How to Audit Your Local SEO: Reviews, Google Business Profile, Website
By Clay Lawrence, Review Harvest · · 25 min video
The short version
Audit three things in order: your reviews, your Google Business Profile and your website. Compare your review count and rating with the business ranking first in your area, fill in every part of the profile (hours, photos, products, posts, social links), then check that your homepage has a clear title, a meta description, one H1 with your service and city, and a page for each service. The same fixes came up for all three businesses audited: more reviews, the right main category and keyword, citations, and consistency between the profile and the website.
Do this, in order
- 1
Compare your reviews with the business ranking first
Open the top result for your main search term and note its review count and rating. In the three audits the leaders had 346 reviews at 4.9 stars, 328 at 4.9 and 242. That number is your gauge for how many reviews the top spots have.
- 2
Get reviews coming in every week, and get the rating to 4.5 or higher
A profile with no new review in two months and a 3.7 rating makes every other SEO fix an uphill battle. With a run of one-star reviews you need 30, 40 or 50 five-star reviews to climb back into the 4s.
- 3
Report reviews you believe are fake
A burst of one-star reviews can come from a competitor or from a former employee's friends and family. Report those reviews to Google. The options shown in the video were low quality information and fake and deceptive.
- 4
Check that your main keyword is in your business name
Almost every top-ranked competitor in the audits had the service in its name, such as carpet cleaning or window cleaning. If yours does not, get a DBA so the name is legitimate before you change it. Adding keywords the wrong way can get a profile suspended.
- 5
Find the searches your profile already shows up for
In your Google Business Profile, click Performance and scroll down to the top queries. It only counts searches where your profile appeared, so a main keyword you do not rank for may be missing from the list.
- 6
Set hours that cover every time you work or can take a lead
Google ranks a business higher at a given hour if the profile says it is open then. If you really do jobs early or late, list those hours. One audit suggested 7 am to 11 pm instead of an 11:30 pm close, which Google might find suspicious.
- 7
Add photos of the owner and the technicians
A profile converts better with a personal touch. Show the person who will be coming to the customer's home. If you are a one-location local business, lean into it.
- 8
List your services as products
Manage your Google Business Profile and add products. Each one can have a photo, a description, an optional price and a link to your website. Leave the price blank if you quote each job.
- 9
Write posts that sell, not posts that entertain
People looking at your profile are ready to buy. Post offers, deals, a money-back guarantee, or whatever you provide that competitors do not.
- 10
Link your social media profiles
Search your business name on Google while logged in with the email that manages the profile, click Edit profile, and scroll down to Social profiles. Add every one you have. It takes about 30 seconds and shows Google you are a real business.
- 11
Fix the homepage title, meta description and headings
Take the word Home out of the title and use your business name, service and area. Add a meta description under 155 characters. Use one H1 with your main service and a specific city, and work other services and service areas into the H2s and H3s.
- 12
Build a page per service, embed your map, and buy citations
Point each service to its own page. Embed your Google map on the site so the profile and website match. Buy citations with your name, address and phone number, and pay for a citation cleanup so every listing is consistent.
What should a local SEO audit cover?
Three things: your reviews, your Google Business Profile and your website. Start with a ranking report for your main search term, which shows a grid of your area and where you appear on the first page of Google. Then click a spot where you do not rank and look at who does. Their review count, rating and business name tell you what you are up against.
The three businesses below were audited live, and most of the fixes were the same for each.
How many reviews do you need to rank?
About as many as the business ranking first in your area, at a rating of 4.5 or higher.
- A carpet cleaner in Huntsville, Alabama had 94 reviews after going from 60 to about 94 in a couple of weeks with Review Harvest. The competitor ahead of it had 346 reviews and a 4.9 rating.
- A window cleaner in Anaheim, California had 42 reviews, a 3.7 rating and no new review in two months. The leader had 328 reviews at 4.9.
- A new pet waste company had seven reviews. The top competitor had 242, which is catchable.
The window cleaner’s recent one-star reviews looked like an attack. That happens: a competitor buys fake one-star reviews, or someone who quit or was fired gets friends and family to leave them. Report those reviews to Google, and expect to need 30, 40 or 50 five-star reviews to offset them. Until the rating is back above 4.5, everything else is a fight uphill.
What should you fix on your Google Business Profile?
Fill in everything and make it look like a real, local, open business.
