If you’re looking to give your business a boost in organic search rankings, local SEO software certainly comes in handy. Local SEO is an important part of your online presence that can help you connect with potential customers, attract local shoppers, and even drive more traffic from search engines.
The challenge, though, is choosing the best local SEO software that can give you the highest ROI for your efforts.
Whether you’re a local business just starting up or a digital marketing veteran looking to tighten up your existing SEO strategy, this post will cover the best local SEO software that can help you boost your rankings and make more of a local impact. From keyword research to backlink analysis, let’s take a peek inside the most effective local SEO software that’s available today.
Quick Clarification of Key Points
Some of the top rated local SEO software include Moz Local, BrightLocal, and Yext. Ultimately, you should choose the software that most closely fits with your business needs and budget.
Overview of Local SEO Software
Local SEO software can provide powerful assistance for marketers looking to improve their visibility in local searches. This type of software is designed specifically to target local terms and phrases, giving marketers an effective way to refine their organic search results and boost their rankings on popular search engines like Google and Bing. Depending on the software chosen, businesses can benefit from accurate keyword tracking, automated reporting, competitive analysis tools, and other features that are key to successful local SEO campaigns.
While there can be many advantages to utilizing local SEO software, its effectiveness depends on the quality of the software chosen. Many programs offer limited analytics or marketing insights—which can make it difficult to get an accurate understanding of a business’s search engine performance. In addition, some programs are simply too expensive for smaller businesses to justify the cost.
Given the varying range of capabilities that different software may offer, it’s important for marketers to thoroughly review their options before investing in any particular product. With that being said, let’s take a further look at some of the best local SEO software available today and what each program has to offer. Our next section will focus on reviews of the best local SEO software currently on the market.
Crucial Summary Points
Local SEO software can help marketers improve visibility in local searches, but its effectiveness depends on the quality of the software chosen. In addition, some programs may be too expensive for smaller businesses. Marketers should review their options before selecting a program and familiarize themselves with features available on the best local SEO software currently on the market.
Reviews of the Best Local SEO Software
When it comes to local SEO software, there are a number of options out there, and it can be hard to know which one is right for you. Reviews are a great way to help make the selection process easier. Some of the best local SEO software on the market include Moz Local, BrightLocal, Yext, and Whitespark Local Citation Finder. Here we will take an in-depth look at some of these top choices from industry professionals and users alike.
Moz Local: This popular local SEO software is used by dozens of businesses and marketers. It offers a variety of services such as data enrichment, localized listings, links building and more. Industry professionals have rated it highly for its accuracy in submitting business information to over 100 search engines and review sites; however, some have complained about the steep price tag that comes with their packages.
BrightLocal: This cloud-based solution has been praised by customers for its intuitive user interface and powerful features like citation tracking, keyword suggestions and competitor analysis. However, it has received mixed reviews regarding its automated review-building process which, while convenient, can need manual verification for accuracy before submitting the data.
Yext: Another popular choice among marketers is Yext which is trusted by thousands of companies for its localized listings across a range of industries. Some have raised their concerns over their relatively expensive pricing plans; however it’s said to be worth every penny if you want quality results as quickly as possible.
Whitespark Local Citation Finder: This award-winning software is considered one of the most reliable around when it comes to local SEO with users consistently citing its accuracy and effectiveness in enhancing local rankings quickly and efficiently. There is much debate over whether or not this tool is more beneficial than alternatives offered by other software vendors – ultimately this decision will come down to personal preference; but those who have used it highly recommend it as worthwhile option.
When looking through reviews of these popular local SEO software solutions, no single solution seems to stand out as superior than the others – they all appear to have both pros and cons depending on your individual needs or industry type. The next step in helping decide which one is best for you is looking closer at specific products and what they offer – such as SEMrush – in our next section.
- According to a 2019 survey, Yoast SEO is the most popular and widely used local SEO software, with 40% of respondents reporting that they use it.
- SEMrush and Moz Pro were the next two most popular pieces of software, with 30% of users reporting that they use them.
- A 2019 survey shows that 97% of businesses believe that investing in local SEO software is an effective way to improve their search engine rankings and visibility.
SEMrush
SEMrush is a powerful and full-featured SEO tool that can help you boost your local SEO rankings. It is comprehensive and easy to use, offering comprehensive keyword research, analysis of competitor sites, website audit and optimization suggestions, backlink tracking, and reporting options. SEMrush allows users to easily track online visibility for their website in local search engine results pages (SERPs). Additionally, the platform has a range of advertising tools that you can use to advertise your business or product within the geographic area in which you are targeting.
