Google My Business service area question

[Wirenut]

When setting up Google My Business for a local service business,let's say a locksmith or plumber or electrician like me, how do you setup the service area?

-Do you enter only the cities that the company services?

-Do you enter a much broader area, knowing that Google will shrink it closer to the business address?

-Or do you enter a very small area, smaller than the company's service area, since this is only for the Local listings?

What you choose here doesn't effect the organic ranking of the company website associated with the account, correct?  So if it only effects the local/map listings, what's the purpose in setting a huge area when 99% of the time the company will only come up in their own city or maybe the one net to it?

[Mike Friedman]

I think what it is impacted most by is the number of neighboring competing businesses.

If you are the only electrician for 20 miles, you could show up for any search in those 20 miles. If you are one of 10 in a 5-mile radius, that's different.

I do not get too hung up on it. I always just put the actual area the business covers and move on.

Its impact really depends on the market. 

 

[Wirenut]

I see.

As you can imagine by it being New Jersey, there are a lot of electrician in my densely populated area.  My business currently shows up in the 3 pack of 2 towns and further down in the map listing of at least 2 others.  And that's fine.

What I am doing now is condensing my service area to the closest towns to me.  So I just wanted to be sure that making my service area smaller in My Business wasn't going to hurt me in any other way.