- Name. Carpet cleaning, window cleaning: the service was in the name of almost every top result. The carpet cleaner’s name used “carpet care” and the pet waste company’s used “waste removal”, when the searches with the most queries in that industry are poop scooping, pooper scooper and dog poop removal. Get a DBA if you want to change yours. There is a right way and a wrong way to add a keyword, and the wrong way can get you suspended.
- Hours. Google ranks you higher at an hour when your profile says you are open. The carpet cleaner really does clean commercial buildings early and late, so long hours are legitimate. The window cleaner closed at 7 pm, when people who have just finished dinner may be searching. The pet waste company’s 6 am to 10 pm was the best of the three.
- Photos. Add more of the owner and the technicians. With big brands buying up market share, some customers are drawn to a smaller local company. Lean into that.
- Products. Add your services as products with a photo, a description and a link to your site. Price is optional.
- Posts. Do not post as if it were Facebook or Instagram. Nobody scrolls a business profile to pass the time. Sell: offers, deals, a money-back guarantee.
- Social profiles. Link all of them under Edit profile. Someone throwing up a fake listing probably does not have four or five social accounts.
To see which searches you already appear for, click Performance in your profile and scroll to the top queries.
What should you fix on your website?
Make the page titles worth clicking and the headings clear about what you do and where.
The title and meta description are what show on the Google search result. Take the word Home out of the title, and use your business name, service and area. Add a meta description if you have none, and keep it under 155 characters. One site’s was 162, and cutting “contact us today” would bring it under.
Use one H1. “Dog poop scooping service” is textbook. “Sparkling clean windows across Southern California” is not, because the keyword is missing and the area is too broad. Check what people type, a county or a city, with a keyword research tool such as Google Ads, and match that wording. Put additional services and service areas in the H2s and H3s.
Beyond the headings:
- Give every service its own page, and link each product on your profile to its page.
- Keep the layout simple. One site was overwhelming, with text everywhere.
- If you are an owner-operator, put the photo of the owner near the top of the homepage.
- Show reviews through a review widget so they are backed by a third party such as Google or Yelp. Anybody can type anything on their own website.
- Embed your Google map so Google sees the profile and the website match.
Do citations and an address still matter?
Yes to both. A big website used to rank on size alone. Now that anyone can generate 30 pages in an afternoon, Google needs proof the business is real, and that means reviews, citations and possibly backlinks.
Buy 300 or 400 citations with your name, address and phone number on Fiverr, and have them indexed. Add a cleanup service if your existing listings show different phone numbers, websites or addresses.
An address in the place you want to rank helps a lot. It is also the hardest thing to change, because in the US a coworking space is hard to get verified and it has to be a legitimate office. Service area businesses still rank well without one.
Common questions
How do I audit my own local SEO?
Check three things: your reviews, your Google Business Profile and your website. Compare your review count and rating with the business ranking first for your main search term, then make sure the profile has full hours, personal photos, products, sales-focused posts and linked social profiles. On the website, check the title, meta description, a single H1 with your service and city, and a page for each service.
Does having a keyword in your business name help you rank on Google?
Yes. In the audits, nearly every business at the top of the map had the service in its name, such as carpet cleaning or window cleaning. If your name does not include it, get a DBA to be safe before changing the name on your profile. Adding keywords the wrong way can get a profile suspended.
What should I post on my Google Business Profile?
Post offers and reasons to choose you, not social media content. People do not scroll Google Business Profiles for entertainment. They are there to make a purchasing decision, so post deals, guarantees and the benefits competitors do not offer.
Can a service area business rank on Google Maps without an address?
Yes. Service area businesses rank well all the time. A real address in the area where you want to rank does make it easier, but in the US it has to be a legitimate office, because a coworking space is hard to get verified.
What are citations and do they help local rankings?
A citation is a listing of your business name, address and phone number on another site, such as Yelp or the Yellow Pages. Your Google profile is one too. You can buy 300 or 400 of them on Fiverr, and when Google sees your business listed in that many places it gives your ranking a boost. A cleanup service makes sure the listings you already have are accurate and consistent.
Should my website headline name a city or a region?
Name a city. People looking for a window cleaner do not type Southern California, they type the city they are in. Pick your best service area and put it in the H1 with your main service. If you are in a town of about a thousand people, use the biggest town close to you.
