Complete Local SEO Audit Instructions: A Step-by-Step Guide
If your small business is like the majority of them, you want to make sure that your website appears high in local search results. After all, local SEO may be a significant source of leads and traffic for your company.
However, how can you tell if your website is prepared for local SEO? What can you do to raise your rating, then?
Fortunately, we've created a thorough guide to assessing your local SEO. We'll go through every step you need to take to conduct an exhaustive website audit in this piece. We'll also provide you with step-by-step instructions so you can make any adjustments that are required. then let's get going!
Why Do You Need To Perform A Local SEO Audit?
An extensive evaluation of your local SEO efforts, including your website, your online listings, and your Citation portfolio, is known as a local SEO audit. Any local SEO plan must include it since it's crucial to know where you excel and where you need to improve.
A local SEO audit takes into account a wide range of variables, however, the following are some of the most crucial ones:
- Evaluating the local search optimization of your website.
- Checking your internet listings for accuracy and completeness.
- Assessing your portfolio of citations to ensure that you are consistently online.
- Conducting a competitive study to assess how your company stacks up against others in the neighborhood.
Audits of local SEO might be challenging, but they are worthwhile. You can make sure you're doing all necessary to draw in local clients and expand your business by putting a strong local SEO plan in place.
Fundamentals of Local SEO
If you own a local business, you must take all the necessary steps to ensure that your website is optimized for local SEO. The goal of local SEO is to ensure that your website shows up at the top of search results when customers are looking for companies just like yours in their neighborhood. Additionally, there are a few essential actions you can do to guarantee that your website is prepared for local SEO.
You must first set up your company's Google My Business profile. You may mention your company name, address, phone number, operating hours, and more in this free directory. Your local SEO will increase and it will be simpler for people to locate your company online if you have a Google My Business page.
Second, ensure sure your website is compatible with mobile devices. Your website must be mobile-friendly since more and more consumers are using their smartphones to look for businesses online. That implies that it needs to be simple to read and use on a smaller screen.
Third, make sure your website loads quickly. Make sure your website is quick to load and responsive because no one likes to wait around for a slow website to do so. To evaluate your website's performance and obtain advice on how to make it faster, utilize Google's PageSpeed Insights tool.
Finally, you must make sure that your website is both educational and interesting. Your website's content should be well-written, educational, and have titles and descriptions that are packed with keywords. Including pictures, movies, and infographics on your website may also keep people interested and on it longer. All of these elements will help you boost your local SEO and make your company more visible online to local clients.
How to Conduct a Website Local SEO Audit
Make sure your website is optimized for local SEO, regardless of how big or small your company is if you want to appear high in Google searches. Fortunately, conducting a Local SEO audit is a quick and simple approach to determine whether your website is up to pace. You can use the following local SEO audit checklist:
Check Google Penalties
It's critical for website owners to keep up with Google's constantly evolving algorithm updates. A single error might cause a reduction in position or possibly full removal from Google search results. It is crucial to regularly check for Google penalties because of this.
Manual and algorithmic penalties are both available. Employees of Google might penalize your site manually if they manually evaluate it and discover problems. On the other side, algorithmic penalties happen when your website breaks Google's rules and is de-indexed as a result.
Log into your Google Search Console account and go to the Manual Actions tab to check for manual penalties. Please take action to address any messages you notice here as soon as you can. Examine the traffic statistics for your website in Google Analytics to seek algorithmic penalties. If you see a dramatic decline in traffic, there could have been a fine.
Don't freak out if you discover that you've been punished. It is frequently feasible to make amends and have the fine reduced. However, to prevent such fines in the future, it's crucial to take rapid action and strictly adhere to Google's standards.
Identify Regional Keyword Trends
Keyword research is one of the most crucial elements of local SEO. It's crucial to keep current on the newest keywords as consumer search preferences shift to guarantee that you appear for pertinent local queries. You may find fresh keywords to target and keep your local SEO strategy current by constantly conducting keyword research. Although there are several methods for conducting keyword research, organic search is one of the best. Your company's organic search results may be examined to learn more about the terms that are bringing customers to your website. With this knowledge in hand, you can adjust your local SEO approach to focus on these keywords and raise your ranking in search results.
