SEO services in Texas

Local SEO and the map pack in Texas

How is local SEO different in Texas?

The short answer is distance. Texas covers 268,597 square miles and had 29,145,505 residents at the 2020 census, in 254 counties. Its two largest metros, Dallas-Fort Worth and Greater Houston, held about 7.5 million and 7 million people in 2019.

Google ranks map results on relevance, distance, and prominence, and it measures distance from your address. In a metro that takes two hours to cross, no single address covers the market.

Sprawl: your service area is larger than your ranking

A Houston HVAC company may send trucks to Katy, Sugar Land, and The Woodlands. Its Business Profile will rank best near its shop and fade long before the truck stops driving. Setting a wide service area on the profile does not change that. The service area tells customers where you work. It does not move rankings.

What does extend reach is content. A page for each suburb, with real detail about the work you do there, gives Google a reason to connect you with searches made in that suburb. Our guide to service area landing pages shows how to write them.

Spanish-language search

About 40% of Texans identified as Hispanic or Latino at the 2020 census, and roughly 30% of the population spoke Spanish at home. If your customers call in Spanish, your profile and site should meet them there:

• a Spanish version of your main service pages, written by a fluent speaker
• replies in Spanish to reviews written in Spanish
• "Se habla español" only if someone who answers the phone speaks it

This is a recommendation, not a rule. It depends on who your customers are.

Which Texas rules affect local marketing?

This is a summary, not legal advice. Check the current rule text before you publish.

Attorney advertising: the filing requirement

Texas requires lawyers to file many advertisements with the State Bar. Under Rule 7.04 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, a copy of an advertisement goes to the Advertising Review Committee with an application and a fee, no later than ten days after it first runs. A lawyer can also ask for approval in advance by submitting it at least 30 days before use.

Rule 7.05 exempts some communications from filing. Before a firm launches a new website or ad campaign, it should decide which pieces are exempt and file the rest. Our page on local SEO for law firms covers how advertising rules shape a profile.

Plumbers: the license number goes in the ad

Texas plumbing rules require a plumbing company to show its Responsible Master Plumber's license number in three places:

1. Advertisements. All ads meant to solicit plumbing business must state the license number, with limited exceptions.
2. Service vehicles. The number and company name appear on both sides, in letters at least two inches high.
3. Contracts and proposals. The Responsible Master Plumber's name and license number, in at least twelve-point type.

A website and a Business Profile description are advertising. Put the number on both.

HVAC: licensed by the state

Contractors who install, repair, or maintain air conditioning, refrigeration, or heating systems must be licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

What this means for Local Services Ads

Google checks licenses at the state level where the law requires them. Texas licenses both plumbing and HVAC contractors, so have the license ready before you apply. For lawyers, Google checks the state bar license of each lawyer in the firm.

What does the Local SEO program need from a Texas business?

The program requires:

• a verified Google Business Profile at a real physical address
• at least 10 reviews
• a rating of 3.5 stars or better

Details are on the Local SEO services page and the packages page. If you are weighing ranking work against ads for the far suburbs, read local SEO vs. Google Ads.