The strength of SEMrush lies in its comprehensive approach to local SEO. The ability to track keyword rankings by city or postcode is invaluable; allowing businesses to better understand how potential customers are searching for their products or services in their region. The competitive analysis feature is also helpful as it can give businesses valuable insight into how their competitors rank and perform locally. The site audit feature provides detailed information on how well your website is optimized for local SEO. With regards to reporting, SEMrush offers an overview of all your campaign performance so you can measure the effectiveness of your strategies over time.
Overall, SEMrush provides powerful features that make it an ideal choice for anyone looking to improve their local SEO rankings. However, there have been some complaints about the reporting capabilities being somewhat limited – though this is relatively minor compared to other capabilities offered by the platform.
By further understanding and optimizing your local online presence with SEMrush, you’ll be able move one step closer towards achieving successful local SEO rankings and increasing visibility throughout your target area.
Next, we’ll look at Moz Local – a tool designed specifically for local search marketing optimization.
Moz Local
Moz Local should be a staple of any local SEO strategy. This software provides valuable insights that can help businesses improve local visibility and generate more leads. Moz Local offers a suite of tools which allows business owners to manage their listings across all major search engines effectively. It also helps them optimize those listings and build backlinks, which are crucial for improving rankings in local SERPs. Furthermore, the tool’s reporting feature allows users to evaluate their efforts and strategize accordingly.
On the other hand, while Moz Local is an extremely useful piece of software, it may not be suitable for small or mid-sized businesses. Due to its relatively high cost, it may not be easily accessible for these types of businesses. Additionally, due to its complexity, navigation can be difficult for inexperienced users. In some cases, this could lead to wasted resources with no tangible benefit.
Overall, Moz Local is a valuable tool for businesses that are looking for a comprehensive suite of services to boost their local SEO rankings. Its effectiveness lies in the combined power of all its features, provided at an attractive price point for larger organizations. The next section will explore another powerful software option – BrightLocal – and discuss how it helps businesses gain better visibility in local searches.
BrightLocal
BrightLocal is one of the best local SEO software packages available today. It’s a comprehensive tool that offers users everything from detailed reporting and monitoring to improved online directories, citations and link building management. With BrightLocal, businesses have an easy-to-use dashboard that provides all the necessary information to keep their websites optimized. In addition to rank tracking, link building and directory submissions, BrightLocal can also be used for reputation management, too.
BrightLocal has received positive reviews from users, who report that its features are easy to use and intuitive for organizations who want to improve their local SEO efforts. It integrates with third-party review sites like Google My Business and Yelp, giving organizations the ability to monitor their online reviews in one location. Additionally, it also works with a number of other platforms such as Hootsuite and SEMRush. The wide variety of integrations available makes it easier for users to gain insights about their local SEO performance across multiple channels.
On the other hand, some critics point out that BrightLocal’s features are limited when compared with some of its competitors. The navigation can be difficult at times which can slow down the process of updating rankings or conducting keyword research. Additionally, while monthly plans are offered by BrightLocal, they can become expensive if a business requires more than just standard reports.
Overall, BrightLocal is a reliable and user-friendly local SEO software package that is ideal for businesses looking to make improvements in their online presence quickly and efficiently. Although there are some shortcomings with the platform usability-wise, most users report that they have been able to achieve better results due to its comprehensive feature set.
Next up we will analyze common local SEO optimization strategies – what you need to know in order to get your website seen locally.
Common Local SEO Optimization Strategies
Common local SEO optimization strategies play a major role in establishing a business’ presence in local search engine rankings. The most popular and effective methods include optimizing website content, building citations, and managing local reviews. The goal of these strategies is to increase your visibility to people searching for specific terms related to your business.
When optimizing website content, local businesses need to ensure that their webpages are properly structured and have targeted keywords throughout the page. Both the titles and bodies of text should include relevant city and state information that reflects the geographic location of the business’s target customers. Additionally, adding images with localized tags, as well as internal linking with references to different local pages on the site can also help boost a business’s SEO efforts.
Building citations is another important part of local SEO optimization efforts. Conflict abounds amongst experts about which citations are best for each industry; however, it’s generally agreed that consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) information across credible directories is beneficial for businesses. Local businesses should focus on creating or updating profiles on major directory websites such as Google My Business, Yelp, Bing Places for Business, Apple Maps Connect and similar sites depending on their industry trends.
Finally, managing local reviews should be an ongoing priority whenever it comes to local SEO efforts. As more people turn to online reviews when making purchasing decisions, it’s important for businesses to get positive reviews from their satisfied customers so they’ll rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can be done by setting up systems like automated emails or responding positively to reviews left on popular review websites such as TripAdvisor or Trustpilot.
Overall, common local SEO optimization strategies can help small businesses stay ahead of bigger competitors in their markets by increasing their visibility in search engines. These strategies may not guarantee results overnight but adopting them will surely put local businesses in a better position over time if executed consistently and correctly.
Next we will discuss how “citations” play an important role in the success of local SEO optimization strategies.
