By location

Local SEO by location

Local SEO is how a service business gets into Google's map results in the towns it actually works in. Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence, and distance changes every time the searcher is in a different suburb. These pages cover the areas I work in, starting with Texas.

Serving Dallas-Fort WorthSetup from $600Texas first
How local search works

Why the map changes from one town to the next

Google names three factors for local results. One of them moves every time the customer is in a different place.

01

Relevance: what you do

Google describes it as how well a profile matches what someone is searching for. Your categories, your service list and a page per service are all in your control.

02

Distance: where they are

How far you are from the person searching. A roofer based in Garland is close to Garland searches and far from Frisco ones, whatever the profile says.

03

Prominence: who knows you

How well-known the business is, from reviews, links and mentions around the web. It builds slowly, so it rewards starting early and keeping at it.

If you drive to your customers, Google treats you as a service area business: your address is hidden and you list the areas you cover instead. Google allows up to 20 of them, wants the whole area within about 2 hours of driving from your base, and since June 2025 no longer accepts whole states. So the list tells Google where you work, and a page for each main city, with real detail about the jobs you do there, gives it something to match when someone in that city searches. That is what city-level relevance means, and it is the part of distance you can work with. The full setup is on SEO local para negocios de servicios.

Preguntas frecuentes

Preguntas comunes

Can I rank in a town where I don't have an office?

Sometimes, but it is harder. Distance is one of Google's three local factors, so the map leans toward businesses close to the person searching. What helps further out is listing that town in your service area and having a page about real jobs you have done there. The regular results under the map depend less on distance, so a good city page can show up there even when the map doesn't show you.

How many towns should I list as service areas?

Only the ones you actually want jobs in. Google allows up to 20 and asks that the whole area stays within about 2 hours of driving from where you are based. Adding every town in range does not put you in the map in all of them, because distance and relevance still decide that town by town.

Ponte en contacto

Want to show up in the towns you actually work in?

Tell me your trade, where you are based and the areas you cover.

Talk about local SEO

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