Local SEO checklist: 64 checks to print, tick and repeat every quarter

What should a local SEO checklist cover?

A local SEO checklist covers six areas: your Google Business Profile, your website, your citations, your reviews, your local links and your tracking. Work through them in that order, because the first two decide most of what shows in the map pack.

This page is the tick-box version. If you want the reasoning behind each item, read how to do local SEO and the local SEO ranking factors guide. Google itself says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence (Google Business Profile Help), so every check below serves one of those three.

Step 1: Foundations (do these first)

Before you touch any listing, agree the facts. Every later step copies these, so a mistake here spreads everywhere. Write them in one shared document and treat it as the master record.

Business name: {exact name on signage}
Address: {street}, {suite}, {city}, {state} {ZIP}
Phone: {main number}
Website page: {URL}
Primary category: {category}
Secondary categories: {category}, {category}
Hours: Mon to Fri {open} to {close}, Sat {open} to {close}, Sun {closed or hours}
Next holiday hours: {date}: {hours}
Services: {service}: {one sentence}
Service area (if you visit customers): {cities or ZIPs}
Profile owner account: {email}
Managers: {name}, {name}

Step 2: Google Business Profile checklist

Your Google Business Profile is the single biggest local SEO lever for most businesses. Google's own tips start here: verify the business, keep information complete and accurate, respond to reviews and add photos.

For the detail on each item, use the full Google Business Profile optimization guide. Pick your category with the free category finder.

Step 3: Website and on-page checklist

Your website tells Google what each location offers and backs up what your profile says. It also matters for the local organic results below the map pack.

Structured data helps Google read your hours and details; Google documents the format in its LocalBusiness structured data guide. The free local business schema generator builds it from your Google listing. For page layout, see location pages for SEO.

Step 4: Citations and NAP consistency checklist

A citation is any mention of your name, address and phone on another site. The goal is not hundreds of them. The goal is that the ones people and search engines use all agree with your master record.

Use the location consistency checker to compare your listing with your website, and the local citations guide for the full directory list. Read what NAP means if the term is new.

Step 5: Reviews checklist

Reviews feed prominence and decide who gets the call. They are also the item most often left to chance. Turn them into a weekly routine.

Google prohibits offering incentives for reviews and selectively asking only happy customers (Google Maps content policy). Make your link with the review link generator and see how to get more Google reviews for the asking scripts.

Step 6: Local links and presence checklist

Links from local sites tell Google you are a real, known part of the community. You do not need many. You need relevant ones.

For 25 ideas, see local link building.

Step 7: Tracking checklist

If you do not measure, you cannot tell which change worked. Google's Business Profile performance report shows calls, direction requests, website clicks and the search terms people used to find you (Google Business Profile Help).

Run your rank grid with the free Maps rank checker, and read local rank tracking to set it up properly.

Progress tracker. Print it with the checklist and fill in the blanks.

Extra checks for service-area and multi-location businesses

The main checklist fits a single storefront. Two kinds of business need a few extra lines.

If you visit customers (service-area business)

• Address hidden. Google says service-area businesses should hide their address from customers.
• Realistic service area. Google says it should not extend farther than about 2 hours of driving from your base.
• One page per main area. Write a page for each city you really serve, with work you did there, not a copy with the city name swapped.
• Reviews that mention the area. Customers often name their town naturally. Do not script it.

If you run several locations

• One master record per location. Never share a phone number or page between locations.
• One profile per location. Google says not to create more than one page for each location.
• Same checklist, scored per location. Rank the locations by score and fix the weakest first.
• Clear access. Organize locations in groups and give each local manager access only to the profiles they run. See managing multiple locations.

For brands with many sites, the multi-location SEO playbook covers governance, page templates and reporting by region.

How often to run the local SEO checklist

Results take time. See how long local SEO takes for realistic expectations, and the 90-day local SEO strategy if you want the checklist turned into a plan.

Let the weekly checks run themselves

Reach by Locus Intelligence checks your profile and listings every week, drafts fixes and review replies for you to approve, and tracks your rank from nine points. Free for one location, no card.

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Google Business Profile audit

Business nameAudit

Free. You get a profile score, your Maps rank against the top 3, and the fixes that matter most.