Citations
Citations are an essential part of any good local SEO campaign and can be the difference between success or failure in the rankings. Citations help to establish a digital presence for a business, often with basic information such as the name, address, and phone number. These citations may be included in online directories, such as Yelp, Make-it-Local and even Google My Business. Additionally, they are found in publications and other sources of information on the internet. They involve third parties mentioning your business or website without necessarily linking to it.
The importance of having these citations is becoming greater with each search engine update. Not only do they confirm the legitimacy of your business but if there is consistency across all citations then this adds additional value. On the other hand, inconsistent information or incorrect citations can give inaccurate impressions to search engine crawlers and ultimately hold back rankings from reaching their full potential.
Having a software tool that allows you to easily track down current citation sites and quickly update any discrepancies will help to ensure accuracy for maximum rankings benefit. Good local SEO software should provide you with tools such as finding new citation opportunities, managing current citations and tracking changes so you can proactively identify emerging inconsistencies.
With that being said about the importance of citations for boosting local SEO rankings, it’s now time to move onto another important topic – keyword optimization.
Keyword Optimization
Keyword optimization is an essential piece of any successful local SEO strategy. It is the process of strategically placing keywords on your website that search engines “crawl” and use to determine relevance. By optimizing your content for relevant keywords, you can increase your ranking in local search engine results, boosting visibility for your business.
When it comes to keyword optimization, there are two options when choosing the most effective keywords for your business: general or niche-specific terms. General keywords tend to be more competitive but will allow you to cast a wider net to draw in more visitors from different areas. On the other hand, niche-specific terms provide better targeting opportunities but may not reach as many people who are farther away from your location.
It’s important to note that keyword optimization requires a great deal of research, analysis, and experimentation. It’s also necessary to regularly review and update the keywords used on your website as part of a long-term local SEO plan. The best local SEO software can help you keep track of keyword trends and provide insights into what potential customers are searching for.
Now that we have covered the basics of keyword optimization, let’s go over how effective local SEO software can help with GMB Listing & Reviews in the next section.
GMB Listing & Reviews
GMB Listing & Reviews is an important tool for Local SEO software. Through GMB, businesses are able to add their business listing and make themselves available for customers searching for a particular service. Aside from registering with the platform, companies can also leverage their customer reviews to attract more customers, as positive reviews on platforms such as Google My Business can boost their rankings on the search engine results page (SERP). On the other hand, negative reviews will have a damaging effect. As with any form of marketing activity, Local SEO Software should be used cautiously to ensure businesses do not receive unwarranted complaints or feedback that could potentially damage their online reputation.
The benefits of using Local SEO Software to manage GMB Listing & Reviews include being able to track brand interactions and reviews in one place, understanding customer sentiment about the company and services offered, and having up-to-date insights into customer needs that can help businesses refine their offering. Moreover, for small businesses who may lack the resource or technical expertise to effectively engage in GMB listing and monitor reviews themselves, Local SEO Software allows them to tap into specialist tools in order to gain better visibility online.
Having reviewed the pros and cons of GMB Listing & Reviews, it is clear that there are numerous advantages to leveraging Local SEO Software to beef up your business presence online. In the next section we will explore the broader Benefits of Local SEO Software which can aid businesses in attaining higher SERP rankings.
Benefits of Local SEO Software
The use of local SEO software offers many advantages for businesses hoping to increase their online presence and strengthen their organic search engine rankings. Most significantly, local SEO software can help businesses figure out how to target users in specific geographic regions, allowing them to effectively reach potential customers who are likely nearby. This can be especially helpful for small businesses that want to achieve local visibility but may not have the resources or experience to do so without software assistance.
Additionally, local SEO software also provides a number of features that can optimize ranking signals such as title tags and meta descriptions, as well as code optimization through structured data markups. Such features give websites an advantage when competing against other sites in the same geographic area by ensuring optimization best practices are applied in a timely manner. This is often the difference between getting listed on top page results or falling into obscurity, making local SEO software crucial for those looking to drive organic traffic.
Though there are clear benefits of using local SEO software, it is important to note that successful optimization requires more than just application of technical features – content and marketing strategies play an important role. Without a comprehensive approach that puts an emphasis on effective content and strategies, it is unlikely that any local SEO software will yield good results.
Fortunately, reputable providers of local SEO software continue to improve their services by offering additional tools designed for such comprehensive optimization strategies, making them even more useful for most businesses. With these advancements in local SEO technology, it has become increasingly easier for businesses to develop effective strategies that target customers within their areas of service.
With so many benefits to weigh when evaluating the use of local SEO software, it is important for businesses to first determine which ones are right for them before proceeding with implementation. In the next section we will discuss how business owners can choose the right software for their needs.
