Tracking local SEO performance is important for businesses looking to dominate their local market. But how do you know if your efforts are paying off?
With the right analytics tools and tracking methods, you can measure the effectiveness of your local SEO strategy, identify areas for improvement, and optimise for better rankings. This guide breaks down the key performance indicators (KPIs), tools, and actionable steps to help you track local SEO performance like a pro.
Why Tracking Local SEO Performance is Important
Keeping track of your local SEO plan is very important, otherwise how will you know if your plan is working or not?
Marketing tracking enables a deep dive into the performance of your local SEO strategy, helping you to easily identify which areas are working well, and which are not.
You can use tracking tools to better align with your customers preferences and behaviours, leading to increased traffic and sales down the line
Introducing Google Analytics (GA4)! This free tracking platform will provide you with valuable data you can use to either adjust your strategy, or to see if your strategy is working. The more you optimise for local search, the more your traffic will start to increase, along with your revenue!
Key Metrics to Measure Local SEO Success
Sometimes, when using local SEO tracking tools, it can feel like you are drowning in data. Do you want to know the truth?
Most of it is useless to you as a business owner! All you want to know is whether your traffic and revenue is increasing or decreasing, am I right?
Here is a list of the main things you will want to look out for when using tracking tools like Google Analytics (and don’t worry, we will show you how to set tracking up in the next section!) –
- Google Business Profile (GBP) Insights (views, phone calls, actions). To view this data, just log into your GBP and click on “performance”.
- Local search rankings (track focus keyword positions in Google)
- Organic traffic from local searches (Google Analytics data)
- Customer engagement metrics (calls, contact forms, emails). You will need to set up Google Tag Manager to track these metrics, which is beyond the scope of this post. However, here is a helpful article on how to do so!
- Reviews and reputation management (ratings, feedback trends) using your GBP.
By tracking these key metrics, you will be able to see if your local SEO plan is working or not. But what tools should you actually use?
With so many tracking tools out there these days, it can be daunting finding the right one for your business. In the next section, we will uncover this for you!
Best Tools to Track Local SEO Performance
Here is a list of the best tracking tools out there for your local business –
- Google Analytics (tracking local organic traffic and conversions)
- Google Search Console (monitoring keyword performance and indexing issues)
- Google Business Profile Insights (tracking visibility, clicks, and actions)
- Local rank tracking tools (Ahrefs, Wincher, SEMrush)
- Heatmaps & user behaviour tools (Microsoft Clarity)
Now that you have the best tools to track your local SEO performance, how do you actually get these tools to track users on your website? I’m glad you asked!
How to Set Up Google Analytics for Local SEO Tracking
Never set up Google Analytics tracking before? No worries, here’s what you need to do.
Step 1: Set-Up your Account
Go to Google Marketing Platform, and click on “Sign in”.
Click the “Analytics” tab
Then click on the “start measuring” button, which will take you to a “create an account” page.
Step 2: Create your Account
Add in your account name (usually the name of your business) and click on the data you would like to share with Google.
Step 3: Set-Up your Property
In the “property name” box, type in your website URL. Input your current time zone and the currency your business operates with.
When you click “next”, you will have to answer some business related questions and your objectives whilst using Google Analytics. Just try to answer honestly!
Finally, accept the terms of service.
Step 4: Setting Up your Data Stream
A data stream is what will tell Google which website to track. It connects your website with the tracking tool so you can receive valuable data insights on user behaviour. Here’s how to set it up.
Click the “web” button to add your website.
Add your website URL again, and give it a stream name (this can be your business again). I would recommend leaving the “enhanced measurements” on.
Then, click “create stream”.
You should now be able to view all your stream details. Click on “view tag instructions” to get instructions on how to add your new data stream to your website.
Step 5: Add GA4 Tracking Code to your Website
After clicking on “view tag instructions”, click on “install manually” to view the JavaScript code.
Copy this code, and add it into the <head> on every page on your website.
For WordPress users, you can navigate to the header and footer section in your WordPress dashboard, and add the code to the header here.
For Shopify users, you can manually add the code into the Google Analytics section in the Shopify dashboard.
And that’s all there is to it! You can now track users on your website, completely for free.
Using Google Search Console for Local SEO Insights
Another popular, very helpful tool to track local SEO performance is Google Search Console. To set up your Google Search Console account and connect it to your website, see this very helpful article from the SEMrush blog.
Local Keyword Rankings using Search Console
To find keyword rankings using Google Search Console, go to the “performance” tab and view all the queries your website is ranking for. These should hopefully include all your localised keywords, if you have done your local SEO strategy correctly!
Checking Indexing Errors
If a page is not indexed, it cannot appear in Google’s search results because Google has not yet crawled that page. If you are getting worried that one of your new optimised pages is not ranking, it could be because it has not yet been indexed!
To index your new page, simply copy and paste your page URL into the search tab at the top of GSC.
This will then show you whether this page has been indexed or not. If not, click “request indexing”.
How to Track Local Keywords and Competitor Performance
To track your local SEO performance, you may need to invest in a tracking tool such as Wincher, Ahrefs, or SEMrush. These tools not only allow you to track certain keywords, but also allow you to do keyword research, competitor analysis, backlink checks, and much more!
You can also use the free tools here to help you.
Competitor Analysis
Using the same tools listed above (we will use Ahrefs as an example), navigate to the “organic competitors” tab and this should show you all the organic competitors in your niche.
This is a very helpful tool when adjusting your local SEO strategy as your competitors may think of things you haven’t!
Measuring Local SEO ROI and Making Data-Driven Decisions
What’s the point in tracking your local SEO performance?
So you can see how much extra money your local business is making from local SEO.
Calculating ROI of Local SEO
To calculate the ROI (return on investment) of your local SEO efforts, simply times the number of enquiries you received organically from SEO that month (phone calls, emails, contact forms) by the ALV (average lifetime value) of a customer.
For example, if I got 15 contact forms from organic traffic and my ALV per customer was £100, local SEO would’ve generated an extra £1500 revenue for my business!
Adjusting your Local SEO Strategy
If you notice your efforts are not working, you may need to adjust your strategy.
You may see that you are generating users but your conversion rate is staying the same. In this case, you may need to add more CTA (call to action) buttons to your website. Or, your bounce rate is high, meaning you need to make your content more engaging.
Whatever the issue, there’s always room for improvement. And if you need any extra help, don’t hesitate to contact the team here at Click Shark for assistance!
Conclusion
Tracking local SEO performance is essential for understanding what works and where to improve. By using Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and local SEO tools, businesses can gain powerful insights, refine their strategies, and boost their local search visibility. Start implementing these tracking methods today to stay ahead of your competition!
