A local SEO audit can prove to be of prime importance. Not only can such an audit help determine the current standing of a business, but also help understand whether or not there is scope for an improvement in its SEO strategy. While a comprehensive audit is helpful when you’re already working with a business, a quick local SEO is ideal for the times when you want to approach a lead or close a deal with a prospective client. This helps the client to believe that you’re truly interested in enhancing their SEO optimisation while giving you a closer look at the problem areas so that you can tap the underlying opportunities. Needless to say, this gives you a competitive edge over other agencies.
Now that we’re aware of the importance of local SEO and the quick audit pertaining the same, let us take a look at how exactly to undertake it.
Keyword Check
This is an obvious yet an imperative step. All you need to do is search for some of the most common and important terms regarding the business. To do this efficiently, make use of an incognito browser. Make sure you set the location as the city that the business exists in.
If you don’t find the result on the first page, go on looking for a few more. Once you find the business, note its ranking. At this point, you should take notice of two aspects –
-
Whether or not the results are organic.
-
Whether the business is running an Adwords Campaign.
This quick analysis will help you understand if the business can benefit more from organic campaigns, or SEO marketing. Only if they need the latter, should you proceed further with the audit.
In this example, Wally Pets shows up as a listing and so does its Facebook Page, but the official website of the business doesn’t. This can help you initiate the conversation with the business owner/marketing manager.
Google Search
Search for the business name along with the city name on Google, and see if the business shows up. If it does, great. If you do not see the business in search results, there might be a problem with its SEO Optimisation – either pertaining to a faulty, unverified, duplicate, or absent listing or, in some cases, even a penalty preventing the business to show up. If you find any such issues, this will prove to be a great taking point during your conversation with the client. Here, you can give them an overview of how you plan on resolving these problems.
At this point, it might also help to check if there are any reviews for the company.
Google+ Local Page
Here, you will be required to search for the business name along with the city on the Google+ local page. This will help you make a note of various aspects such as-
-
The overall health of the page
-
The quality of the page description (good or bad, compelling or unattractive, carefully worded or spammy)
-
The primary category of the business, and whether or not the description reflects it accurately.
-
Absence of important categories or over-stuffing of categories
-
The quality of customer reviews
-
The accuracy of contact information including address, contact number hours of operation, official website etc.
If any of these aspects is not rightly placed, it can prove to be a good opportunity for you to suggest the rectification of the same (complete with a brief reasoning behind it).
Company Website Analysis
Go to the official website of the business. Use it. Navigate through it. Perform an action (if any). Also, read the content or at least skim through it. This will help you determine the prevailing direction of the local SEO campaign, while also helping you understand the extent to which the client may need your services. Here, you should look at –
-
Title Tags for important pages
-
Contact information of the business (and the spot where this information is spotted)
-
Ease of use and navigation
-
Quality of content, as well as use of keywords (you can use relevant SEO Tools for this)
-
Links to social media handles
-
Quality of the blog
Review Social Media Pages
Simply check whether or not is the business present across the major social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If present, check the level of its activity on the pages as well as the user engagement. Here, make a note if the business isn’t present on any of the platforms that you think are relevant for the business.
As you can see, Wally Pets has both, a Twitter as well as a Facebook Page, which is ideal for a business dealing in pet supplies.
Backlink Review
While this may not be as easy as the other steps for Local SEO Audit, it is equally important. Make sure you conduct a thorough check of the backlinks and their quality. Also, take a note of the total count of the backlinks. At this point, you must look out for anything that looks suspicious or can attract a penalty from the leading search engines.
Now that you’re aware of the way to conduct a detailed yet quick analysis of the local SEO of a business, we’re more than sure you will truly impress every client that you approach. This swift and easy activity will help you offer the best of SEO optimisation services to numerous local businesses who wish to create a compelling online presence.
