{"id":1585,"date":"2018-05-11T04:25:24","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T04:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hammerandnailm.wpengine.com\/3-minute-seo-audit-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-03-02T21:00:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T21:00:53","slug":"local-business-seo-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerandnailmarketing.com\/local-business-seo-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking The Plunge, an SEO Audit for Local Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”THE BOARD” subhead=”A Blog To Help The Business Owner Understand Online Marketing” text_orientation=”center” header_scroll_down=”on” scroll_down_icon=”%%0%%” background_overlay_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.37)” logo_image_url=”https:\/\/hammerandnailmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/amp-3.png” content_max_width=”none” _builder_version=”3.16″ subhead_font_size=”20px” background_color=”rgba(255, 255, 255, 0)” background_image=”https:\/\/hammerandnailmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/6.jpg” custom_button_one=”on” button_one_border_width=”3″ button_one_border_color=”#ffffff” button_one_icon=”%%2%%” button_one_icon_placement=”left” custom_css_main_element=”padding-top:15%;” background_url=”https:\/\/hammerandnailmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/6.jpg” saved_tabs=”all” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_post_title date=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.74″ meta_text_color=”#0f0f0f” background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” custom_css_post_meta=”font-family: ‘JosefinSans-Regular’;||display:block;” module_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)”][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_image align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″ animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”left” animation_duration=”500ms” animation_intensity_slide=”10%”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”body copy for the post” _builder_version=”4.8.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_style=”solid” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]\n
Are you a filmmaker, production company, or a business owner looking to drive better sales this year? If so doing an SEO audit for your online business is a must!\u00a0\u00a0And no, it is not true what they say that a person must have some\u00a0technical knowledge to be able to do this. The 5 step plan that I will share with you in this article will not only get you to understand what SEO does but will also help you conduct an audit on your own in less than an hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(If you’d rather skip doing this manual audit yourself, use our helpful automated SEO research tool<\/a>)<\/p>\n Let\u2019s dive in!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our goal<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a step back and look at the bigger picture for just a second. Think about why we need to go through all this? What are we hoping to achieve? Local Consumer Review Survey findings <\/a>say that 85% of consumers use the internet to find a local business and almost the same amount of consumers use the internet each week to find local businesses. If you can tap on this market, it offers a huge potential for your business to grow! If you’re a film industry pro, think about what UPMs and departments head do before even giving you a call. THEY GOOGLE YOU! Or at very least look you up on IMDb.\u00a0You will need to appear in search results of course. The goal is to let you appear not just anywhere but to make you on top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs).\u00a0Because, how many people really click on page 2 of Google?\u00a0<\/p>\n In a world that is ever-expanding digitally, showing up on top of search engine results is extremely crucial in ensuring that customers find you when they\u2019re searching.\u00a0It\u2019s safe to say that how well you rank on local searches translates directly to how many more customers your business will rake in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n SEO is a variety of strategies that help you promote your product or services at the exact moment customers are looking for them. It makes it easier for business owners and customers alike to find what it is they’re looking for. Local SEO assists by displaying results based on location. For instance, when searching for restaurants in Google,\u00a0 it makes sense that the search results start with those nearest to you. It doesn’t make sense for a restaurant in another country to display when you’re in Minnesota right? Local SEO is responsible for that logic.<\/p>\n Now that you understand the importance of local SEO. Let’s jump right into it this DIY SEO audit!<\/p>\n The content in the title tag, meta description, and other meta tags play a major role in how your website ranks on search engines. Make sure that you add the keywords you want to rank for in your site\u2019s meta description. I know for cinematographers and most of those in production they’re just focused on “showing” there work via images and videos. You need to remember to tag it up!<\/p>\n To do this:<\/p>\n If you own a small business and you don\u2019t have a verified Google My Business (GMB), then you\u2019re doing it wrong. Why? Google My Business (GMB) help build your\u00a0online reputation. <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n The GMB listing provides accurate information about a business\u2019 name, address, phone number (NAP), opening\/closing hours and website URL. It allows people to review your business online, and it also links your ratings from other websites such as ReviewBuzz\/Facebook.\u00a0<\/p>\n Providing accurate information to Google about your business means providing accurate information about your business to customers. Any change in working hours must be reflected in your listing. It goes without saying that all information such as your address, phone number and zip need to be correct as well. Inaccuracies may mean losing a valuable customer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Above all,\u00a0 make sure that you pass GMB Guidelines!