Keeping your local SEO strategy up to date and agile is the key to continuously attracting nearby customers in the hyper-competitive local search market.
As search algorithms evolve, competitor tactics shift, and customer preferences change, continuously refining your approach to local SEO will help you stay visible and compete more effectively in local search results.
Whether you're doing local SEO for a single-location business, a service-area business, or a multi-location brand, knowing when and how to perform local SEO updates can make a significant difference in driving traffic and customer engagement, ultimately leading to more business.
Below, we'll explore the optimal times and triggers for updating your local SEO strategy, along with key areas to focus on for continuous improvement.
Key Strategies for Local SEO Updates
1. Respond to Algorithm Updates with a Local SEO Update
Search engines, especially Google, frequently roll out algorithm updates that impact how local businesses are ranked in search results.
While not every update directly affects local SEO (there are hundreds of minor algorithm changes every year that can have little to no impact), Google occasionally rolls out a big algorithm change that can lead to shifts in business visibility, necessitating local SEO updates.
By monitoring SEO news and changes in your search rankings, you'll be able to identify if an algorithm update may have impacted your visibility and adjust your local SEO strategy accordingly.
When it seems a local SEO update may be required due to a major algorithm update, do a complete audit of your local SEO strategy, reviewing and optimizing your website and Google Business Profile (GBP) as needed to try new tactics.
2. Adjust for Seasonal Trends with a Local SEO Strategy Refresh
Customer demand and preferences often vary seasonally, making it essential to adjust your local SEO strategies to capture the most relevant traffic for the current time of year.
Seasonal SEO adjustments can especially benefit businesses in service-based industries, such as HVAC and landscaping service providers, and retail stores that experience shifting product demand throughout the year.
Review seasonal trends at least quarterly to keep your local SEO strategy aligned with changing customer needs. This allows for timely adjustments that help attract customers when demand for certain products or services is highest.
Adjustments to make include updating your Google Business Profile with seasonal products and services that are in demand during that time of year.
For instance, a landscaping business might change its primary category to "snow removal service" in winter and an HVAC repair company might set its primary category to "air conditioning repair" in summer.
Seasonal posts, images, and offers can also give your GBP a visibility boost and attract customers.
3. Review and Update Locally Relevant Business Information Regularly
Keeping business information on your website, GBP, and other local listings up to date is another important part of maintaining the effectiveness of your local SEO strategy.
Inconsistent or incorrect details, like hours, addresses, or phone numbers, across directories and profiles can confuse potential customers and hurt your business's authority in the eyes of search engines, reducing your local search visibility.
Maintaining consistent, accurate business information across platforms is a local listing management best practice that ensures customers and search engines can find your business in relevant searches.
Every time there is a change to business details, perform a local SEO update to ensure consistency across all listings. If no changes have occurred, conduct a routine check at least monthly just to make sure everything is correct.
It's important to remember that anyone can potentially change information on your GBP listing using the "suggest an edit" feature, which is why we recommend using Local Falcon's Google Business Profile change monitor, Falcon Guard, to safeguard your GBP against unwanted updates.
4. Manage Reviews and Perform Sentiment Analysis To Help Optimize
Customer reviews are powerful signals for local SEO performance, directly influencing both local search rankings and customer perception.
Regularly monitoring reviews, responding promptly, and implementing business changes based on feedback can help you build and maintain a positive reputation while giving potential customers more reason to trust and choose your business.
Check for new reviews at least weekly and set up notifications to alert you when a new review is posted to key platforms, particularly Google Business Profile. Regular monitoring enables you to promptly respond to both positive and negative feedback, helping maintain a strong online presence and improving your GBP engagement, which can boost its rankings.
Beyond responding to individual reviews, you should also conduct regular sentiment analysis across all your reviews, which you can automate with Local Falcon's AI-powered Reviews Analysis tool, to identify recurring themes and get actionable insights that can inform your local SEO and overall business strategies. For example, if negative reviews consistently mention specific concerns with service, address them with operational changes.
You can also get additional insights by conducting analysis of competitors' reviews, which can help you improve your own offerings to boost local relevance and update your local SEO strategy according to local customer preferences.
5. Monitor Competitor Activity and Make Local SEO Updates Accordingly
Competitor analysis is essential for adapting your local SEO strategies to stay competitive in a dynamic market. Monitoring the tactics of top competitors can reveal opportunities for optimizing your own local SEO strategies in real time, especially if competitors have seen a rise in rankings.
Conduct comprehensive competitor analysis on a regular basis or whenever there is a significant change in performance to stay on top of significant shifts in the local market and adapt as needed. In highly competitive industries, monthly or even bi-weekly competitor monitoring is recommended, helping you implement local SEO updates every few weeks that can improve your rankings more quickly.
You can use Local Falcon to monitor competitors' performance and gain insights into their GBP categories and other aspects that can help you revise your own local SEO strategy to compete more effectively.
Local Falcon's geo-grid rank tracking can also help you visualize performance across neighborhoods, cities, or larger areas, allowing you to identify specific map pins where competitors may be outperforming you.
Local Falcon's built-in artificial intelligence, Falcon AI, even provides you with AI-generated analysis and actionable optimization recommendations that you can use to help you make local SEO updates based on competitor activities and performance!
6. Measure Local SEO Performance and Optimize Continuously
Ongoing assessment of your own local SEO performance is essential for determining when and where local SEO updates are needed. Metrics like local search rankings, engagement, traffic, and conversion rates can provide a comprehensive view of how effectively your local SEO strategy is working.
Bi-weekly or monthly performance reviews help you catch trends or issues early, while quarterly deep-dives allow for more detailed analysis and planning. Focus on KPIs such as local category/keyword rankings, GBP engagement rates, customer interactions, and web traffic from local searches.
If your business is receiving high GBP and/or website traffic but low conversions, it may be time for a local SEO update that addresses more location-specific needs, which can improve the relevance and quality of the traffic you're receiving.
If you use Local Falcon's geo-grid rank tracking tool, try conducting detailed performance evaluations at the neighborhood or service-area level to optimize performance in specific areas, improving your rankings block by block if needed. Remember; slow and steady wins the race!
7. Continuously Update Your Local SEO Content Strategy
High-quality, localized content that resonates with customers in your target area can improve both rankings and engagement. Tailored content like blog posts, local guides, and event news can draw the attention of potential customers, while also signaling relevance to search engines.
Publish new content or refresh existing content on a regular basis, particularly when there are new local trends, events, or news relevant to your audience. Regularly updated content helps improve your local SEO by staying relevant to both users and search engines.
Consider publishing seasonal guides, event announcements, or local news stories that appeal to your audience. Using location-specific keywords in these posts can help capture nearby customers searching for related services or events. Refreshing older content with updated local information is another valuable type of local SEO update that can boost relevance and rankings.
Final Thoughts: Make Local SEO Updates an Ongoing Process
Implementing and maintaining an effective local SEO strategy requires an ongoing effort, involving consistent monitoring and timely updates.
Make sure to stay vigilant about algorithm changes, seasonal shifts, business information updates, reviews, competitor activity, performance metrics, and localized content opportunities in order to keep your local SEO strategies adaptable and effective.
Making regular local SEO updates helps businesses of all types maintain strong visibility in local search results, increase customer engagement, and drive more conversions. So, treat your local SEO strategy as an evolving process and prioritize regular updates to ensure your business remains relevant, visible, and competitive within your target local markets!
