Local SEO Timeline

You may be wondering what local SEO tasks need to be completed for clients. Here’s a high-level overview of what work needs to get done and in what order. You can click on each link for more detail and step-by-step guides.

Before getting started on any SEO work, you will first need to gain access to several different client accounts. Here’s a list of the main one you may need to get access to.

Checklist

• WordPress or other CMS
• Website Hosting – If the client is open to changing hosting companies, read this guide. If not, you may be sorry later.
• Domain Name
• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• Google Tag Manager
• Google My Business [Documentation To Be Created]
• Call Tracking
  • CallRail
  • Call Tracking Metrics
• Keyword Tracking [Documentation To Be Created]

After you have gained access to what you need, you will want to set up tracking in order to start collecting data. This will give you a baseline so that after making SEO changes you can measure results.

Checklist

• Organic Traffic
  • Installing Google Analytics
  • Configuring Google Analytics
  • Installing Google Search Console [Documentation To Be Created]
• Conversions
  • Calls
  • Forms [Documentation To Be Created]
  • File Downloads
• Keywords
• Google My Business

• Fixing Technical SEO Issues <— See Huge List Here

• Google My Business Set Up
• Google My Business Optimization

Checklist

•  Citation Audit
  • Manul
  • Automated [Documentation To Be Created]
• Citation Clean Up
  • Manual
  • Automated [Documentation To Be Created]

•  Reputation Audit
  • Manual [Documentation To Be Created]
  • Automated [Documentation To Be Created]
• Collecting Reviews
  • Manual
  • Automated [Documentation To Be Created]
• Replying to Reviews

• Performing Keyword Research
• Creating a Keyword Map Template
• Targeting Keywords on Website Pages Cheat Sheet
  • URL Structure
  • Page Titles
  • Meta Descriptions
  • Headings
  • Internal Links
  • Body / Page Content [Documentation To Be Created]

• Content Suggestions for Missing Pages [Documentation To Be Created]
• Content Pruning [Documentation To Be Created]
• Improving Content Quality [Documentation To Be Created]

Checklist

• Link Prospecting
• Outreach

After all the one-time SEO tasks have been completed, you will still have some work to do each month moving forward. Here are some of the ongoing SEO tasks that can be performed in order to help protect you or your clients SEO investments.

• If the client has changes business names, phone numbers, physical addresses or website addresses all citations will need to be updated with this new information. Citation consistency is one of the critical relevancy factors for determining if your business is even eligible to show up in a Google’s local pack.
  • Study: https://www.localseoguide.com/enforced-nap-consistency-scale-happened/
• Suppressing Duplicates (if using a tool like Yext or Moz Local)

• Send out requests to customers for feedback / reviews.

• Fighting Google My Business Spam [Documentation To Be Created]
• Reply to Google My Business Reviews
• Google My Business Posts
• Review GMB Updates and Suggested Edits
• https://www.localsearchforum.com/threads/what-are-your-top-5-suggestions.54211/

Checklist

• Core Site Pages
  • If the client has began to offer new services or products a new page for each one will need to be created on the site.
• Blog Posts
  • Creating regular blog posts on the site can give users a reason to return back to your clients site. Also, these blog posts have a good change or ranking for keywords and gather more web traffic.
  • 100 Local SEO Blog Post Ideas: http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2014/01/16/100-practical-ideas-for-small-business-blog-posts/

• Website
• Citations
• Reviews
• Content
• Backlinks

• Keyword Rankings
• Organic Traffic
• Crawl Errors
• Index Status
• Google Algorithm Updates

Further Reading: http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2016/12/15/one-time-work-vs-ongoing-work-in-local-seo/