Best Local SEO Tools to Make Local SEO Easier

Optimising your business for local search is necessary to drive traffic and attract customers, but managing it all can be complex without the right tools. From tracking local rankings to ensuring NAP consistency, there’s a lot that goes into a successful local SEO strategy.

With the right local SEO tools, you can streamline your efforts, track your progress and optimise faster. We’ll explore some of the best local SEO tools we use in our local SEO services. 

Local SEO Tools: Our Picks

Below, we highlight some of our choices for the best tools for local businesses to consider or organisations that want to increase their local search visibility.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business (GMB), is a tool available from Google that lets businesses manage their online presence across both Google Search and Google Maps. With GBP, as a business, you can ensure your information is accurate, showcase your services and engage with customers through reviews, posts and messaging.

Local SEO is one of the most powerful tools available because it directly influences how your business appears in local search results, especially the Google Map Pack.

Features

• Business profile management: Add and update crucial information to your business listings, such as your NAP, business hours and a link to your website.
• Customer engagement: You can use features like responding to customer Google reviews, posting updates and answering questions directly within your profile.
• Insights: Gives you data about how customers find your business, including search queries, views and interactions.
• Photos and videos: Businesses can upload images and videos of products, services and the store itself to give potential customers a glimpse of what’s offered.
• Booking integration: If you’re a service-based business, GBP integrates with appointment scheduling tools for more seamless bookings.
• Posts: As a business, you can use GBP to create posts sharing promotions, news, events or product updates directly on your profile.

Google Business Profile and tools like Google Search Console are integral to any local SEO strategy. When potential customers search for a business, the Google Business Profile listing is one of the first things they see. Optimising your profile increases the chance you’ll appear in the local pack, a prime position for visibility.

Also, it directly impacts your prominence and relevance for location-based searches. With this local SEO tool, you can directly influence how you appear in search results.

BrightLocal

BrightLocal is a comprehensive local SEO software platform that’s specifically for managing and improving local search rankings. It offers a set of tools to help businesses monitor local SEO performance, organise citations, track keyword rankings and get competitor insights.

Its focus on local search makes BrightLocal one of the top tools for businesses that need to optimise for location-based results, whether they’re a single store or have multiple locations across different regions.

Features

• Local rank tracker: Track your rankings in local search results, including the Google Map Pack. Monitor how your business is performing for specific local keywords in different areas and see how it compares to competitors.
• Citation builder: This feature lets you find and create citations on local directories for consistency in your NAP information across the web.
•  Local SEO audits: BrightLocal offers comprehensive audits to check the health of your local SEO. This includes examining your website’s on-page SEO, Google My Business profile, citations and other areas for improvement.
• Review monitoring: Monitor your online reviews across multiple platforms, including Google, Facebook, Yelp and others. With this tool, track new reviews, respond to them and assess overall sentiment.
• Reporting and insights: BrightLocal’s platform offers easy-to-understand reports that are great for tracking progress and demonstrating ROI for local SEO campaigns. Customisable reports let you focus on metrics that matter most to local SEO goals for more local search visibility.
• Competitor analysis: There are SEO tools to analyse your competitor’s local SEO performance, including citation profiles, keyword rankings and online reviews, so that you can identify gaps in your strategy.

BrightLocal can be an essential tool for a business that wants to optimise its local SEO strategy in search engines. It offers a comprehensive set of tools that give businesses the insights they need to enhance their local search result visibility.

Local Falcon

Local Falcon is designed to track business performance in local search results, with a particular focus on the Google Map Pack. It provides detailed location-based rank tracking to see how you rank across multiple geographic areas. This is especially useful if you’re a business with multiple locations or you want to target specific neighbourhoods or cities.

Features

• Geo-based rank tracking: The standout feature of Local Falcon is the ability to track local rankings based on specific geographic coordinates. This allows you to see how you’re ranking in various areas and target and optimise for those.
• Heatmaps: Local Falcon generates heat maps that visually represent your local search performance, allowing you to see how rankings change across areas.
• Multiple location tracking: Ideal for businesses with several locations, Local Falcon lets you track rankings for multiple locations simultaneously.
• Customisable reports: Generate reports tracking specific keywords and geographic areas to make it easy to measure performance and communicate results with stakeholders.

Local Falcon is good for businesses aiming to refine local SEO efforts and target specific regions. The geo-based ranking tracking and heat maps give actionable insights into local search performance so you can focus on high-priority areas.

SE Ranking

SE Ranking is a comprehensive SEO platform that includes local SEO tools. It offers features ranging from keyword tracking to website audits, so it’s an all-in-one solution for improving local SEO.

Features

• Local rank tracking: SE Ranking lets businesses track rankings for local search queries across multiple locations and provides detailed reports on how you rank in the Google Map Pack and organic results.
• Google My Business Integration: This tool integrates with your GMB account so you can monitor and optimise your profile directly from the platform, tracking insights, reviews and GMB performance in one place.
• Website audit: SE Ranking includes a site audit feature to check your site for SEO issues. It identifies NAP consistency problems, local keywords and on-page SEO elements that could be affecting your local rankings.
• Competitor analysis: The competitor analysis tool allows you to monitor the rankings, keywords and backlink profiles of your local competitors, identifying gaps and opportunities to outperform them.
• Reporting: The customisable reporting tool generates in-depth and branded reports on your local SEO progress, making it easy to track performance and share insights with your team or clients.

SEO Ranking is an all-encompassing local SEO solution whether you’re managing multiple locations or optimising a single business.

GS Location Changer

GS Location Changer is a local SEO tool that helps businesses simulate local search results from various geographic locations. It is especially useful for testing how your business ranks in different areas. It’s good for businesses with multiple locations or ones that want to target new areas.

Features

• Geo-location simulation: GS Location Changer lets you simulate searches from different geographic locations so you can see how your business rankings in those areas despite not physically being there.
• Real-time results: The tool provides real-time search results based on the location you choose, so it’s easy to track local rankings for specific search queries in various regions.
• Competitor comparison: Compare how your business ranks against local competitors in different locations, giving you insights into your performance relative to others.
• Customisable search queries: The tool lets you input specific search queries to track your ranking for relevant local keywords across locations.

Semrush

Semrush is a powerful, all-in-one digital marketing tool widely used by SEO professionals. It offers tools to improve local SEO and overall online visibility.

Features

• Local rank tracking: Semrush lets businesses rack rankings for local keywords in different locations. You can monitor your position in Google’s local search results and Map Pack to ensure you’re ranking well for geographically targeted keywords.
• Google My Business Analytics: Semrush integrates with Google My Business so you can track your performance, review insights and monitor key metrics to improve local visibility.
• Competitor research: With Semrush, analyse competitors’ local SEO strategies, including tracking their rankings, identifying their top-performing keywords and reviewing their backlink profiles to see what works in your market.
• Local SEO Site Audit: The platform provides a detailed site audit checking for local SEO issues, including NAP consistency, metadata and mobile optimisation.
• Citations and backlink analysis: Semrush helps you identify local citation opportunities and track backlinks.

Semrush also has customisable reporting tools so you can track your SEO performance over time. These tools generate easy-to-understand reports to share with stakeholders or clients. This comprehensive tool covers all aspects of local SEO, whether you want to optimise for a single location or multiple sites.

Have An Experienced Agency Do Your Local SEO

Managing local SEO can be complex, especially when you’re trying to stay competitive in your area. An experienced agency can help you optimise your GMB profile, track local rankings and implement proven strategies to improve visibility in local search results. 

Let us handle the intricacies of local SEO while you focus on growing your business. Contact us today to get started elevating your local presence.