\u00a0Google has a set of guidelines<\/a> that they expect all businesses to follow while representing themselves. Ensuring that you meet them keeps you away from any penalty Google may impose. If you\u2019re short on time, you can use a tool like the Google Guidelines Checker<\/a> to tell you right away whether your business meets guidelines.<\/p>\n The top results on SERPs are often Yelp \/ Home Advisor \/ Trip Advisor \/ Foursquare or other such directory listings<\/a> for local searches. So it\u2019s absolutely essential that you have yourself listed on all major online directories. This allows your business to be found by potential customers.<\/p>\n An active social media presence impacts the traffic that you drive to your business\u2019 blog, website, or physical store, actively or indirectly.\u00a0\u00a0For instance:<\/p>\n Make sure that you have a handle on all top social networking sites. Appoint someone to take care of it if you need to. You\u2019ll be amazed at how social media can help with your business\u2019 growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n The more you have backlinks the more likely it is that you’ll land high on the ranks.\u00a0\u00a0Now, if you don\u2019t know what a backlink is, it is simply a link that leads to your website that is present on another website.\u00a0A backlink from an authoritative website is sure to boost your rankings on SERPs. Think of who you know that is reputed amongst your business\u2019 community on the internet. You can write to them and ask them for a backlink to your website\/blog.<\/p>\n Running a quick backlink analysis is very simple. One of the easy to use tools that will help you do this is Moz\u2019 Open Site Explore\u00a0(OSE). <\/a>\u00a0Did I mention that it is a free backlink analysis tool? It is one of the tools that are not only relevant but are budget friendly too.\u00a0<\/p>\n Just enter your website URL and click on the button that says \u2018Search\u2019. It will give you a list of backlinks that your website has received from reputable websites. It will show you the source of the backlink, the anchor text for that link, and the authority score (PA \u2013 Page Authority, DA \u2013 Domain Authority) of the website.\u00a0Moz\u2019 OSE will also show you what your website\u2019s spam score is. A spam score of less than 3 is said to be good for your website. It\u2019s unlikely that your website will get penalized by Google if it meets this standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”]\n If you’d rather skip doing this manual audit yourself, use our helpful automated research tool on the link below.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/hammerandnailmarketing.com\/seo-audit\/” button_text=”GET YOUR LOCAL SEO REPORT” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”17px” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_bg_color=”#000000″ custom_padding=”|40px||40px|false|false”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”]\n So, that concludes our 30 minutes local SEO audit! We hope that you found this useful. If you have any queries, feel free to add a comment below.<\/span><\/p>\n If you try this audit yourself and feel like you need help with SEO<\/a>, generating leads<\/a>, or just general marketing for your business online you can reach out to us through our site.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/hammerandnailmarketing.com\/get-in-touch\/” button_text=”GET IN TOUCH” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”17px” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_bg_color=”#000000″ custom_padding=”|40px||40px|false|false”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_code custom_css_main_element=”padding: 1em 2%;||border-bottom: 1px solid #dee0e1;||border-top: 1px solid #dee0e1;”] Are you a filmmaker, production company, or a business owner looking to drive better sales this year? If so doing an SEO audit for your online business is a must!\u00a0\u00a0And no, it is not true what they say that a person must have some\u00a0technical knowledge to be able to do this. The 5 step plan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,46,2,36,47,51],"tags":[55,53,41],"yoast_head":"\n<\/h1>\n
What is local SEO?<\/h1>\n
Step #1 \u2013 Metadata and Keywords (5 minutes)<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
Step #2 – Your Google My Business Listing (5 minutes)\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Step # 3 – Citation Analysis (5 minutes)<\/h2>\n
Step #4 \u2013 Social Pages (5 minutes)<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
Step #5 Backlink and Spam Analysis (10 minutes)<\/h2>\n
\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_signup mailchimp_list=”Divi Builder MailChimp|5aaea2afb6″ _builder_version=”3.23″ form_field_background_color=”#cecece” use_background_color=”off” background_layout=”light” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][\/et_pb_signup][et_pb_text admin_label=”Social” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ text_font_size=”20″]Social
\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_social_media_follow _builder_version=”3.0.87″ background_layout=”dark” border_radii=”on|100%|100%|100%|100%” link_shape=”circle”][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”instagram” url=”https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hammerandnailmarketing\/” _builder_version=”3.0.74″ background_color=”#517fa4″ bg_color=”#517fa4″ link_shape=”circle” follow_button=”off” url_new_window=”on”] Instagram [\/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”facebook” url=”https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/hammerandnailmarketing\/about\/” _builder_version=”3.0.74″ background_color=”#3b5998″ bg_color=”#3b5998″ link_shape=”circle” follow_button=”off” url_new_window=”on”] Facebook [\/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][\/et_pb_social_media_follow][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"