Local search can feel slippery. One month your shop shows in the map pack, the next you’ve slipped below a competitor you’ve never heard of. The good news is that most visibility problems have a trail. A disciplined local SEO audit helps you follow that trail and fix what actually moves the needle. Whether you run a single-location café in Cardiff, a service business across South Wales, or you’re an SEO consultant offering SEO services to local clients, this walk-through gives you a practical, realistic way to evaluate where you stand and what to do next.
What a local SEO audit really checks
Local SEO lives at the intersection of proximity, prominence, and relevance. You can’t change your physical location, but you can sharpen what search engines understand about you, prove your reputation through signals they trust, and remove friction that blocks customers. A good audit does three things. It verifies your core business data, it measures performance and competitive gaps, and it reveals low-effort, high-impact fixes. Treat it like an annual health check, with smaller monthly spot checks to catch drift early.
I’ll cover the areas I look at when I audit for clients across SEO Wales projects, including the metrics that actually predict growth. Expect a handful of tools and a bit of elbow grease, not magic.
Start with the heartbeat: Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) shapes how you appear in Maps and the local pack. Roughly two thirds of local conversions I see originate from GBP, directly or indirectly. Log into your profile via Google Search and run a line-by-line review.
Name integrity comes first. Your business name should match real-world signage, receipts, and Companies House if you’re in the UK. No keyword stuffing. I’ve watched profiles tank for months after stuffing in “plumber Cardiff emergency 24/7.” If your legal trading name contains a descriptor, fine, but don’t play games here.
Categories steer visibility. Choose one primary category that matches your core service, then add a few tightly relevant secondary categories. If you run a dental practice that does implants and Invisalign, “Dentist” as primary, then “Cosmetic dentist” and “Dental implants periodontist.” Seasonal services can be added or removed as needed. Check the categories used by the top three competitors for your target query and adjust if you’ve missed anything consistent with your offering.
Service areas and addresses can trip people up. If customers visit your location, show your full address and ensure the map pin sits exactly on your entrance. If you go to customers, hide the address and specify service areas by city or postcode regions. Mixing the two models invites suspensions.
Hours, attributes, and holiday schedules are conversion levers. Accurate hours reduce “closed” frustration and help you rank in the near-me carousel when you’re open late. Attributes like wheelchair access, vegan options, women-owned, and online appointments boost relevance for specific searches.
Photos and videos still matter. Profiles with fresh owner-uploaded photos see more actions. Upload clear shots of the exterior, interior, team, and popular products or services. Avoid stock imagery. If you renovate or rebrand, replace old imagery rather than piling more on top.
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Products and services sections give the algorithm more context and customers more confidence. Add pricing where possible, even if ranges. I’ve seen book-a-call rates jump 10 to 20 percent after adding transparent service menus for local trades.
Posts and Q&A show signs of life. Post weekly with something useful: before-and-after shots, seasonal tips, or a limited offer. Seed your Q&A with real customer questions you hear by phone, then answer comprehensively. Keep sales copy light, clarity high.
Lastly, check for duplicates. Search your brand name, old addresses, and phone numbers. If you find a duplicate GBP, request a merge rather than trying to manage two.
NAP consistency across the web
Name, address, and phone number uniformity across citations signals trust. I’ve audited companies in SEO Services Wales campaigns that changed phone numbers three times in five years, leaving a messy footprint. Search your business name plus postcode, then your phone number alone. Identify mismatches in major directories and fix them, starting with the high-visibility ones: Apple Business Connect, Bing Places, Facebook, Yelp (still used by Apple and other aggregators), Yell, Thomson Local, and industry-specific directories.
Make a canonical NAP. Choose the exact way you’ll display your address and phone, including abbreviations. Stick to it everywhere. If you moved, update the old listing rather than creating new ones. When mergers or rebrands occur, it’s worth the time to trace and correct high-authority citations first, then long-tail sites. Consistency won’t rocket you to the top by itself, but inconsistency can quietly cap your potential.
