Software To Help Manage Local SEO

Examples of software you can use to manage your local SEO include

Semrush
SE Ranking
Moz
Majestic

There are plenty of other Local SEO software tools you can use, but the above are some examples.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO involves enhancing a business’s presence in local search results. Important activities include identifying relevant local keywords and ensuring consistent NAP citations. A NAP citation is a type of local citation that specifically includes the business’s name, address, and phone number.

This process is crucial for businesses aiming to boost local traffic, generate leads, and increase brand awareness.

Why is Local SEO important to your business?

Benefits of Local SEO can include:

1. Better online visibility: Local SEO activities like citation and link building enhance your online presence, making your business more discoverable to new customers.
2. Tap into local shopping boom: Post-COVID, more than half of consumers now prefer to shop locally and support local businesses or smaller brands. Local SEO puts you in contention for those new business opportunities.
3. Targeted Web Traffic: Optimising your site for local search attracts more targeted traffic, resulting in more leads, subscriptions, sign-ups, and sales.
4. Thought Leadership: Content marketing can establish your business as an expert in your field.
Enhanced Trust: Reputation management builds trust in your business.
5. Increased Sales: Online reviews influence consumer decisions, leading to more sales.
Higher Conversion Rate: Website optimisation improves your conversion rate, increasing contact form submissions, phone calls, email subscriptions, and sales.
6. Competitive Edge: Local SEO makes you more competitive by encouraging you to analyse and adopt successful tactics used by your competitors.

Statistics show that 76% of consumers who search for something local on their phone visit a store that day.

This highlights the significant impact of local searches in the SEO world. By getting your local business in front of these searches, you increase the likelihood of attracting customers to your store shortly after.

How does local SEO work?

At a high level, Local SEO functions similarly to standard Google search. When someone performs a search, Google scans its index to deliver the most relevant results for the query. What sets Local SEO apart is that Google employs a distinct set of ranking factors for local search results.

In fact, local SEO has a set of unique ranking signals, including:

1. The location that the person is searching from NAP citations
2. Presence of Google Business Profile listing
3. Keywords used in Google Business Profile profile
4. Sentiment of online reviews
5. Keywords used in online reviews
6. Number of “check-ins” at that location
7. Shares on social media

What is the right Local SEO software tool for my business?

Semrush

Semrush is a specialised SEO toolkit that provides essential data to help local businesses and agencies attract new customers and retain existing ones.

Semrush is a leader in SEO and offers a variety of tools to help businesses:
Discover the best keywords
Improve on-page SEO
Analyse competitors
Build links
Gain valuable visibility in search engines like Google
While Semrush does offer a free plan, its paid plans are among the highest in the industry, starting at $108.33 per month with annual billing.

Pros and cons of Semrush include:

Pros

Generous Reporting: Semrush allows you to pull a high number of reports daily.
User-Friendly Interface: The learning curve is relatively gentle. Despite offering a large quantity of data, Semrush’s interface is logically organised. Graphs and data visualisations simplify understanding the metrics provided.
Keyword Intent Data: This feature helps you focus on the most relevant and profitable phrases for your business.
Link Building: Semrush’s link-building functionality includes CRM-style features that aid in link outreach, making it superb.
Comprehensive Site Auditing: The site auditing features are thorough and detailed.
Extensive PPC Data: In addition to organic search data and keyword ideas, Semrush provides extensive data for pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

Cons

Single User Account: All Semrush plans come with only one user account, and adding additional seats can be quite expensive.
Project Limitations: Some key features are only available as part of ‘projects,’ and Semrush limits the number of projects you can run concurrently.
Costly Add-Ons: Competitor research and online marketing add-ons are relatively expensive.
Broken Link Building: Conducting broken link building in Semrush is more cumbersome than it should be.
AI Copywriting Limits: The word count limits on the AI copywriting feature are not generous, making it less useful for serious SEO applications.

SE Ranking

SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO solution designed to help you research, track, and optimise your site. It covers a wide range of tasks, from everyday activities to critical SEO maintenance. Key features include:

In-Depth Keyword Tracking: Monitor the performance of your keywords to enhance your SEO strategy.
Site Auditing: Conduct comprehensive audits to identify and fix SEO issues.
Backlink Analysis: Analyze your backlink profile to improve link-building strategies.
Competitive Research: Gain insights into your competitors to stay ahead in the market.
Over the years, SE Ranking has continually improved and expanded its services, catering to the needs of both marketers and SEO professionals.

Pros and cons of SE Ranking include:

Pros

Excellent Competitor and Keyword Research: The tool features a powerful system that tracks up to 20 competitors per project and offers SERP analysis, detailed SEO statistics, and metrics. Premium features include historical data on competitors’ paid and organic campaigns and keywords.
Broad Feature Set: SE Ranking offers a versatile range of tools and features for every aspect of SEO, from a full backlink checker to website audits and competitor analysis, providing significant value for money.
Helpful Content Marketing Tool: The platform supports content optimisation at every stage with features like keyword clusters, high-quality content briefs, and AI-generated outlines. It also integrates with Google Docs for seamless content sharing and optimisation.
Great Report Functionality: Sharing reports with clients and team members is seamless. The report builder allows for custom reports, and all plans offer automated reports that can be scheduled for specific dates.
Value for Money: Compared to other all-in-one SEO tools, SE Ranking offers more features at a lower price point, making it a cost-effective choice.

