Should I change my local listing Service type from Brick and Mortar to Service Area in Google? And will it affect my ranking in a negative manner?

[LittleDog]

Currently my company Big Boy Bail Bonds, Inc is ranking very well for the city it is located and, currently service type is brick and mortar. But my Company does not only service people at our location but we service the entire county of Los Angeles. And I wanted to know if you would advise me on weather I should change the service type from brick and morter to service area. and if doing that would effect me in a negative manner when it came to my ranking? Plz advice Thank you in advance.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Gayane!

So glad you started a new thread on this. This is how this works:

1. Local pack results are all about your city of location. So, if you're located in the city of San Diego, your best hope is rank in the local packs for searches made from devices based in San Diego or searches that contain the word San Diego in them. You are not likely to rank in the local packs for any other city in your county or service area. This isn't the way Google's local results work.

2. So, if you want to rank for these other city terms in your service area, then you need to aim for organic results rather than local ones. This will involve a combination of onsite development of great local content + earning links and other SEO basics in hopes that you can compete for some organic visibility in these areas where you don't have a physical office. You can read more about this here: https://moz.com/blog/local-landing-pages-guide

3. The alternative is to pay to play. Invest in Google Adwords and target ads to these other cities.

4. In Google's local product, brick-and-mortar businesses are those that receive customers, in person, at their place of business. So, this would be a restaurant, dental office, chiropractor, hospital, etc. A service area business would be one that mainly serves customers at their locations. This would be an electrician, plumber, landscaper, etc. You'll need to decide which one of those business models best describes your business. You should pick the one which accurately describes your business best and should not change from one to the other for any ranking considerations.

Hope this helps!

[LittleDog]

Thank you for the respond. Let me be a little more clear. My business is a bail bonds company. Located in the county of Los Angeles, but in a city called Va Nuys. And when it comes to where I service my clients. Its pretty much half and half. Half the time they come to my office. The other half the time I meet the clients at the jail that the inmate is located at, or I will also go to my clients home. And currently I'm ranking very well with my city showing on in the local pack. But if I change it to a service area business, I dont know if it will effect me in a negative way or positive. Or will it not effect my ranking. Because I believe I'm ranking so well on the local pack due to my reviews being a whole lot more then my competition. The link above will take you to my local listing. In case you wanted to take a quick look. And give my your insight. Thank you.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Gayane,

Thanks for the link and the further information. You could go either way with this, but personally, I would stick with designating the business as brick-and-mortar. If you choose the settings for a service area business, Google will determine whether or not to hide your address, and if you are the only business in your locale/industry with a hidden address, there is some chance that you could see a ranking drop in Van Nuys. And, given your location (a busy, competitive place) setting a service radius is unlikely to cause you to show anyplace but Van Nuys, anyway. So, personally, I'd stick with the settings for brick-and-mortar because you are eligible, and I would pursue the work described in my point #2, above.

Hope this helps!

[LittleDog]

Thank you for taking the time to look and the links and giving me the best advise you have. I really appreciate your time. Thank you in very much.

[MiriamEllis]

It's my pleasure. Have a super week!