Ranking in another region

[Venom_F]

I have a private transportation website. The business is hosted in the state of Maryland. Google is ranking this site perfectly in this state and city. The site has a local address, phone number, and a Google map. In other words, everything Google is so eager to see for a local business.
We are planning to expand into other states. We will create new pages on the same domain.
Question - how do we get high ranking in other regions (states)? Will internal optimization of pages for a specific location be enough?

P.S.
Right now we are perfectly ranked for one of the services in our state (top 3). But for the same service, we are within the top 20 in other states.

 

[fortunec9]

Congrats on dominating Maryland’s rankings, top 3 is huge! Expanding to other states? Internal optimization for new pages is a start, but you’ll need more to climb from top 20 to top 3. Create state-specific landing pages with local keywords and unique content (like testimonials or area highlights). Ensure NAP consistency across your site and Google Business Profiles for each location. Hunt for local backlinks; think chamber of commerce or regional blogs. Add local schema markup and keep your site mobile-friendly. What states are you targeting? Any map pack data for those yet? Drop an update on BHW! Cheers!

I have a private transportation website. The business is hosted in the state of Maryland. Google is ranking this site perfectly in this state and city. The site has a local address, phone number, and a Google map. In other words, everything Google is so eager to see for a local business.
We are planning to expand into other states. We will create new pages on the same domain.
Question - how do we get high ranking in other regions (states)? Will internal optimization of pages for a specific location be enough?

P.S.
Right now we are perfectly ranked for one of the services in our state (top 3). But for the same service, we are within the top 20 in other states.

 

[Venom_F]

Congrats on dominating Maryland’s rankings, top 3 is huge! Expanding to other states? Internal optimization for new pages is a start, but you’ll need more to climb from top 20 to top 3. Create state-specific landing pages with local keywords and unique content (like testimonials or area highlights). Ensure NAP consistency across your site and Google Business Profiles for each location. Hunt for local backlinks; think chamber of commerce or regional blogs. Add local schema markup and keep your site mobile-friendly. What states are you targeting? Any map pack data for those yet? Drop an update on BHW! Cheers!

For 1 service I want to try to add location names (states) on the page. Maybe like a listing or something like that + local backlinks. It's a question - where to get 22 local backlinks (if at least 1 link per state).

And for other services I'll create separate landing pages with certain keywords according to the state.

 

[alternatesword]

Make a locations page on your website and list the new locations under the state/city category. Use breadcrumbs for easy navigation. Make sure each location page has the address and an embedded map with other local business info.

 

[Venom_F]

Make a locations page on your website and list the new locations under the state/city category. Use breadcrumbs for easy navigation. Make sure each location page has the address and an embedded map with other local business info.

Will an embedded map with other businesses negatively affect local ranking? My plan was to isolate those pages. And link them only with region/state selection options.

 

[alternatesword]

Will an embedded map with other businesses negatively affect local ranking? My plan was to isolate those pages. And link them only with region/state selection options.

You can embed your zoomed location specific map, it won't affect negatively. Yes, you can list them on region/state pages.

 

[Thunder Digitals]

I have also worked for a transportation business in the US. They were based in Texas but they were targeting all over the US by creating the state and city pages for their website.

What you need to do is create the URL structure like this: domain.com/alabama/private-bus-services-in-(x)city

Create the location pages like this and optimize them properly and you will see results sooner by doing this.

 

[Rankrebels]

Start by building topical authority for the new state or city—create content that focuses on the location itself rather than your services. Once you've established that local relevance, begin publishing your service and location pages. Since your site already has niche authority, this approach bridges the gap by adding geographic relevance. Registering a Google Business Profile (GBP) in each target city will further accelerate local visibility.

 

[Venom_F]

Checked my rankings today.
Screenshot1 - Maryland
Screenshot2 - Baltimore, MD

Started linkbuilding about 1,5 months ago.
Started with 100 submits (strengthened links with xrumer)
And a week ago - 18 backlinks (gues posts + crowd + PBN testing)

Waiting for the first results.

 

[Venom_F]

Start by building topical authority for the new state or city—create content that focuses on the location itself rather than your services. Once you've established that local relevance, begin publishing your service and location pages. Since your site already has niche authority, this approach bridges the gap by adding geographic relevance. Registering a Google Business Profile (GBP) in each target city will further accelerate local visibility.

Almost all our blogs contain location names (city, state). All blogs have internal links between blogs and links on service pages. Plus, the address and phone are in the footer (static on every page). I think this is enough for local signal to Google. As you can see in my attached screenshots - Google understands our local signals good. But I want to rank this business wider - all through Maryland.

Can you please tell me how to register GMB in another city without a physical address?

 

[SofiaMatt]

To rank well in other states, internal optimization is necessary but not enough. You’ll also need:

1. Unique, optimized location pages with local keywords.
2. Local phone numbers and addresses (if possible).
3. Local backlinks from businesses, directories, and news sources in each region.
4. Google Business Profiles for each location (if you have physical presence).
5. Localized content and schema markup to signal relevance to each area.

This combination boosts local SEO across multiple regions effectively.

 

[Rankrebels]

Almost all our blogs contain location names (city, state). All blogs have internal links between blogs and links on service pages. Plus, the address and phone are in the footer (static on every page). I think this is enough for local signal to Google. As you can see in my attached screenshots - Google understands our local signals good. But I want to rank this business wider - all through Maryland.

Can you please tell me how to register GMB in another city without a physical address?

So, never tried myself registering GMB without physical address yet.. but, have you tried any of the vendors here in BHW?

 

[Venom_F]

So, never tried myself registering GMB without physical address yet.. but, have you tried any of the vendors here in BHW?

Vendors who offer GMB registration without a physical address? I'm cautious about this kind of thing. After all, the business is legit and it is very desirable to have all real profiles. And there could also be a situation where they register somehow incorrectly and damage the company's reputation.