A local SEO audit is crucial for any business owner because it helps assess and optimize their online presence to enhance visibility in local search results. For example, if you are a limo service company that serves a 20-mile radius around your city, you want to be found for terms like prom limo rental, limo services, wedding limo, party limo, and much more.
However, before hiring anyone to work on your website and SEO strategy, you should get a free local SEO audit to get a baseline of where you are.
Below is what the free local SEO audit from TM Blast looks like.
Free Local SEO Audit – Limo Service Company
Here is a free local SEO audit I did for a limo service company in CT. They wanted to see how they ranked locally in the CT area for the services they provide. In this video, I go over that report to share what a free local SEO audit would look like for your business. As a note, I did not have any access to first-party data, so all numbers and graphs come from third-party tools like SEMRush and Local Falcon. Here are the main things I look at for a Local Free SEO Audit 1) Technical issues 2) Traffic 3) Ranking keywords with traffic 4) Local Falcon heat maps for a few selected terms 5) Suggestions on how to rank better 6) Summary of what I would do if they become a client 7) Case studies showcasing what I’ve been able to do for clients and TM Blast.
Local SEO Success Story
I work with a client in New York City via their SEO strategy. Below are two images that show the improvement in their keyword rankings via a chart and heat map. An improvement in rankings lead to more phone calls, customers, and website visits for my client.
Basic Technical Error Review on the Website
Every Free Local SEO Audit I conduct starts with a basic technical review. I’ll put the website into SEMRush and perform a site audit to see if there are any obvious errors with the site. The common mistakes tend to redirect loops and chains, orphan off pages, missing robots.txt files, NOINDEX tags, etc.
I also review the website from a mobile perspective. The main thing I’m looking for is to ensure the website is mobile-ready and contains no pop-ups.
Traditional Organic Rankings Snapshot
Sticking with SEMRush, I then review the ranking keywords for the site and the expected monthly traffic from Google searches. A monthly estimate of search traffic is an excellent way to get an idea of what keywords are ranking for the site.
Sometimes, I will even do a competitor side-by-side analysis in SEMRush. The side-by-side analysis isn’t that helpful in the free local SEO audit, but it does become a go-to strategy of mine if we end up working together down the road.
Google My Business Review
The Google My Business Review analyzes the following things.
- Does your business have a knowledge panel in Google for the brand name?
- Are the hours, business name, and address the same as your website?
- Are you optimizing the GMB listing? For example, do you utilize the updates feature, services, description, products, and so on?
Local Falcon – Visual Heat Map for Your Keywords
Local Falcon is my go-to tool for every local SEO project I work on, and it expands upon the initial GMB review. The tool gives a visual heat map of the Google Map keyword ranking positions for a term in a given radius. Google (and Bing) usually show a map pack listing when there is a local intent behind a search, so getting into the map pack listing is critical. The metric I care about is SoLV, the percentage of time your business is on page 1 of Google via the 3-pack map listings for a search query.
Google only displays three organic map pack listings on page 1 of Google for a search. Therefore, if your rank position is four or greater, a user won’t see your listing unless they click on “more businesses” to see more local companies.
With the Free Local SEO Audit, I (Greg Kristan) will run a few scans for your business. Each scan will be for a different keyword to see how competitive you are for that phrase around your location.
Bing Places for Business Account Review
During the Free Local SEO Audit, I spend a little time looking at Bing keywords. Believe it or not, many businesses only verify their listing on Google and never sync that into Bing. According to GS Stat Counter, Bing can make up around 10% of your search traffic in the United States, so there is an opportunity to expand your net to reach your audience.
Apple Business Connect Review
Apple Business Connect is so far the weakest part of the free Local SEO audit from TM Blast. At this time, I’m only reviewing to see if your business is featured on Apple Maps. If it is not, I recommend getting listed there in the report.
How Long Does the Free Local SEO Audit Take?
The usual turnaround time for a free local SEO audit is 24-48 hours. However, the report will take longer if I need more information about your business. For example, if you reach out with little information on what I need to review, then getting the report will be delayed.
What are the Next Steps After the Audit?
After completing the audit, I will email it to you in a PDF format. I give a high-level summary of what I found in the report for you to review. From there, we can schedule a 30-minute follow-up call for me to answer any questions you have. After that, if you want to be a client of mine, you can hire me to work on your Local SEO strategy.
Get in Contact with Me
Additional Services that I Provide
Greg Kristan, owner of TM Blast, LLC and The Stadium Reviews, LLC, has over 10+ years of SEO experience. He was also the SEO Manager at edX and was a contractor for Microsoft Bing Ads. Today, he works on optimizing local, national, and international company websites to rank higher in search engines through SEO. Finally, Greg has been featured on podcasts about his search experience and regularly updates his YouTube channel sharing digital marketing tips. Do you want to reach out to me about SEO help? If so, email me at greg@tmblast.com or call 877-425-2141