How to Conduct a Complete Local SEO Audit
The first step of a complete Local SEO audit is to make a list of the most popular review sites and industry platforms. From there, you should note the average star rating for your local business, the percentage of ‘good’ reviews, and the percentage of ‘bad’ reviews.
The best tool to do this is Screaming Frog, which offers a comprehensive look at on-page SEO. In addition, a tool like this can help you analyze your local SEO and identify any content gaps.
Once you’ve compiled a list of keywords, the next step is to analyze the ranking of those keywords. The audit should reveal any areas in which you can improve your ranking. Read More Useful Content: How to Get Adsense Approval For Blogger
The first step is to write a list of keywords you think you can rank for. You can use a tool such as Google’s Keyword Finder to find out which keywords your competitors are using. Then, use these keywords in the analysis.
A Complete Local SEO Audit should also include a competitor snoop. This is where you can see how well your competitors are doing, as well as what they’re doing.
You can also compare your business’ website with theirs to see what they’ve done. This way, you’ll be able to determine if your strategy is based on sound technical foundation or needs improvement. This will give you a better idea of what your competitors are doing and what needs to be improved.
Once you’ve determined the pages on your website that are the most popular, you can begin the process of fixing them. By identifying where these opportunities lie, you’ll be able to build links between them. This will give your website a much higher ranking in search results.
The best way to do this is to use Screaming Frog and SEOptimer tools. They’ll allow you to make changes to your website that will make it easier to boost its SEO. Read More: How to Find Micro Niche Ideas
A complete local SEO audit should also include competitor analysis.
While competition analysis isn’t the sole focus of a local SEO audit, it is an important part of your overall strategy. You should evaluate your competitors’ SEO strategy against theirs to see what areas they’re improving on their own.
Local SEO Checklist
- Set up Google Search Console Submit Sitemap to Google Search Console
- Install and configure Google Analytics
- Install and configure Yoast SEO or the WPMU DEV suite
- Ensure NAP is in footer of site
- Create “contact us” page and unique location pages
- Add Local Business Schema Markup
- Keyword optimize your pages (metadata and on-page content)
- Run a technical SEO audit of your site and fix any known issues
- Ensure internal linking is optimized
- Create a Google My Business account
- Optimize Google My Business account
- Set up SEMRush Listing Manager (or similar service)
- Distribute listings via Listing Manager
- Suppress duplicate listings
- Ensure site speed is optimized (3.0 seconds or better)
- Ensure website is mobile-friendly
- Create or optimize all social media platforms
- Acquire 5-star reviews wherever possible (prioritize GMB)
- Reply as quickly as possible to all reviews (even negative ones)
- Create high quality, authoritative niche SEO blog content
- Distribute content via social media & email.
- Acquire high domain authority backlinks
- Keep your listings fresh with new images, video, and services
- Consistently post to social media and remain active with followers
- Make updates to your listings as needed
After the audit, you can implement the recommended strategies for your business. Once you’ve created a strategy for your client, you can start making improvements and measure progress.
Another component of a local SEO audit is backlink analysis. Backlinks from quality sites send EAT signals to search engines, which indicate that your website is authoritative in its region. In addition, toxic or spammy links can reduce your page’s value, and can even penalize your site. Other Related Content: Google Autocomplete
Moreover, the more backlinks you have, the more relevant your website will be for that specific location. In the end, a local SEO audit is an essential part of the overall strategy.
