Start with what is true
Make your real business location and genuine service coverage clear. If your business is based in Neath and most of your work is around Neath and nearby South Wales, the website should not pretend the company is physically based in Cardiff or Bristol.
Think about customers as well as geography
The areas you target should reflect where you can realistically take work, where demand exists and which services are commercially important.
Can I rank outside my home town?
A business can appear for searches in multiple locations, but adding town names does not guarantee this. For local results, Google considers relevance, distance and prominence, so physical location can matter.
Do not stuff locations into every page
Use locations naturally where they help the visitor understand coverage. If several locations are genuinely important, see Can my website target multiple locations?.
Official Google resource
Google provides current guidance on this topic. Use the official documentation as the authoritative reference if its products or search guidance change.
Last updated: 9 September 2026