Hey @ltebby this is almost the exact situation I’m dealing with for a company I’m currently working with. Google really wants you to specify your local service areas and have to be roughly a 2-hour drive apart (overlapping service areas isn’t a great signal - but not world-ending).
Now, if you’re providing local services to local customers in specific/distinct service areas, I do suggest you make separate Google My Business profiles (GMBs) for each unique service area.
For example: You have your main GMB in Bridgwater, Somerset and can call it [Company Name] Bridgewater with the corporate address, phone, etc… Then your smaller “service hubs” can have their own GMB such as [Company Name] Launceston.
If you are service counties, which have many towns and cities within them, you can just have it be [Company Name] [County Name], then in the GMB profile, establish the major areas you service in that location using the service area ZIP / Postal Code listings section on GMB.
So that’s how you can handle the GMBs, break them up into county-based service areas and mention the major areas you serve in the description and list of postal codes. Each GMB would then use its own specific landing page (try to include UTM parameters for tracking) as its “website” link.
In terms of landing pages, I suggest aligning your GMBs with your landing pages, I dont think it’s necessary to create ~400 to account for all the little towns and villages within each county. As you did on the GMB, you can do the same on the landing page. Just list out the service area in terms of towns/cities, and try to include a service area map. Unless you provide different services in all of these different towns/villages, the county level should work for now.
You can begin with at least 1 major county you service (outside of your Bridgewater area) and see how it works. Create a GMB, optimize it, build a landing page and track results.
This is a pretty solid example to follow in terms of the type of information that needs to be on these service-area landing pages.
Finally, to answer your questions:
Q: Is it worth building out the site and online presence this way for local service areas?
A: In a way YES. Google wants local-based service areas to be true to the areas they service in terms of keywords, locations, areas served and specific local-based content. Like I said, just start with one major area first and see how it works before committing to building out the entire structure.
Q: Is local SEO a viable strategy going forward?
A: 100% YES. The main reason why is when someone types in “business IT services bridgewater” they are already looking to find a solution - rather than be informed about the subject. Similar to how people order food, when they type in “pizza near me”, they want to order pizza, not just check the list and leave. These “near me” searches are very customer/client focused as people wouldn’t type them in for information. Comparing this to a traditional website with a landing page, blog, and services pages which can draw in website visitors that are outside of your service area (meaning they aren’t ideal clients). Although the blog section is good to establish your brand as an authority in the subject.
I hope this helps, I really try to include as much relevant information in my answers as possible to help out.