How to Choose the Right Software for Your Business
When it comes to choosing the right local SEO software for your business, there are several factors to consider. It’s important to select a product that best suits your company’s size, goals and budget. Here are some tips and suggestions on how to choose the right software for your business:
1. Evaluate Your Business Needs: First and foremost, you should assess your business needs and objectives in order to determine the type of software that would be the most beneficial for your particular situation. Consider all aspects such as current ranking results, research, content creation, client management, etc. and ask yourself what functionality you need from the software.
2. Research & Read Reviews: Take some time to research multiple providers and read up on reviews from customers who have used their products previously. This will help you get an idea of which provider can offer the best solutions for your company’s goals.
3. Weigh Prices Wisely: You do not want to go over budget when selecting a product – instead, carefully weigh the pricing options amongst various providers in order to make sure that you are getting value for money with your purchase.
4. Try Before You Buy: Many software providers offer trial versions or free introductory packages which allow users to test out the features before they buy into it fully. If a provider does not offer this kind of option, then that immediately counts against them in terms of user-friendliness and customer support.
5. Know Your Limitations: Different business sizes come with different requirements for SEO software which is why it is important to know yours in advance so you don’t end up buying something that won’t work out in the end due to compatibility issues or lack of certain features that may hinder performance.
At the end of the day, it is important to take your time when deciding on local SEO software – research multiple competitors and weigh prices against features before making any final decision. Having said this, the right choice often depends on several factors such as company size, budget and requirements so it is wise to review all aspects before settling on any one solution.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions with Explanations
Are there any free local SEO software solutions?
Yes, there are some free local SEO software solutions available. For example, Moz Local is a free tool that offers features such as automated local directory listings and detailed data insights. Additionally, SERPWoo offers a free 30-day trial of its local SEO management tool to help track competitor analysis and get detailed search engine rankings. These free options provide basic features to start taking advantage of local SEO and offer a glimpse into the more robust capabilities available in paid versions of these tools.
What are the benefits of using local SEO software?
The benefits of using local SEO software are plentiful. Firstly, local SEO software can quickly and accurately identify the most important keywords for your business. By identifying key words and phrases that potential customers will use to find businesses near them, merchants can maximize their visibility to local searchers. Additionally, local SEO software helps businesses track their ranking in local search results so they can optimize their websites to ensure they’re featuring as prominently as possible in organic searches. Ultimately, local SEO software allows businesses to target potential customers more efficiently, driving more traffic to their physical locations or websites. This could eventually lead to increased revenues and a larger customer base.
Are there any tutorials available that can help me use local SEO software effectively?
Yes, there are many tutorials available that can help you use local SEO software effectively. Many websites offer step-by-step tutorials and videos on how to use the software most effectively, as well as helpful tips and tricks to further bolster your rankings. Additionally, some software programs come with user manuals and guides that can provide more information and advice. There are also plenty of online forums where users post their questions and answers regarding local SEO software, which can be a great resource when seeking additional assistance in learning how to use the technology properly.
What are the differences between different local SEO software solutions?
There are several key differences between the various local SEO software solutions on the market.
First and foremost, the type of features offered by each software will vary. While some provide basic keyword tracking and analysis, others offer more advanced features such as website audits, competitor analysis, and reporting. Depending on the needs of your business and its goals, you may need to invest in different levels of functionality.
Another difference is the ability to customize reports and data fields to ensure they accurately reflect your local SEO strategy. Customizable data fields can typically only be found with more comprehensive enterprise-level software solutions.
The third key difference is the user interface. If you are new to local SEO or are considering switching software providers, you need to make sure that the user experience is easy and straightforward to understand so that you don’t have to waste time learning how to use it.
Finally, one should also consider pricing when evaluating different local SEO software solutions. Prices can range from a basic monthly subscription fee for small businesses all the way up to enterprise-level software with custom packages for organizations who require more robust options.
Ultimately, each business’s individual needs should be taken into account when selecting a local SEO software solution. By understanding the differences between various options available on the market, you can make an educated decision that best reflects your current needs and those of your business in the future.
What features should I look for when choosing local SEO software?
When choosing a local SEO software, it’s important to look for features that will give you the best results. Here are some of the features to consider:
1. On-Page Optimization: This feature will help you optimize every page of your website so that it is visible and relevant to local searches.
2. Monitoring and Reporting: This feature provides detailed real-time reports on data points like rankings, organic traffic, and keywords so you can track your progress.
3. Backlink Analysis: This feature helps you analyze your competitor’s backlinks and discover opportunities for improving your own link building activities.
4. Localized Keyword Research: This feature allows you to quickly identify which keywords are popular in the area where you operate and target them in your content.
5. Mobile-Friendliness: You want to make sure the local SEO software you choose is mobile-friendly since most people now use their phones to search for local businesses.
Ultimately, the best local SEO software should help you reach more customers through higher rankings and better visibility in search engine results pages.
