Between last year and this year a lot has occurred. The big change was the rollout of Places Search in late October. In that Google is not letting the web define how far out a particular result should show not just a limited postal geography.

Everybody thinks that it is important to have your listing inside the city of choice: http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml#2 and the use of the tool mentioned above gives you a clue of the possible boundaries of that.

As to whether you should id your service area… I think it is valuable to do regardless as it helps clients understand where you do what you do. I don’t think that it helps rank very much but so what?

Thanks for this, very interesting. Though doing some research I have found out the post below. Am I correct in saying that it would seem your mind has changed or am I getting confused. If so, do you have any specific reasons why you’ve evolved

http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml#57

Thanks, H

In the US, if you choose “Do not show my business address on my Maps listing” in addition to service area THEN you will most likely be buried from view. The reports out of Canada indicate that listings are not buried as badly up there. The impact of the choice though is instant on and instant off… ie if you choose “Do not show my business address on my Maps listing” and your listing disappears on a certain search… changing it back will immediately restore it.

Both locations my client work out of (in two different cities). They are both legitimate locations. Most of the time though, he goes to his client’s locations, or sites to do the work (he is a photographer). Would it be best to use the Service Areas feature? I’ve been reading a lot of ‘bad’ things about it lately, any pointers you can give? Thanks

I am a big believer in creating a long, term sustainable presence for a business. That is always best achieved by staying within the guidelines.

It is not totally clear to me, whether the business has two legitimate locations or not. And if not why they have two postal addresses. But if the second location is not a real, drive to location you run the risk of being reported to Google. If you are reported, then you run the risk of suspension.

If that is the case, it is not for me to say to you and the client that it isn’t worth it. You need to make that assessment yourselves.