How to do a complete Local SEO audit: Essential 10-Point Checklist
by Mike Khorev
Did you know that 46% of Google searches are local? And almost 80% of these local searches actually convert? (Shocking, right?)
So, you’re missing out on a lot if your traditional SEO strategy is not backed up by some solid local SEO.
But how do you know which local SEO tricks your website lacks?
Answer: A local SEO audit.
A local SEO audit is pretty much like a diagnostic tool, that gives you an overview of your current local SEO standing. It shows you areas that need work so that you can focus on your local community as well.
Scroll down to learn how to run a complete local SEO audit with our 10-point checklist!
10-Point Checklist for a Comprehensive Local SEO Audit
Local SEO covers a variety of factors that affect the local visibility of your business.
Our 10-point checklist given below is strictly based on these aspects so that you run a foolproof local SEO audit.
1. Google My Business (GMB) Optimization
If you want your customers to find you within a second, then having a GMB profile is a must. It acts like a virtual business that your potential customers can access online and get all the details in one place.
In fact, 64% of users prefer Google My Business for quickly finding contact information of a local business.
However, that doesn’t mean all you need to do is whip up a GMB profile, and bam—you’ve got a massive engagement.
No. You must optimize it regularly so that it’s relevant, updated, and consistent. Here are some ways to achieve this:
- Either add or claim your GMB listing: When you verify your listing, Google as well as your potential customers see your business as trustworthy.
- Choose the right category or attributes: Categories help Google understand what your business offers. So, make sure you add the right primary category along with relevant secondary categories to tell everyone about your additional services.
- Use local keywords in your GMB description: Local keywords help enhance the local relevance of your business. So, if you run a vegan bakery in Seattle, you can start your GMB description with something like, “Seattle’s finest vegan bakery offering…”
- Upload high-quality photos and videos: Add photos/videos of your workplace or products to give customers a sense of legitimacy.
- Post regularly on GMB: Most businesses might now know this, but posting regularly on GMB can significantly drive local engagement. You can talk about the latest offers, upcoming events, and even new products launched!
- Manage customer reviews: Having reviews on your GMB listing is not enough. You must actively reply to them, especially the negative ones, to show how much you care about your customers.
- Use the Q&A feature on GMB: Besides quickly responding to customer queries, you can add some commonly asked questions along with your answers to the listing.
- Track the performance of your GMB profile: By reviewing the insights on your GMB profile, you can spot trends faster and refine your strategy to maximize engagement.
Lastly, make sure you include correct information on your GMB profile to avoid any misunderstandings.
2. NAP Consistency (Name, Address, Phone Number)
NAP consistency refers to having the same name, address, and phone number across all online platforms.
For instance, if your socials have the latest address of your store, but your GMB profile still has the old address, you’re not NAP consistent.
Such inconsistency can confuse both the users as well as the search engine. As a result, it can lead to a significant drop in your search engine rankings!
Therefore, make sure you put the same NAP details everywhere. This includes:
- Google My Business
- Google Maps
- Social media profiles
- Online directories such as Yelp
- Local citations and review sites
One crucial thing you must remember is that we’re not just talking about having the same NAP information, but that it should be consistent down to each letter, number, or character.
Below we’ve mentioned three tips to help you out with this:
- Choose a format and stick with it. So, if one platform has your business name as “ABC Co.”, don’t change it to “ABC Company” on the other platform.
- When updating your information, make sure to do it quickly across all platforms at once.
- Check your profiles regularly to see if your NAP information is correct and consistent.
3. Local Keyword Research and Usage
Let’s say you run a custom cloth business in San Diego. Now, if your website only targets the keyword “custom cloth store,” it might struggle to attract local traffic since no one will associate your business with San Diego.
However, if you optimize your website with location-specific keywords like “manga bookstore San Diego,” you can increase your visibility to local manga enthusiasts.
That said, let’s take a look at three ways you can find local keywords:
- Add local modifiers to your core services: This is the easiest way to rank for local keywords. Take your core service, say “data and analytics company” and add the area where you operate. For example, “data and analytics company Brooklyn.”
- Use keyword research tools: Tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush can help you find the right local keywords or high search volume phrases for your business.
- Review the keywords your local competitors are ranking for: By analyzing competition, you can understand which keywords your competitors use and how.
Once you’ve identified local keywords for your business, it’s time to optimize your website (especially landing pages) with them. You can also create location-specific landing pages to showcase the services you provide in that specific area.
But that’s not all. You must incorporate local keywords across different platforms like GMB and your socials. This helps reinforce your local relevance online.
4. Online Reviews and Reputation Management
As we’ve said before, managing reviews is important. And that is not limited to your GMB listing reviews.
You must keep an eye out for customer reviews across all the platforms, such as Facebook, Yelp, or even a local review site.
It’s best to set a goal to respond to all reviews as soon as possible. It doesn’t have to be the same day, but try to reply within 3-4 days max.
Better, if you prioritize engaging with negative reviews first, as this shows that you’re not just there to get more reviews, but you actually want to help your customers.
5. Local Citations Audit
Local citations, which include your NAP information, are essential for improving your online visibility and search engine rankings.
However, keeping up with the latest citations and checking their relevance can be tricky. That’s why you must regularly conduct a local citations audit to verify your business information across multiple platforms.
This primarily involves:
- Identifying key citation sources such as high-traffic directories, local directions, or city business listings.
