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Local SEO audit: what a finished one shows and how to read it
A local SEO audit sets one business next to the local rivals that win the calls it wants, then lists what to fix, in order, with the reason for each. It looks at the maps listing, the reviews and the pages on the business's own site. It is not a website audit. About 260 people a month in the US search for "local seo audit", and another 210 search for "local seo report".
This guide is part of the local SEO overview. It shows what a finished audit looks like, how to read one, and what to ask a provider before you pay for it.
What a local SEO audit covers
A local audit answers one question: why do nearby customers call the other business and not this one? To answer it, it covers five areas.
- The business profile. Main category, extra categories, services listed, hours, photos, and the service area.
- Reviews. The count, the recency, the replies, and what customers mention.
- Pages on the site. Whether each service people ask for has its own page, and whether each place served has a real page.
- Listings elsewhere. Whether the name, address and phone number match everywhere.
- The rivals. What the local competitors have in each area above that this business lacks.
A site audit checks speed, broken links and page titles across a whole site. A local audit checks how a business is found and chosen by people nearby. The two answer different questions.
What a finished audit report looks like
Here is the shape of a delivered report. The business and every number below are invented for the example.
| Finding | Evidence | Fix | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main category reads "Contractor"; the rivals use "Roofing contractor" | Profile compared with four local rivals | Change the main category | High |
| No page for storm damage repair; two of the four rivals have one | Links to the two rival pages | Build one page for the service | High |
| 18 reviews, the newest five months old; rivals show 60 to 120, with new ones this week | Review counts side by side | Ask after every job; reply to the old reviews | Medium |
| Service area page names 12 towns with identical text | The page itself | Cut to the three towns with real jobs and write about them | Medium |
| Phone number differs on two directory entries | The two entries | Match them to the profile | Low |
Three things make this a useful report. Every finding has evidence you can open. Every finding has a fix, not just a complaint. And the findings are ranked, so the first action is obvious.
Local SEO report, checklist, analyzer and audit service
These words get used loosely. Here is what each one usually means.
- Report. The written result of an audit. The table above is a report.
- Checklist. A list of things to look at. A checklist tells you what to check; it does not tell you what you found.
- Analyzer or audit tool. An automated check that runs the same tests on every business and returns a score.
- Audit service. A person who does the comparison and writes the findings.
A score is a fine starting signal. It tells you that something is off. It cannot tell you that a rival has a page you lack, because that depends on your rivals, not on a fixed list of checks.
Free local SEO audits: what you get and what you do not
A free audit often returns a score and a list of generic items. That is enough to catch a missing phone number or a wrong category. It is not enough to decide what to build next, because it does not compare you with the businesses that win the calls in your area.
If a free audit finds nothing wrong and your phone is still quiet, the problem may be a gap, not an error. You are missing a page, a service or a set of reviews that the rivals have. A gap does not show up on a checklist.
The business profile audit
Many people ask first for an audit of their business profile, the maps listing, before they ask for anything wider. A profile audit is the first of the five areas above. It checks that the main category matches the job people want, that every service you sell is listed, that the hours and service area are right, and that photos show real recent work.
It is often the cheapest area to fix. It is rarely the whole answer.
How to read the findings
Sort the findings with three questions.
- Does it connect to a search people make? A fix tied to a service people search for beats one tied to a general best practice.
- Do the rivals have it? If every rival has a page you lack, that is a gap. If none has it, it may not matter.
- How big is the effort against the job value? Say a fix takes an hour and affects a $250 job. Another takes a week and affects nothing. The first goes first.
Distrust any finding with no evidence behind it. "Improve your content" is not a finding. "Two of four rivals have a storm damage page; you do not" is.
What to ask a provider before you buy
Ask three things. Is it one business against named local rivals, or a generic checklist? Does every finding link to the page or listing it comes from? Are the findings ranked, with a fix beside each? An honest provider does not promise rankings.
What to do with an audit
Act in the order of the ranking. Fix the profile first, because it is quick. Build the missing service pages next; the content gap analysis page shows how a gap list is read, and the location pages guide covers pages for places. Then set up a review routine. Re-check after you add a service or a location, or when calls drop.
Frequently asked questions
Is a free local SEO audit enough?
It is enough to catch errors such as a wrong category or a mismatched phone number. It is not enough to see what your rivals have that you lack.
How often should I run a local SEO audit?
When something changes: a new service, a new location, a drop in calls. Between those, a quick review of the profile and the reviews is enough.
What is the difference between a local audit and a site audit?
A site audit checks the technical health of a website. A local audit checks how a business is found and chosen by people nearby, against the rivals they could call instead.
A Querytally list does not audit a business profile. It shows the searches in a market and which competitor pages cover them, and the samples show one.
Checked by a person and delivered within 24 hours, with a link and a search number behind every row.