Cons

Learning Curve: Due to the extensive range of tools and customisations available, it can take some time to familiarise yourself with the platform. However, plenty of resources and demos are available to guide you.
Agency Pack: This add-on isn’t available on all plans and requires an annual subscription.
AI Words Limit: SE Ranking’s AI writing functionality, though a recent addition, does not offer unlimited AI words like many other AI content writing tools. On the upside, it provides a good variety of writing tones (11 in total).

Moz SEO

Moz is a prominent name in the SEO industry known for its extensive community of SEO experts. It offers several tools and services:

Moz Pro: An all-in-one SEO platform that provides comprehensive SEO tools and features.
Moz Local: A local SEO analysis program designed to improve local search visibility.
STAT: A tool for analytics on search engine results page ranking and tracking.

While Moz is renowned for its large community and robust toolset, it’s essential to weigh the advantages and disadvantages before deciding to use its software.

Pros and cons of Moz SEO include:

Pros

Site Auditing Tool: Moz’s site auditing tool simplifies identifying technical SEO issues on your website. It provides actionable recommendations to resolve current issues, supported by automatic weekly crawls for ongoing performance monitoring.
Keyword Research Tool: Moz’s keyword research tool streamlines the process by allowing users to explore thousands of relevant keywords. It offers insights into keyword competitiveness scores, search volume data, and provides recommendations based on competitor analysis to improve keyword rankings.
Backlink Analysis Tool: Moz SEO’s link research and backlink analysis tool evaluates existing backlinks to your site, assessing their authority impact. It offers recommendations for leveraging these links and identifies competitive opportunities to strengthen your website’s authority score.
Rank Tracking: Moz’s rank tracking tool helps you monitor your website’s performance in search engine results pages (SERPs). Track keyword rankings, compare mobile vs. desktop visibility, and analyze competitor rankings to refine your SEO strategy effectively.
Free Trial: Moz stands out with a 30-day free trial that includes a personalised walkthrough with a Moz expert. This trial period allows users to explore the full suite of Moz tools without commitment, distinguishing it from competitors that may offer limited or no free trial options.

Cons

Information Overload: New users often face information overload when navigating Moz’s robust toolset. The platform’s comprehensive features can be overwhelming, especially for those new to SEO software.
Not-So-User-Friendly Interface: Despite its array of powerful tools, Moz’s interface is criticised for its complexity. The platform’s numerous tools can make navigation confusing, requiring users to invest time in familiarising themselves with its layout and functionalities.
Pricing: While Moz offers a compelling 30-day free trial, its monthly subscription prices can be prohibitive for small to medium-sized businesses. The standard option starts at $99 per month, with higher-tier plans costing more. This pricing structure may deter some companies from investing in Moz, especially when considering alternatives like hiring dedicated SEO teams or services.

These factors should be considered alongside Moz’s strengths when evaluating whether it aligns with your business’s SEO needs and budget.

Majestic SEO

Majestic SEO provides a suite of tools primarily focused on backlink analysis. It is renowned for its extensive web index, which allows users to explore detailed backlink profiles of websites and web pages. These tools are essential for gaining insights into the interconnectedness of websites through links, playing a crucial role in formulating effective SEO strategies.

Pros and cons of Majestic SEO include:

In-Depth Keyword Tracking: Monitor the performance of your keywords to enhance your SEO strategy.
Site Auditing: Conduct comprehensive audits to identify and fix SEO issues.
Backlink Analysis: Analyze your backlink profile to improve link-building strategies.
Competitive Research: Gain insights into your competitors to stay ahead in the market.
Over the years, SE Ranking has continually improved and expanded its services, catering to the needs of both marketers and SEO professionals.

Pros and cons of SE Ranking include:

Pros

Detailed Insights into Backlink Profiles: Majestic SEO provides comprehensive and detailed insights into the backlink profiles of websites and web pages.
Trust Flow and Citation Flow Metrics: These metrics offer valuable insights into the quality and quantity of links pointing to a website, helping to assess the authority and trustworthiness of its backlink profile.
Enhanced Understanding of Backlink Value: Users can gain a deeper understanding of the value and impact of backlinks on their SEO efforts, aiding in strategic decision-making.
Intuitive and User-Friendly UI: The platform features an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easier for users to navigate and utilize its tools effectively.
Regular Data Updates: Majestic SEO provides regular updates to its data, ensuring users have access to the most current and relevant information for their SEO analyses.
Strong Customer Support: The platform offers robust customer support, which is particularly beneficial for beginners or users needing assistance with utilising the tools effectively.

Cons

Slightly Expensive for Small Businesses and Beginners: The cost of Majestic SEO tools may be prohibitive for small businesses and beginners who are operating on tighter budgets.
Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features: Some of the more advanced features offered by Majestic SEO have a steep learning curve, requiring users to invest time and effort in understanding and utilizing them effectively.
Lacks Direct Integration with Google Analytics: Unlike some competitors, Majestic SEO does not offer direct integration with Google Analytics, which may require users to manually cross-reference data for comprehensive analysis.

Conclusion

Choosing the right SEO tools is crucial for effectively optimising a website for search engines. Each tool’s functionality and analysis of SEO factors vary, covering key areas such as keywords, content, backlinks, domain authority, and social media presence.
By leveraging these tools, you can gain valuable insights into your competition, measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts, and determine the return on investment (ROI) for your clients. Building a comprehensive SEO strategy requires using a combination of tools that provide insights and analytics from the ground up.
Ultimately, investing in the right SEO tools tailored to your specific needs and goals will contribute significantly to achieving and maintaining strong visibility and performance in search engine results.