Examine Your Local SEO Rankings
Making ensuring your website is visible to your target market requires doing a thorough local SEO analysis. You can make sure that your website is showing up in search engine results pages (SERPs) for pertinent keywords and phrases by reviewing your local rankings. This in turn may assist in increasing the traffic to the visibility of your website. Your Google search rankings can be impacted by a variety of things, so it's crucial to frequently assess your website's local SEO to make sure it is operating effectively.
You can ensure that your website is visible to your target market and tweak it for better performance by periodically reviewing your local search rankings.
Check The Authority Of Your Links And Website
Any company that has a website should periodically examine the linkages and website authority. This is crucial for companies that depend on local SEO to draw in clients. You may find any broken or questionable links as well as links that could undermine the authority of your website by doing a link audit. A website authority audit can also assist you in determining any areas where your website needs to be improved. You can make sure that your internet presence is enhancing rather than detracting from your company by routinely analyzing your links and website authority.
Citations Audit
Businesses who want to be sure they appear in search engine results pages for geo-targeted queries should do a local SEO audit. Citations, or local-relevant references of your company's name, address, and phone number on other websites, may be found with the use of a local SEO audit. Accurate citations can help your business appear more prominently and rank higher in local search results.
The search for suitable reference sources may be done in a few different ways. One is to utilize a program like Moz Local, which offers a list of typical reference sources for companies in particular geographies and industry sectors. Additionally, you may manually search for websites and directories that have listings of local companies.
To prevent duplicate listings, you must check each potential citation source after you've identified potential sources to see if your company is already listed there. If so, you should take ownership of the listing and ensure the local business information is complete. You can make a new local listing for your company if it isn't already there.
Check Your Google Business Profile
One of the most significant local SEO ranking factors is Google My Business. Business owners can manage their online presence and have control over how their establishment appears on Google Search and Maps using this free platform. You can increase your customer base and expand your business by creating a precise and comprehensive Google My Business profile. Inaccurate or incomplete listings, however, can harm your brand and decrease your chances of appearing high in local search results. It's crucial to check your Google My Business listing to ensure that all of the information is accurate and up-to-date.
Reviews and Rating Audits
Brick-and-mortar business owners must monitor their online reputation. Monitoring your Google reviews and ratings is one way to achieve this. Potential customers will probably start their search for a new business on Google since it is the most widely used search engine. They might be put off from doing business with you if they notice that your company has a lot of bad reviews. On the other hand, they'll be more inclined to give you a shot if they notice that you have a lot of positive reviews. Even though you can't always please everyone, it's still critical to take action to enhance your online reputation. You can spot areas that require improvement and make sure that potential customers have a favorable impression of your business by routinely checking your Google reviews and ratings.
Make a Social Media Audit
You need a local SEO audit of your social media to ensure that your local SEO is strong. This entails carefully reviewing each of your social media profiles to make sure they are current and adhere to SEO best practices.
Auditing your NAP (business name, address, and phone number) data should be your first step. Verify that your NAP is the same on all of your social media accounts. Search engines won't be as likely to trust your listings if it isn't, which may lower your rankings.
Next, consider your office hours. Many local businesses list their hours on their website but fail to update their social media profiles accordingly. This can lead to confusion and lost customers, so it's important to keep your hours up to date on all of your profiles.
Check out your pictures and videos to finish. Are they local SEO-friendly? Make sure they include city and state information in the tags and captioning so search engines can easily index them. By auditing your social media regularly, you'll be able to catch any local SEO mistakes before they cause serious damage to your rankings.
Whether you're just getting started with local SEO or you've been working on it for a while, this guide will help you take your efforts to the next level. By auditing your site and making sure it's optimized for local search, you can bring in more traffic and leads from your target market. And that means more customers and sales for your business. So what are you waiting for? Get started today!
Have any questions about local SEO auditing? You can check this blog post from Denver Digital Agency.