Local SEO Audit Checklist

Are you a local business? Do you want to check your SEO? Here’s a quick-fire, easy-to-complete local SEO audit checklist to give you what you need. Too often, I see marketing agencies and SEO experts overcomplicate SEO for small, local businesses. For many business owners, they don’t have the time or the budget to dedicate to huge overhauls of a site or to make them massive. I believe in the power of small, actionable steps because having a small, well-managed and pretty much perfect site is a million times better than a bloated site with countless errors. So, without further ado, here is a simple SEO audit checklist for local businesses.

Local SEO Checklist: Does your website have these?

Businesses that cater to only their immediate community do not need overcomplicated SEO strategies. Local SEO is simple because the focus is on an audience you should know very well, and you can give them exactly what they want. The only thing to focus on is letting your local customers know exactly where you are, and that’s what this quick local SEO audit checklist will cover. Read my guide for a more detailed breakdown of the terms and strategies used: What is Local SEO?

Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP)

Your website’s contact information is vital for interacting with potential customers. In SEO, the shorthand of these details is NAP, which stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. This is crucial information for Google and other search engines.

1. Do you have your name, address and phone number clearly displayed on your website in your footer and contact page?
2. Is your NAP also included in your header or upper header? This can be especially useful for telephone numbers.
3. Are your NAP details exactly the same on all instances on your website?
4. Do NAP details appeal exactly the same on external sites such as directories, social media and Google my business?
5. Is the address clickable to open as a map?
6. Is your phone number clickable to allow mobile devices to ring directly?

Google Business Profile

The Google Business Profile (Formally Google My Business) service is essentially a free business listing displayed on Google SERPs in either the Knowledge Panel or the Maps area. As a business, you are able to create a Business Profile that can boost your visibility at no cost other than a small amount of time to set it up and maintain. Here’s what to review.

1. Do you have a Google Business Profile? If not, set one up
2. Is the information on there accurate and up to date?
3. Do the NAP details match your website?
4. Is there only one listing associated with your business?
5. Have you uploaded your logo in the correct dimensions?
6. Are any reviews responded to? Especially important for negative ones.

Local Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to the actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages (SERPs). Local businesses have specific off-page SEO tactics that are unique to them but it boils down to keeping your off-page links local too.

1. Are you listed in local business directories? Examples include Yelp and Yellow Pages, but your city, town or regional-specific ones are excellent too.
2. Are you listed on industry-specific directories? Examples include Trip Advisor for the hospitality industry or Houzz for home improvement businesses.
3. Is your business active on social media? Having a presence on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can help improve your off-page SEO.
4. Are you building local backlinks? This refers to getting other local websites to link to your website. A great way to do this is by creating local content, such as blog posts or infographics, that other websites in your area would find valuable to share. Newspapers, blogs, and other local businesses and groups are all great places to post.
5. For any of the above, are your NAP details accurate and match your website?
6. Are all links back to your website work? Is the anchor text relevant?
7. Is all information displayed off-site accurate and up to date?

Regional and local keywords

Local SEO applies the same core principle of a national campaign. Are you answering the questions that your audience needs to answer?

1. Have you geared your keyword research towards your geographical location?
2. Have you taken into account regional language differences and dialects?
3. Do copy and content use your research and contain your locally selected keywords?
4. Does your website answer locally relevant questions? (e.g. Where can I get a bike repaired in Sheffield?)
5. Have you considered how time sensitive your products or services are? ( e.g Emergency Flat Tyre Repair Rotherham)

Optimised for mobile

Mobile searching is at an all-time high and is particularly relevant to local search queries, especially time-sensitive services or products.

1. Have you optimised the design of your website for mobile?
2. Have you tested your website on different-sized mobile devices? Tablets, small phones, large phones.
3. How does your website design fair in app Infframes such as Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok etc…
4. Are your NAP details clickable for maps and calls?
5. Are features that appear on desktop relevant to or functional for mobile users, or do they need to be removed or edited?

Local SEO Sheffield with Middleton Marketing

If you’re a Sheffield or South Yorkshire business and need local SEO, consider Middleton Marketing. I’m a freelance SEO specialist, living and working in Sheffield for the past nine years. I’ve lived in Yorkshire all my life and love working with local small businesses looking to thrive. Working with an SEO freelance local to you is a great way to maximise your appeal because they’ll be able to apply local knowledge where it counts. Learn more about why you should choose a local SEO freelancer. If you are interested in working with me, read more about my experience and expertise on my about page. Or visit the services page to learn more about my offering. Can’t find what you’re looking for or have a question? Get in touch.