It is not unusual for a business to setup a "service area" on Google. The idea is to tell Google where most of your customers live and where you want exposure in the search results. Often, the physical address of the business is not important because customers don't come to you... you go to them. With this in mind, you complete your Google My Business profile and hide your physical address. To you it's less important. But guess what? Google still considers your location for Google searches related to your business products and services.

This is a grid ranking map of a local, well established and well optimized business. Grid maps allow you to check ranking status at very precise points on the map. Green represents a top 3 listing. Those top 3 are the only listings that appear in a Google search. This particular client's physical location is Centerville, Ohio (the red marker). The major clients for this business are in Dayton Ohio, centered on the blue location marker. In December of 2021, location became an even more dominant ranking signal for local area businesses and that may suggest challenges for many. For this business, local ranking in the northern part of Dayton dropped to essentially invisible in a Google search... obviously not good!

Links are still the primary way of improving rank however how links are generated have become a lot more subtle. With Google My Business, location links are embedded in images, reviews and personal maps. Each of the links is an optimization opportunity. There are several ways to generate location signals that let Google know just how far your business reaches into the local community. Just telling Google your service area is not enough... you need to SHOW Google where you work. Here's how.