On-page signals on your website
Think of your site as your evidence locker. It must prove where you are, what you do, and why you’re trusted. A quick technical check comes first. Ensure your site loads in under two seconds on mobile, avoids intrusive interstitials, and ships core pages over HTTPS. Run a crawl with Screaming Frog or Sitebulb and list any 404s, duplicate titles, or pages blocked by robots that shouldn’t be.
Your homepage should map to your primary local query. If you are a single-location business, it’s natural to target “service + city” on the homepage. Multi-location businesses should build unique location landing pages, each with original content, embedded map, local testimonials, staff names, and service nuances for that area. Thin, templated pages that only swap city names are a liability.
Title tags and meta descriptions still influence clicks. Use clear, human-friendly phrasing that reflects searcher language. I usually keep titles under 60 characters, add the city, and lead with the service. For example, “Emergency Vet in Swansea - 24 Hour Care | Coastal Vets.” Avoid the comma-separated keyword parade that turns people off.
Headers should structure your story. H1 for the main purpose of the page, H2s for service pillars, H3s for details. Mention the location naturally where it fits. Don’t force the city in every subheading.
Local content works when it solves the problem in context. A boilerplate “Why choose us in Newport” paragraph won’t get links or shares. A three-minute video tour of your workshop, a troubleshooting guide tailored to local building regs, or a roundup of Welsh events where you’ll offer free bike safety checks earns attention and reinforces locality.
Internal linking often hides quick wins. Link from service pages to the location page and back, using descriptive anchor text. If your “Bathroom Renovations Cardiff” page never links to “Plumbing Repairs,” you’re making Google guess.
Structured data and map embeds
Schema markup clarifies entities. Use Organization and LocalBusiness schema types with your exact NAP and sameAs links to your social profiles. If you have multiple locations, mark up each location page with its own LocalBusiness schema, including opening hours and geo coordinates. For services, Service schema helps, but keep it tidy. Over-marking with every possible type doesn’t help.
Embed a Google Map on each location page using the proper map of your GBP location. Make sure the map shows the same address and name as your profile. This is less about ranking boosts and more about reassuring AI Automation Specialist both users and algorithms that the entities match.
Reviews that compound
Reviews influence both ranking and conversion. Aim for a steady velocity rather than bursts. A profile that adds three to five new reviews per month looks active. Send requests within 48 hours of the job or visit while the goodwill is fresh. Mix channels, not just Google. Facebook, Trustpilot, or Feefo can show on-site, but prioritize Google for local discovery.
What you respond to matters. Thank the five-stars quickly and specifically. For three-stars, fix the issue if you can, then invite them back. Never copy-paste a template. Prospective customers read these. I’ve had clients convert from a four-paragraph reply to a critical review that explained the situation with empathy, offering a direct line for resolution.
Watch for keyword hints in natural language. You cannot script reviews, but you can prompt for specifics, like “Which service did we help you with?” Reviews that mention the service and city tend to outperform in conversion.
If spam hits you, flag it and document why it violates guidelines. Patterns of malicious negative reviews from a competitor can be escalated, but it often takes patience and clear evidence.
Local link equity and real-world signals
Backlinks for Local SEO should reflect your genuine footprint. Sponsor a junior football club in Bridgend, publish the team photo and get a link from the club’s site. Join local business associations and trade groups that list members. Offer a quote to a regional journalist on a timely topic, and you’ll earn a relevant citation. Ten of these beat a hundred low-quality directory links.
Unlinked brand mentions are low-hanging fruit. Set up alerts for your brand and product names. When someone mentions you without a link, politely ask for one. Conversion rates for these requests are often above 20 percent because the writer already likes you.
Think beyond links. Local PR, offline sponsorships, and community events create signals that often ripple into online coverage. For a café, hosting a monthly Welsh language meetup led to Instagram buzz, then a Cardiff lifestyle blog feature, then a BBC Wales snippet with a strong link. That one chain bumped branded search volume and map pack visibility for months.
Proximity, service area, and realistic targets
Proximity weighs heavily in the map pack. If a user searches “plumber near me,” businesses physically close have an edge. You cannot hack proximity, but you can target realistic query clusters. Map your revenue-driving postcodes. Then check your current ranking spread using a grid tool that shows rankings at different radii. Most service businesses have a two to six mile radius where they can consistently rank, with performance decaying beyond that. Build location pages for adjacent towns only when you can actually serve them quickly and have some local signals to support it, such as reviews and case studies from that area.
