Local SEO Audit: 16 Points Checklist

As a company owner, you may already know the significance of search engine optimization (SEO) to increase your website’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs) and attract more prospective clients. While many companies concentrate on optimizing their websites for international search results, they frequently disregard the significance of local SEO. Local SEO is essential for companies like restaurants, shops, and service providers who depend on local clients. In this blog post, we’ll review a thorough local SEO assessment checklist to help you prepare your website for local search results and attract more local users.

What Does a Local SEO Audit Mean?

A local SEO audit is an expert evaluation of your online presence and your website’s position on search engine results pages (SERPs). You will learn about the benefits and drawbacks of your website and where to make changes as a result.

Additionally, you’ll learn about particular areas and actions you can do to improve your chances of appearing higher in those rankings, connecting with more people, and boosting sales. Consider it an introductory survey or checklist you can go through step-by-step to ensure your website is effective.

Why Would You Want to Perform a Local SEO Audit?

Local SEO concentrates on building authority and relevance within a specific, limited geographic region. To rank well enough to have a shot at this, you’ll first need to demonstrate to Google that you are the best response or solution to a local consumer’s inquiry.

Conducting routine local SEO audits is one technique to assist you in achieving this. An excellent local SEO audit lets you focus only on practical activities rather than wasting time on futile endeavours.

You may learn how well your website is presently doing, where problems may develop, and the most significant areas for improvement. The audit may also help you identify the causes of any declines in search engine rankings or traffic to your website and can steer you on the proper path if you detect either of these trends.

1. Examine Your Google My Business Profile

Any local SEO audit should start by checking your Google My Business (GMB) listing. To ensure that your GMB listing appears in Google’s local search results, it is essential to keep it accurate and up-to-date. Verify your company’s name, address, phone number (NAP), operating times, and other crucial details on your GMB listing. Update this information right away if any of it has changed.

2. Verify Your Company’s Information in All Directories

Your company information should be consistent throughout all online directories, including Yelp, Yellow Pages, Trip Advisor, and your GMB listing. This consistency assists search engines in verifying the accuracy of your information and can increase your local SEO rankings. Verify the accuracy and timeliness of each directory listing of your company.

3. Check the On-Page SEO of Your Website

Next, examine the on-page SEO of your website. Title tags, Meta descriptions, header tags, and content on your website should all be optimized for the keywords you want to rank for. Ensure your website’s content is optimized for the keywords you want to rank for and prominently displays your NAP on the homepage and contact page.

4. Check the Technical SEO of Your Website

Technical SEO refers to the internal workings of your website and includes elements like crawlability, mobile friendliness, and site performance. Utilize tools like Google Page Speed Insights and the Mobile-Friendly Test to evaluate the technical SEO of your website and make the required adjustments.

5. Check the Schema Markup on Your Website

Schema markup is microdata that helps search engines interpret the content on your website. This might include your company name, location, phone number, and operating hours. Add schema markup to your website’s contact page and other pertinent pages to raise your local SEO ranks.

6. Check the Backlinks to Your Website

Backlinks are links pointing to your website from other websites. Your local SEO results might be boosted by high-quality backlinks while being negatively impacted by spammy or low-quality connections. Check your website’s backlink profile using tools like Ahrefs or Moz, and remove any spammy or low-quality links.

7. Check Your Website’s Local Content

“Local content” refers to material pertinent to your neighbourhood, such as details on nearby events, headlines, or tourist hotspots. Boost your website’s local SEO ranks and draw in more nearby clients, including local content.

8. Examine Your Reputation and Ratings

Online reputation and reviews play a significant role in local SEO rankings. Encourage your clients to submit reviews on your GMB page and other review sites, and address any negative comments respectfully and neutrally. You may also utilize reputation management programs like Review Trackers or Reputation.com to monitor and manage your internet reputation.

9. Check Your Social Media Presence

Social networking might also affect your local SEO rankings. Ensure that your social media profiles are current and up to date and that they contain connections to your website and other essential company information. Improve your local SEO results by interacting with your fans on social media and publishing local content.

10. Consider Analyzing Your Local SEO Metrics

After completing the steps mentioned above, it’s essential to evaluate your local SEO analytics to ascertain the success of your work. Track your website traffic and rankings using Google Analytics and Search Console.

Some critical local SEO metrics to track include:

• Local pack rankings: This describes the position of your website in the local pack, a group of three firms that tops Google’s local search results. To determine whether your local SEO efforts are having an impact, monitor your local pack ranks for your target keywords.
• Website traffic: Analyze your website’s traffic to see whether your local SEO efforts bring in more local users.
• CTR (click-through rate): The percentage of people that click on the link to your website after seeing it in search results is known as your CTR. A higher CTR shows that your website’s title tags and Meta descriptions successfully generate clicks.
• Rate of conversion: The proportion of website visitors who complete a desired activity, such as completing a purchase or filling out a contact form, is known as your conversion rate. Monitor your conversion rate to see whether your local SEO efforts increase conversions.

11. Check the Loading Time of Your Website

For search engines, a website’s loading time significantly impacts its ranking. Users want websites to load quickly; therefore, if it takes less time for your website to load, it may hurt your local SEO rankings. Check your website’s loading speed using tools like GT Metrix or Pingdom, and make any required adjustments.

12. Check Your Website’s Mobile-Friendliness

Your website must be mobile-friendly in today’s mobile-first society. Google has already started utilizing “mobile-first indexing,” which refers to indexing and ranking websites based on their mobile versions. Check your website’s mobile friendliness using tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, then make the required adjustments.

13. Examine Your Website’s Navigation

The user experience of your website is greatly influenced by its navigation, which may also affect your local SEO results. Ensure that the navigation on your website is simple to use and contains connections to the key pages, such as the home page, contact page, and services carrier.

14. Check the URL Structure of Your Website

The URL configuration of your website may impact your local SEO rankings. Ensure your website’s pages are logically organized and use descriptive, keyword-rich URLs. For instance, the URL for your services page should be “https://www.yourwebsite.com/services” rather than “https://www.yourwebsite.com/1234”.

15. Examine the Images and Alt Tags on Your Website

Images may improve user experience on your website, but if they need to be optimized properly, they can also cause a delay in loading time. As well as being compressed and web-optimized, your photos should include meaningful alt tags that contain your target keywords.

16. Check the Local Keywords on Your Website

Such search queries like “best pizza in New York City” are examples of local keywords. To find local keywords pertinent to your company, use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner and then adjust the content on your website.

Conclusion

A local SEO audit will help you find areas for development and prepare your website for local search results. Local SEO is an essential part of any company’s online marketing strategy. Review your website’s GMB listing, on-page and technical SEO, backlinks, local content, reviews and reputation, social media presence, and local SEO metrics using the above checklist. These actions may increase your company’s local web presence and attract more nearby clients.

Frequently Asked Questions