Table of Content
1.
2. Audit your keywords
3. Examine your Google My Business profile
4. Find On-Page SEO Issues
5.
Conduct a backlink analysis
6. Analyze the reputation you have online
Imagine this You manage a small local business, and your website is there to assist you.
You might be doing okay, but things could be better.
If only your website had a little more online visibility, you may attract more clients and make more money, which would make you feel more successful.
But how do you go about doing it?
You might not even need to conceive this scenario because it might already be your reality. Or maybe someone in this world is coming to you for assistance.
The answer may be obvious to you: local business + website Equals local SEO. That's not too difficult. But how do you even begin?
You must be aware of a website's shortcomings, strengths, and areas for growth before you can start working to raise its rankings.
This data needs to be gathered through a comprehensive local SEO assessment.
Consider a local SEO audit as a doctor inspecting a patient before prescribing a course of action. What should you check while assessing a local company's website and internet presence?
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1. Google Penalties Check
The first stage is the spot to start looking for a secret opening that could boost your rankings. Does Google currently have any penalties imposed on your website?
Your website must be connected to Google Search Console in order to check for penalties. You or the site's owner will need to connect and validate it first if it isn't.
Select the website you are auditing in the Search property by logging in as the site owner to Google Search Console.
2. Audit your keywords
This is the thrilling beginning of your exploration of local SEO's untapped potential. You can learn a lot and get better at a lot in this step!
You will need a list of the keywords you want to rank for this step.
Some of those keywords are presumably ones that you can infer on your own.
For instance, "bakery shops in London" is already one suitable keyword option if you own a bakery in London.
Once you have identified your keywords, examine them for the following two things:
Your current position for the relevant keywords.
- user search objectives.
- Let's start by learning about keyword rankings.
How to Find Keyword Positions
You must first determine whether your website is shown at all on a search engine results page (SERP). Ultimately, you want to be on page 1 or in the 3-Pack.
You can try searching for each keyword in your keyword list individually on Google, but using an SEO tool to scan them all at once will be quicker.
Finding Keyword Search Intent: A Guide
Understanding what online users enter into Google to obtain relevant search results is the essence of search intent.
An example of a "Transactional" search might be a customer entering "purchase blue iced baby boy sugar cookies in London." Make sure your keywords support commercial or transactional intent.
So, consider these inquiries.
- Are you employing any keywords that have no relation to the website or the services it offers?
- Are the keywords you've chosen long- or short-tail? Long-tailed ones are frequently more focused and consequently more efficient. If you aren't a big shot, it's quite difficult to rank for a short-tailed keyword.
- Words like where, closest, and near me are among the keywords. Such phrases are frequently used in location-based searches, therefore including them in your keyword list is a standard local SEO strategy.
You now have the knowledge you need to change your content strategy in order to improve the rankings of your website because you are more aware of your position inside keyword searches and the intent behind those terms.
3. Examine your Google My Business profile
Do you or your client have a Google Business Profile (GBP) listing, to start with?
If not, your local SEO will suffer greatly. This is a fantastic hidden opportunity because fixing it would boost local search efforts significantly!
In that case, sign in to the Google Business Profile to learn:
Does Your Google Business Profile Miss Any Information?
A gap in your local SEO is created by a blank field in GBP. Complete all fields with correct, current information about the company:
Name.
Description.
Categories.
Address.
Opening hours, and so on.
Mind the character limits, too.
Do Your Google Business Profile Include & Use Keywords Appropriately?
Your GBP's keywords, particularly local ones, play a significant role in your ranking.
They can guarantee that your company will show up in Google's fiercely competitive local pack.
The catch is that you can't just put them in the title and call it a day because that isn't allowed by Google's rules, which insist that you use the company's actual name.
However, more creative business owners just add keywords to their names.
It's a legitimate loophole that complies with both the rules and the ranking formula.
Making the name sound natural should be your primary concern.
Have you uploaded any photos or other images to your GBP?
You can add a wide range of photographs to your Google Business Profile.
It is better to have more.
Every company requires a logo.
Cover image: Required.
It appears in Google's search results.
Exterior images: If potential customers know how your business looks, they will discover you with ease.
