Improving local search results and increasing foot traffic to your company depends on optimizing your Google My Company, now known as Google Business Profile. A GMB audit for local SEO points out chances to improve the performance and visibility of your profile in local searches. Reviewing and enhancing essential components such as business data, reviews, images, and categories helps you ensure your company shows up clearly when clients search for goods or services in your neighbourhood.
An efficient audit guarantees that your profile is factual, engaging, consistent with SEO best practices, and improves your local visibility.
In this comprehensive guide we will walk you through performing a thorough GBP audit for local SEO, maximizing your local search visibility and customer engagement.
Why Perform a Google My Business Audit?
Before delving into the procedures of doing a GBP audit for local SEO, one must first know why it matters. The first encounter a consumer will often have with your company is Google Business Profile. It presents essential details such as your company name, location, phone number, and operating hours. A well-optimized profile can assist your company show up on the local map pack, therefore enhancing exposure for local companies sought by consumers.
Step-by-Step Guide to Performing a GMB Audit for Local SEO
Below are simple steps to perform GMB Audit for Local SEO:
Check consistency in NAPs
- Ensuring your company’s NAP Name, Address, and Phone Number are consistent across all platforms comes first in a Google My Business assessment. Google searches for consistency throughout the web. Any differences between your website, social media, and local listings can impact your rating.
- See if your company name is regularly spelled properly on all platforms.
- Ensure your address matches what you have on your website and other company listings.
- Verify your phone number contains the area code and is accurate.
Streamline Business Classification
- Choosing the correct company categories is another important component of a GMB audit for local SEO. Google lets companies choose a main category as well as multiple minor ones. These categories let Google know your company’s offerings and where they should appear on search results.
- Ensure your main category captures the essence of your given commodity or service.
- Add pertinent supplementary categories, including further goods or services.
- Steer clear of too broad or meaningless categories, which will confuse Google’s algorithm and consumers.
Review Your Corporate Overview
- Your business description should briefly and clearly outline the activities of your company. Although this part does not directly impact your rating, it affects whether a user picks your company over others. Review your company description during your GBP audit for local SEO to be sure it is current, correct, and engaging.
- Add relevant keywords for your company and offerings.
- Emphasize your USP’s unique selling propositions.
- Steer clear of keyword stuffing, as Google frowns upon this behavior.
Examine Images and Graphic Material
- Any local SEO audit tool depends critically on images. Google has underlined time and time again how important photos are for local SEO, and companies with good images often show higher on search results. Review the images on your profile in a GMB audit for local SEO to ensure they are high-quality, current, and relevant to your company.
- Upload pictures reflecting your company’s location offerings of goods and services.
- Update your pictures often to highlight fresh ideas, goods, or services, including remodeling.
- Including pertinent file names and alt text can help optimize your photographs.
Review Customer Ratings and Comments
Local SEO and your Google Business Profile depend much on customer reviews. Reviews influence your standing in local search results and assist prospective clients in determining whether to pick your company. Scrutinizing your customer comments should be part of a GMB audit for local SEO.
Try maintaining a regular review flow as Google weights most recent reviews more significantly.
Respond to both good and bad reviews to demonstrate your clients matter.
Validate Service Areas
- Should your company operate in certain geographical locations, you should ensure your Google Business Profile accurately lists your service areas. Missing or erroneous service regions could restrict your view in local search results. Review the regions you have chosen and, should you need to make changes as part of your GBP assessment for local SEO.
- List all the places you provide services, but try not to add too many locations on your profile.
- If you cover a significant geographic area, use more expansive areas, such as towns or cities, rather than neighborhoods.
- Should your company open additional sites, update your service areas.
Apply UTM Guidelines
- Tracking the success of your Google Business Profile depends much on UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) characteristics. Including UTM parameters in the URLs on your profile can help you track user behavior and how they came into your company. Including UTM tracking into your GMB audit for local SEO can help you understand user behavior about your profile.
- Add UTM settings to your profile’s links, appointment URL, and website link.
- Track these links’ performance using Google Analytics, then modify your plan.
- Review the information often to see which facets of your profile attract the most visitors.
Use Google Analytics
- Through Google Insights, which shows user interaction with your profile, Google delivers various information. Data on user findings of your company, activities taken, and number of views your profile got comprise insights. Review your Google Insights data as part of your local SEO audit tool to see areas needing work and trends.
- Compare the number of searches your company shows versus those of rivals.
- Examine the kinds of direct, discovery, or branded searches to see how consumers come to your company.
Conclusion
Any company enhancing its local SEO initiatives must do a comprehensive Google My Business audit. Ensuring your profile is wholly optimized can help you get more clients and appear in local search results. Every component of your profile from customer reviews to NAP consistency helps Google evaluate your company. Regular audits and modifications help your Google Business Profile become a very useful tool for local SEO success.