For service-area businesses, resist the temptation to list 30 cities in the footer. Choose a core area you can serve within stated response times. You’ll attract better-fit leads and reduce cancellations.
Content that wins local intent
Local intent shifts quickly. Weather, events, and regulations influence queries. Trades in Wales often see spikes around storm seasons. Create content that anticipates spikes. A roofer could publish “Storm readiness for slate roofs in Swansea - what to check before winds pick up,” then update the piece as Met Office alerts change. Pair it with a short checklist PDF that can be printed. Real value earns shares and sometimes council or neighborhood forum links.
Case studies anchored in place carry weight. A tree surgeon who documents a protected oak removal in Penarth with council permit references and before-and-after images builds authority for similar queries. Include the street or neighborhood when permissible, but respect privacy.
Answer questions you hear on the phone. If five callers this month asked about parking or whether you install on listed buildings, add that to your FAQs with clear, candid guidance. These long-tail pages often capture ready-to-book traffic.
Technical edges you can feel
Mobile UX trumps aesthetics. If your phone number sits in a tiny header icon that doesn’t trigger a call on tap, you’re bleeding leads. Place a prominent click-to-call button above the fold on mobile. On service pages, repeat it after the first paragraph and near the bottom.
Forms should ask only what you need. For urgent services, name, postcode, and phone often do the job. Every extra field drops completion rates. Test the form on low-signal 4G. If it spins, your best prospects bounce.
Tracking must be trustworthy. In Google Analytics 4, set up conversion events for calls, form submissions, appointment bookings, and direction clicks. Tag call links with tel: attributes and use call tracking if volume justifies it. For Google Ads, use proper conversion imports so you can see which keywords drive booked jobs, not just clicks.
Page speed tends to win boringly. Compress images, lazy-load below-the-fold content, and cache aggressively. I trimmed a salon homepage from 5.8 MB to 1.1 MB and watched organic calls rise 12 percent within a month, with no other changes.
Competitor reconnaissance without hero worship
Identify the three to five businesses that outrank you for your primary query. Note their primary category, secondary categories, average review score, review count, and recency of reviews. Scan their location page. Are they showcasing accreditation badges you have but didn’t feature? Are they embedding a video walkthrough? Count referring domains using a tool like Ahrefs or Majestic. If they have 70 referring domains and you have 12, you’ve found a gap. You don’t need all 70, but you’ll likely need more than 12.
Pay attention to their GBP photos. If their exterior is bright, well-framed, and yours is a dim 2018 phone shot, you’ve found a credibility problem. These small cues add up in customer perception, which flows into engagement metrics that algorithms watch.
The simple data stack
You can run a solid DIY audit with a few tools and a spreadsheet. Google Business Profile, Google Analytics 4, Search Console, a crawler like Screaming Frog, and one backlink tool are enough. If you serve Wales specifically, toggle your tools to the UK and Wales regions where possible. Keyword volumes for “near me” terms vary between Cardiff and Swansea by season more than you might expect.
Create a dashboard you actually check. Track calls, form fills, direction requests, top landing pages, average position for core queries, and GBP actions. Add a column for notes like “price increase” or “added secondary category.” You’ll start to see cause and effect.
A realistic audit cadence
A full audit once or twice a year with monthly hygiene checks works for most. The monthly pass looks for new reviews to reply to, GBP photo updates, hours changes, and any drops in discovery searches. Quarterly, review your structured data, fix new crawl errors, and refresh your best-performing location pages with new proof points like fresh testimonials or project photos. Semi-annually, revisit categories, re-check citations, inspect competitor changes, and assess link gaps.
When something breaks, don’t panic. Sudden drops often trace to a suspended GBP, a changed primary category, a noindex tag accidentally applied during a site update, or a spike in 404s. Start with a change log. If you don’t keep one, pull file modification dates or check your CMS activity history. The fix is usually simpler than it feels at 10 p.m.
