This is a great question. I hear this question a lot from Guelph business owners. The answer is yes and no. For Google places also known as Google Maps, you can’t rank in both Guelph and Toronto unless you are trying to infiltrate a relatively niche market. Say for example you sell vintage horse saddles and someone in Toronto Googles ~vintage horse saddles;, there is a strong chance that there is nobody in Toronto that sells these, so in this case Google places will show map locations of nearby sellers from neighbouring cities and towns. It only makes sense that businesses from Toronto would get priority when they are local. If you are a Guelph plumber and trying to rank on Google Maps in Toronto it just isn’t going to happen. If there is an SEO company that says you can, then they are blatantly taking your money. However, you can still rank in Toronto and nearby towns organically (natural search) and Pay Per Click (PPC).
If you are desperate to sell your products or services in Toronto, I would recommend opening up another branch in Toronto. When you do this you can indicate to Google that you have a branch in Toronto. BINGO! Now when someone searches for your product in Toronto, eg “plumber Toronto”, your branch in Toronto can now rank on the front page. Google doesn’t have a problem with businesses listing multiple locations. If you have more than 9 branches you will have to upload an. xml spreadsheet file and this will have to be approved manually by Google.
If you have more than one branch then make sure you list it – many companies I have worked for only listed a single location until I fixed that. Another tip is that each individual location will have to be optimised; for example, if you are ranking in Guelph it doesn’t mean that you will automatically rank in Toronto and the Toronto market is far more competitive. I hope this helps. If you want more advice give us a call at 226 500-3736