Google Business Page "Service Area Business" settings for remote-only Law Firm

[RobertS_esq]

Hello,

I am starting a new law firm, but I do not have a physical office. The rent is very high in my city, and I don't need to meet with clients anyways because everything can be done remotely. I'd still like to set up a Google Business Profile page. It appears that I can do so by setting my page up as a "service-area business".

Questions:
1. I am outside of city limits. I live in Roseville but want to target Sacramento. I plan on setting my service area to Sacramento. Should I include Roseville?

2. Will my home address being outside of city limits limit my chances of ranking in Sacramento?

3. Even if I rank well organically and manage to obtain some reviews, does my SAB have any chance at all of ranking in the local pack if I am an estate planning lawyer?

Thank you

 

[Dan Foland]

Hey Robert,

Good question!

1. Yes I would also include Roseville and other surrounding towns that you service. One thing to note is that the service areas you choose don't have much of an impact on where you rank. They're mainly used to show potential clients how far you're willing to travel.

2. Yes, Google will use your home address to impact where you rank. I looked it up and it appears you're about 20 miles away from Sacramento. The closer you are to your target market, the greater chances that you'll rank well in that area. I assume there are multiple other estate planning attorneys in Sacramento which will make it more difficult for you to rank well in Sacramento.

3. To be honest, it will be hard. However there are multiple factors that can impact your ranking. For example, I suggest making sure your website content targets and mentions Sacramento, make it clear that you're a Sacramento lawyer on your 3rd party online profiles. It can also help if the reviews you get mention local words such as "Sacramento" etc.

Feel free to let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanks!