A local SEO audit is a process of analyzing a business’s online presence to determine how well it appears in local search results and identifying areas for improvement. These audits cover elements ranging from Google Business Profiles to on-page optimization, local citations, and website technical factors. Performing a local SEO audit is essential for uncovering technical and on-page issues, understanding current local search visibility, identifying inconsistencies in business information, and staying competitive. Regular audits are crucial due to the constant changes in search algorithms and local competition.
Why Perform a Local SEO Audit?
The source materials indicate several key reasons for conducting a local SEO audit. These include uncovering technical and on-page issues that may hinder performance, assessing how a business currently appears in local search listings, identifying inconsistencies in name, address, and phone number (NAP) data across online directories, and gaining a competitive advantage. A local SEO audit is particularly important for businesses serving local customers, as searches with a clear intent to buy or find a service nearby often display the local pack—a set of local business listings—at the top of search results.
Google Business Profile Audit
A thorough audit should begin with a review of the Google Business Profile (GBP). This includes verifying that the profile is fully completed with accurate information, such as business name, address, phone number, hours of operation, business categories, and photos. Verification of the business listing within GBP is also a critical step. Regularly reviewing and responding to customer reviews on the GBP is recommended. The presence of duplicate listings should also be checked and addressed.
NAP Consistency
NAP—Name, Address, and Phone number—consistency is a vital component of local SEO. The source materials emphasize the importance of ensuring that this information is consistent across the Google Business Profile, social media pages, online directories and citations, and the business’s website. Inconsistencies can negatively impact search rankings.
On-Page SEO Factors
On-page SEO involves optimizing elements within a website to improve its visibility in search results. For local SEO, this includes ensuring each local landing page contains localized keywords, city and region mentions in titles and headings, unique and high-quality content relevant to local users, and a proper internal linking structure.
Website Technical Audit
A website technical audit is a crucial part of a local SEO audit. Analyzing a website can be complex, as Google uses hundreds of signals to rank pages. Key factors to analyze include website structure (reflecting the business’s structure – single-location, multi-location, etc.), URLs (descriptive, unique, and including keywords and locations where appropriate), NAP consistency on the website, and the presence of local pages optimized for each location served. Other technical aspects to assess include page speed and mobile usability, crawl errors, broken links, and the presence of a valid SSL certificate for secure browsing. Optimizing for Core Web Vitals is also recommended. Checking for duplicate content and keyword cannibalization are also important.
Local Citations
Local citations are mentions of a business’s NAP on other websites. The audit should check if the business is listed on reputable directories such as Yelp, Bing Places, and industry-specific sites. Ensuring the information on these citations is accurate and consistent is essential.
Local Content
Creating and optimizing localized content is a key aspect of local SEO. This involves assessing existing website content for relevance to the local audience and identifying opportunities to create blog posts about local events, news, or community activities.
Local Backlinks
Analyzing backlinks—links from other websites to a business’s website—can reveal valuable insights. The audit should examine existing backlinks to see if there are connections from local businesses, news outlets, and blogs. Identifying opportunities for earning more local links is also recommended.
Competitor Benchmarking
Analyzing competitors’ online presence can provide valuable insights. This includes studying their Google Business Profiles, reviews and ratings, keywords they rank for locally, and their backlink sources.
Keyword Opportunity Analysis
Identifying relevant local keywords is crucial for attracting targeted traffic. Tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz can be used to discover local keyword opportunities, find gaps in competitors’ content, and identify high-intent keywords.
User Experience Evaluation
Assessing the user experience on both mobile and desktop devices is important. This includes testing website navigation, assessing page load times, checking the readability of local content, and reviewing calls-to-action for clarity and relevance.
Tracking Local Pack Rankings
Monitoring how a business appears in local map results (the “Local Pack”) is essential. Tracking rankings for different keywords across nearby locations can provide valuable data on performance.
Tools for Local SEO Audit
Several tools can assist in conducting a local SEO audit. These include Google Search Console for identifying indexing issues, Google Business Profile Manager for managing local listings, Moz Local for tracking local listings and citations, BrightLocal for local audits and rank tracking, Whitespark for citation building and auditing, and Screaming Frog for technical SEO audits.
Local SEO Analysis: Digging Deeper
While a basic audit checks for fundamental issues, a thorough local SEO analysis goes deeper. This includes competitor benchmarking, keyword opportunity analysis, and user experience evaluation. A detailed local SEO analysis uncovers insights that basic checks might miss, helping businesses outperform their local competition.
Conclusion
A comprehensive local SEO audit is a critical process for U.S. businesses seeking to improve their online visibility and attract local customers. The audit should encompass a thorough review of the Google Business Profile, NAP consistency, on-page SEO factors, website technical aspects, local citations, content relevance, backlink profile, competitor analysis, and user experience. Utilizing specialized tools can streamline the audit process and provide valuable insights. Regular audits are essential due to the dynamic nature of search algorithms and local competition.