1. Start with the geographic definition
A Fair Oaks law firm needs to know what a dashboard means by “local.” Fair Oaks is recorded as a CDP in Sacramento County. Those are distinct geographic relationships: Fair Oaks is not the same reporting unit as Sacramento County, the Sacramento metropolitan area or all of California. A dashboard view should therefore make its target geography explicit rather than allowing a broad county or state number to stand in for Fair Oaks performance.
Recommended approach
Before evaluating the product, ask which location labels would appear in keyword targets, lead records, attribution and trend views. Decide whether the firm wants separate reporting for Fair Oaks, Sacramento County and any wider service area. Do not use the Census population estimate as a forecast. Use it only to keep the geographic scope precise.
