Service areas were previously thought to have no impact on rankings for a Service Area Business, but recent tests have demonstrated that they are indeed a relevant ranking factor. While historically, setting the service area had no influence on your Google local rankings, this has now changed.
Recent tests by SEO experts have shown that businesses, which were once unaffected by listing a service area, are now experiencing a boost in their rankings by targeting new geographies. However, this does not mean that your local pest control should claim to serve the entire continent. It suggests that every functional service area of your business, whether it’s just the downtown core or the entire general area of the city of operation, should be included in your listing.
All service area businesses should now more carefully curate where they list themselves as operating. Attempting to cover every potentially relevant area is now diluting your search engine optimisation efforts. Every business needs to update its Google Business Profile to focus on the areas where they wish to rank. Businesses that concentrate on being at the top of fewer but more important service areas will achieve much better results than having mediocre rankings in both relevant and irrelevant geographies.