When to call in help
DIY will take you far, especially if you’re disciplined. There are times when an SEO consultant with local experience earns their fee. If your GBP gets suspended and appeals fail, if you operate regulated services with strict content requirements, or if you run multi-location SEO services across Wales and need consistent execution at scale, outside help speeds resolution. Good consultants don’t hide behind jargon. They’ll share a plan, measurable goals, and timelines. If you’re shopping around, look for case studies that resemble your business, not just pretty graphs.
For businesses comparing SEO Services Wales providers, ask for clarity on link acquisition methods, how they handle citations without creating duplicates, and how they attribute revenue, not just rankings. Ranking screenshots are easy. Phone calls that turn into booked work pay the bills.
Two focused checklists to keep you honest
- Google Business Profile essentials: correct name, accurate categories, visible address or correct service area model, verified hours including holidays, at least 10 high-quality owner photos, products/services filled, weekly posts, Q&A answered, no duplicates. On-site local signals: fast mobile load, clear click-to-call, unique location pages with real photos and local proof, clean internal links, LocalBusiness schema matching NAP, embedded map for each location, reviews showcased with permission.
Common traps and edge cases
Merging locations by accident. If you move to a new unit in the same business park, Google might think it’s the same spot and merge with a neighbor if your names look similar. Use the “Moved” option within GBP, update signage photos, and keep documentation ready.
Virtual offices and PO boxes. They don’t qualify for a visible address. If you use them and get caught, you’ll lose your profile. Better to hide the address and operate as a service-area business, or invest in a proper office with signage and staff during stated hours.
Competing with aggregators. In some verticals, directories crowd organic results. Own the map pack and optimize your listings on those directories. Feed them accurate data and monitor reviews there too. Pick your battles on organic and lean harder on GBP and paid local campaigns when needed.
Seasonal whiplash. If your trade peaks in winter or summer, build review velocity and content in the off-season. When demand spikes, your profile is already humming.
Brand vs generic keywords. Branded search converts best and is elastic if you build reputation. Community involvement, PR, and excellent service drive it. Don’t ignore generic keywords, but don’t chase head terms at the expense of brand growth.
Turning audit findings into a sprint plan
After you finish your DIY audit, rank tasks by impact and effort. High impact, low effort tasks go first: fix mismatched NAP on top citations, add missing GBP categories, compress oversized images, restore broken internal links, reply to all recent reviews. Next, tackle medium effort projects: rewrite location pages with real proof, implement LocalBusiness schema, add service menus to GBP. Long-term plays follow: local link outreach, case-study content, and community partnerships.
Add dates and owners. If you’re a team of one, split work into weekly blocks. I often recommend a 90-day cycle with a simple scorecard. Track only a handful of metrics that matter to revenue: calls from organic, form submissions, direction requests, and booked jobs attributed to organic or GBP. Rankings are a leading indicator, not the finish line.
A short case from the field
A family-run electrical firm based near Newport asked for a review after slipping out of the map pack for “EV charger installation.” Three issues popped instantly. Their primary category was still “Electrician,” they had no services listed in GBP, and the EV charger service page took seven seconds to load on mobile due to a hero video. We changed the primary category to “Electric vehicle charging station installer,” added the EV services with price ranges, replaced the video with a compressed image, and embedded a recent project photo with the client’s permission. We also asked three customers from Usk and Chepstow to leave reviews specifically about charger installs, without scripting the wording. Within three weeks, they regained map pack visibility in a three-mile radius and added two bookings per week from organic and GBP combined. No backlinks, no new content beyond the tweaks. Simple changes, big return.
Final thoughts you can act on today
Local SEO rewards clarity, consistency, and genuine local signals. A methodical audit shines a light on weak links that don’t require a massive budget to fix. Start with your Google Business Profile, align your website to local reality, tidy your citations, earn reviews with heart, and build a few authentic local links. Measure what matters and resist the lure of vanity metrics. If you operate across Cardiff, Swansea, or wider SEO Wales markets, keep the regional nuances in mind and adapt content and categories accordingly.
Do the basics well, then keep doing them. The businesses that win locally aren’t usually the loudest. They’re the ones that remove friction, show real proof, and keep promises customers talk about. That story tends to rank.