Interior pictures: If guests are aware of what is inside in advance, they will feel more at ease.
Team photos: another reassuring element.
Bonus points if you have reviews that highlight specific staff; pictures of them can make them local celebrities.
Photos of the goods or services: Customers need to know what to anticipate.
Of course, all images ought to be of the highest calibre.
Videos are another form of vision that should be included.
If there are, keep an eye on them to see if you can see any issues.
What Type Of Posting Activity Is This?
GBP enables you to write posts so that you can interact with your intended audience.
Take a peek at the page's posting activity.
The minimal minimum for posting is once every month, therefore consider the following:
- How frequently does the owner of GBP post?
- What sort of information is posted?
- Do they interact with the clients?
- Do they advertise sales and events?
The effective usage of this feature can be ensured by frequent and varied posting.
Additionally beneficial are postings with links, images, and geo-mentions.
4. Find On-Page SEO Issues
The importance of on-page optimization makes it a wonderful untapped opportunity, especially if your rivals aren't using it.
Even though there is a lot of labour involved and space for error, if you get everything right, you'll succeed!
This tool will scan every page of your website simultaneously, allowing you to identify every on-page SEO mistake.
Here are the key points to watch out for in a local SEO audit:
- broken pictures
- A sitemap is absent.
- an unreadable robots.txt file.
- photos without ALT attributes.
- title and description tags that are too long, are duplicated or are absent.
Naturally, the report's other flaws should not be disregarded.
They are all detrimental to website rankings.
5. Conduct a backlink analysis
The most potent ranking component of them all is backlink popularity, which presents a secret potential to outrank your rivals.
Even when you have done everything else correctly, backlinks have the power to make or ruin your SEO.
Without a backlink analysis, no SEO audit is complete, and local SEO is no different.
Examining your backlink profile is necessary after your report is complete.
- Do you have more or fewer backlinks? Of course, quality prevails over quantity, but a consistent downward trend in backlinks is not good.
- Do you gather links from sites that are pertinent to your niche? The ideal backlinks to improve the authority and rating of your website are those of this nature.
- Are you gathering spammy backlinks from questionable websites? If so, they must be removed—either by having them taken out or by disavowing them.
- What anchor do texts appear most frequently in your backlinks? Numerous anchors that correspond to your selected keywords would be excellent because anchor texts serve as your ranking keywords. While still considered anchors, textless anchors are not the best option.
You will be able to correct the problems with your customer's link-building strategy using the results of this investigation.
6. Analyze the reputation you have online
A local company's standing with customers determines whether it survives or not.
That the internet exists is a good thing, right? There is no better place to learn what others think of you and to obsess over it.
Hopefully, once you're done with this process, your clients will continue to sleep soundly.
In what areas should you look?
Gather testimonials for your website and possible keywords
Every respectable local company should be compiling client testimonials for its website.
Make sure to pay attention to both positive and negative remarks, as well as any specific instructions.
When a review contains terms for which your site is ranked, it is very helpful.
You should also pay attention to the reviews part of Google Business Profile.
Additionally, make sure to look there if your customer has added listings for their company to any review websites.
Be sure to include ratings in your reviews.
Star ratings are typically presented on the same page as reviews.
In fact, when used together, they are excellent for SEO.
However, it's also typical for company directories to separate user reviews from rating scores.
The quickest approach to view your client's ratings is if their website shows in Google's local pack.
Of course, a complete local SEO audit will call for more data from other sources.
Receive Notifications Whenever Your Brand Is Mentioned
Everyone wants their company's brand to be well-known.
The issue is that there is a limit to how much you can Google independently and how much you can hear with your own ears.
Thank goodness, there are resources for spreading the message online.
Boost Social Media Participation
You need to look at the social media accounts your client has developed for their company if they have (as anyone should).
How can you tell if they are efficiently run? Give your opinion by responding to the following questions:
- How frequently are fresh updates posted?
- What format do the updates follow? Text, pictures, movies, polls, or something else?
- How many likes, shares, upvotes, comments, etc. do they receive from users?
- What comments do users provide in response to the updates?
- How rapid is the user response from your client?
- As a general rule, it's beneficial for a social media page to have lots of activity (both from the owner and users). Write down any issues you discover there.
