Location is the strongest local ranking factor, so is there any way to rank for multiple locations?
To discuss local rankings, Jim Boykin, founder and CEO of Internet Marketing Ninjas, and Ann Smarty, IMN’s analyst, were joined by Ben Fisher, Google’s trusted Business Profile Product Expert.
Ben Fisher is Co-Founder of Steady Demand and Diamond Google Product Expert with over 25 years of experience in Internet Marketing.
The fundamental rule remains the same:
- One business
- One address
- One phone number
If you do open a physical location that is staffed in every city, you can have multiple Google Business Profiles.
If you are a florist and you do local delivery (but not an actual office), you cannot create multiple Google Business Profiles.
If you become an abusive player, Google has the right to shut you down and on top of that, they have the right to never let you back.
Location is #1 local ranking signal, but there is currently no good way to show Google that you can actually help customers in a nearby town or county. This is especially true for service-based businesses that work across multiple cities or counties.
In fact, even specifying a service area is not going to be helpful. Adding a service area is a visible designation only. It is not a ranking factor.
The only definitive way for a business to rank for local searches is to actually establish a real office in that neighborhood.
It is a good idea to test a location first before you decide to invest into a long-term office. Get a short-term lease and see if your target customers are there.
The address controls your local rankings.
The only other way to help your business show up for searches outside of your physical address is to create location pages on your website. This will at least help you rank organically at least.
Hire ninjas if you want us to research your local keywords and create on-site optimization strategy to rank for multiple location-based queries.
