How to rank in a nearby town without an office there

Short answer: Google favors businesses close to the searcher, so ranking in the next town over is harder. It isn’t impossible: it takes a page about your work there, customers there who mention it, and patience. Faking an address there is how profiles get suspended.

What works

A real page about that town: work you’ve done there, what’s different about it, how you get there. See town pages that rank.
Your service area on your Google profile including it, if you go to customers.
Reviews from customers there that mention the town naturally.
Local links: a sponsorship, a chamber membership, a partner business in that town.
Regular results, not just the map: a good town page can rank below the map even when your pin doesn’t show in it.

What doesn’t

A virtual office or mailbox address in that town. Against Google’s rules.
Adding the town to your business name.
A page that’s your main page with the town name swapped in.

Written by Nikita Huttenlocher, founder and lead engineer at Huttenlocher Technologies, a web design and software company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Questions

How long does it take?

Usually longer than ranking at home: often several months, depending on competition. Watch impressions for that town’s searches in Search Console.

Is that how you rank in towns around Myrtle Beach?

Yes. Our own town pages are written about each place, and Search Console shows us which ones are working.

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