- Checking for NAP consistency to avoid even the smallest discrepancy.
- Updating incorrect or outdated listings to avoid confusing the user or the search engine.
- Merging or eliminating duplicate listings as they can split your authority and negatively impact your SERP rankings.
In addition to this, you should also consider creating a citation tracking system to easily manage all your citations. Citation management tools like SEMrush can further help you automatically review and update your listings without any hassle.
6. Website Mobile Optimization
With 60% of website traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s only necessary to optimize your website for mobile.
In fact, it’s not just about traffic. Even Google uses mobile-first indexing, which means it crawls the mobile version of your website first.
Thus, you have a greater chance of ranking higher in the SERPs if you have a mobile-friendly website.
Now, there are numerous SEO techniques for optimizing your website for mobile, but here are four pro tips:
- Build a responsive website so that it adapts to different screens without disrupting its own appearance.
- Improve mobile load times by compressing images, reducing redirects, etc., to bring down your bounce rates.
- Your website navigation should be mobile-friendly with an easy-to-find menu and contact information.
Besides this, you must also frequently test your website on different devices to ensure consistency and a solid user experience.
7. Localized Content Strategy
“It doesn’t matter if you run a small business or own a big enterprise with multiple locations. Everyone can create localized content and benefit from it. All you need to do is be relevant and actually helpful to the targeted community.”
— [ Ian Nicholls, Founder – AutomobilGarage.com ]
Creating content around the interests, needs, or searches of people in your target area is a great local SEO strategy. It not only boosts your rankings but also gives you a chance to build a strong connection with your community.
For instance, if you own a fitness center, you could post a “Guide to Outdoor Workouts in [City].” Such resources provide value to the readers and are more likely to get shared and linked.
Besides publishing local guides, you can:
- Cover community events
- Talk about seasonal happenings
- Share local news relevant to your business
- Create hyper-localized landing pages for each location you serve
- Collaborate with local influencers to promote your localized content
In fact, you can also optimize your local content by adding a text to speech online feature. This enables users to listen to your content instead of reading it.
Thus, you can reach a broader audience including those who might be visually impaired or are simply multitasking.
Make a Project Timeline to Keep Your Audit on Track
When conducting a local SEO audit, it’s important to stay organized and ensure you’re covering all of the crucial steps. To keep things running smoothly, make a project timeline. This will help you break down your tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. For example, allocate specific time blocks for tasks like optimizing your GMB profile
8. Schema Markup and Structured Data
Schema Markup, also known as structured data, helps search engines understand the content of your web pages and its purpose. Thus, it can enhance your visibility in features like rich snippets and knowledge panels.
There are different types of schema markup for local businesses:
- Local Business Schema: allows your business details (such as phone number, open hours, location) to appear in search results
- Review and Rating Schema: allows your star ratings to appear in search results
- Event Schema: displays event information like dates, locations, and ticket availability
- Product and Service Schema: shows product/service details directly in the search results
While implementing schema markup is important, it’s also a tough nut to crack if you’re not much into tech. You can hire an SEO professional to help you out with this.
9. Backlink Profile and Local Link Building
Getting quality backlinks from locally relevant sites can boost your SEO.
When you earn links from local partners, the search engine sees your business as a relevant part of the community you serve. Thus, it puts you high up in the SERPs so that local users can benefit from your offerings.
Let’s take a look at some effective strategies for building a solid local backlink profile:
- Get your business listed in local directories.
- Partner with local bloggers or social media influencers to promote your services.
- Sponsor local events or charities to earn backlinks from local news sites.
- Reach out to local news outlets to cover your latest stories such as product releases or upcoming events.
- Partner with complementary local businesses relevant to your industry (like a bookstore partnering with a cafe) and exchange backlinks with them
Lastly, you must regularly monitor your backlinks. This helps you eliminate low-quality links and maintain a clean backlink profile.
10. Social Media and Local Engagement
Today, 63.7% of our world population is on social media, which is honestly, a lot. So, chances are that your local community is also present on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Thus, by maintaining active social profiles, you can drive local traffic to your website, thus increasing your credibility.
Below we’ve mentioned some ways to drive local engagement through social media:
- When posting about your store on socials, use geo-tags (i.e., tag your location) to reach users in your area.
- Create localized content to show your involvement in the community.
- Share user-generated content to show that real people support your business.
However, you must remember one thing: don’t overdo it. For example, tweeting more than three times a day on Twitter can negatively impact your brand engagement.
So, make sure you post relevant localized content and engage meaningfully with your customers instead of bugging them.
Wrap Up
Above, we have discussed a detailed 10-point checklist for doing a complete local SEO audit.
What’s clear from these 10 steps is that local SEO is not a one-and-done deal. You must regularly revisit your strategies to see how effective they are and if you need to refine them according to the changing trends.
So, make sure you’re proactive in your effort because only then can you achieve sustained growth in your local traffic and build meaningful connections with customers in your area.
Better, hire a professional SEO expert to help you run a local SEO audit and adapt your strategies.
About the Author:
Prateek Arora is a content marketing specialist at thestartupinc.com, where he delves into B2B and SaaS topics that transform website visitors into paying customers. With a passion for exploring innovative marketing strategies, Prateek enjoys researching and crafting content that resonates with target audiences. In his free time, he loves driving around the city and hanging out with friends, finding inspiration in the vibrant urban landscape.
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