Local rank grid size and spacing: how many points, how far apart

Choose local rank grid size and spacing to cover the places that can produce valuable customers. Use tighter spacing where results change quickly and wider spacing where the business serves a larger, less dense market.

There is no best universal grid. A 1 km grid around a clinic and a 5 km grid for a regional roofer answer different questions.

Start with the question the grid has to answer

• Do we appear around the location?
• Do we cover the suburbs that produce the best customers?
• Did a specific improvement change visibility?
• Where does another location compete with the existing one?
• Which part of the market lost visibility?

The question determines the extent, spacing, keywords and reporting frequency.

What the 480-grid study used

The study used 25 points arranged across an 8 by 8 km area, with 2 km between adjacent points. That made 480 industry and city grids comparable.

It was a research design, not a recommended client setting. The 2 km resolution could miss changes between points, and businesses with long footprints often reached the grid edge.

How spacing changes what you see

500 m to 1 km spacing for dense city and clinic markets

Useful in dense CBD, retail and clinic markets, or for diagnosing a small area. It reveals street-level change but can over-sample a market if the business question is regional.

1 km to 2 km spacing for most suburban businesses

A practical starting range for many suburban businesses. It balances local detail with manageable coverage.

2 km to 5 km spacing for regional and mobile services

Useful for regional or mobile services with a broad commercial area. It can miss small pockets, so tighten the grid around important anomalies.

How to choose the grid extent

Draw the area from customer and operating data, not the largest square the tool allows.

• Include the real business location.
• Include demand centres and suburbs that produce qualified work.
• Include the practical service-area edge.
• Exclude large areas the business cannot serve profitably.
• Use separate grids when two markets are too far apart to interpret as one.

How many points do you need?

More points create more detail and more cost. Start with enough points to show the main market pattern, then add a denser diagnostic grid only where a decision requires it.

• 5 by 5: a useful baseline for one local market.
• 7 by 7: more detail across a similar extent or more coverage at the same spacing.
• 9 by 9 and above: justified for detailed diagnosis, dense markets or large multi-location reporting, not as a default badge of accuracy.

Point count does not fix a poorly chosen keyword or commercially irrelevant area.

Example grid setups by business type

A suburban clinic: 5 by 5 at 1 km spacing

Start with a 5 by 5 grid at 1 km spacing around the practice. Include nearby population and referral areas. Add one or two service-specific grids if they produce different patients.

A metro trade business: 5 by 5 or 7 by 7 at 2 km

Start with a 5 by 5 or 7 by 7 grid at 2 km spacing across profitable service suburbs. Tighten to 1 km around a priority area if the result changes sharply.

A regional mobile service: wide spacing, then local grids

Use wider spacing across towns and travel corridors, then create separate local grids around the strongest demand centres.

A multi-location group: one standard setup per location

Use a standard setup around each legitimate location so results are comparable. Add market-specific detail only when needed, and report overlap carefully.

Avoid false comparisons

• Do not compare a 5 by 5 grid with a 9 by 9 grid as if the score is continuous.
• Do not move the centre between reporting periods.
• Do not change spacing without creating a new baseline.
• Do not average branded and non-branded searches.
• Do not treat not returned as position 21 without explaining it.
• Do not assume the outer red points should all become green.

Weight the points by customer value

Assign higher value to places with stronger demand, better customers or strategic importance. A weighted coverage score is more useful than an unweighted average across empty industrial land, water or low-value areas.

When to change the setup

• The business opens or closes a legitimate location.
• The commercial service area changes.
• Customer data reveals a different demand centre.
• A broad grid exposes a pocket that needs denser diagnosis.
• The tracking provider or result type changes, requiring a new baseline.

Choose local rank grid size and spacing to match the decision

Choose a grid that matches the market and decision: enough extent to cover valuable demand, enough resolution to see meaningful change and no more points than you can interpret. Keep the setup stable over time. The local rank grid guide explains how to turn the finished heatmap into action.