verification postcards through the mail to their business’ location. This easily proves that their business is valid and falls appropriately within Google’s guidelines. Service area businesses, on the other hand, are businesses that do not have a physical location for customers or clients to visit. Instead, they travel to their clients in order to perform their services or deliver their products. There are tons of valid businesses that operate without a storefront, from lawn care companies to electricians to plumbers, and, of course, property inspectors. Of course, service area businesses are just as valid as your typical brick-and-mortar retailer, but they sometimes have more trouble getting verified due to their lack of a physical location. Because of this, making significant changes to a Google Business Profile in order to get a “bump” in ranking is usually not a great idea, especially if your profile is already compliant with Google’s guidelines. With that said, it is still important to make sure your service area is set up correctly if you want to get the most out of that feature. Setting Up Your Service Area On Google, businesses can build out their service area by entering zip codes, cities, counties, and other location-specific terms to develop a “zone” of activity, rather than a pin on the map. According to Google’s Help Center, service areas are limited to 20 keywords, and should not extend beyond 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based. These restrictions are mainly in place because larger areas are simply not realistic for the typical small business to be able to cover and are more likely the result of someone trying to “game the system” and artificially boost their Google rankings. Instead, service areas should be set up to accurately reflect the area where you’re willing to travel, and small tweaks one way or the other aren’t going to have a noticeable impact on online visibility or Google ranking. On the contrary, frequent editing and pushing the limits of Google’s guidelines is more likely to lead to a suspension and plenty of frustration. Some issues that can come up might involve overlapping your area with a neighboring franchise that has the same name and having a personal address (the one that’s listed on licensing, certifications, tax information, etc.) located outside of your service area. Again, both of these situations just add another hurdle for showing Google that your business is legitimate. Instead of adjusting your service area, let’s discuss the actions that can actually improve your Google ranking. The Right Ways to Rank Up on Google #1: Get More Reviews! If there’s only one thing that you add to your to-do list today, let it be this. When Google answers a searcher’s queries, they try to offer up the answers that are most likely to satisfy the question. For business inquiries like “inspector near me,” this means that the two most influential factors that they consider are the location of the searcher, and reputation of the business. Powerful testimonials advocating for the quality of your business not only get the attention of clients, but they serve as proof to Google that your business is worth recommending. #2: Fill Your Website with Quality Content Another factor that bolsters credibility is a strong website that confirms your business’ NAP (name, address or service area, and phone number), incorporates quality content with region-specific keywords, and follows other White Hat SEO practices. Well-crafted, intelligently designed websites are the backbone of any small business, and Google’s algorithm knows to put quality in front of its users. #3: Post as Your Business on Social Media Lastly, utilize your business’ social media pages to post fresh content, update your audience about your newest deals and add-ons, and engage with new followers. Whether you resonate more with Facebook or with Instagram, social media is another powerful tool for increasing relevance and bringing your business in front of clients. For more information on small business social media strategy and franchising information, take a look at our franchise blog! Interested in partnering your property inspection business with National Property Inspections? Learn more right here. About the Author Zach Vesper, Senior SEO and Marketing Strategist Zach brings more than six years of SEO experience to the table, making him your go-to web optimization specialist--he knows how to help your website reach the first page! He's always more than happy to answer your questions about all things Google. Zach is a film buff, an old-fashioned connoisseur and an avid reader of science fiction. When he’s not working, he’s hanging out with his wife, Stepha. Comments are closed.