Boost your local SEO ranking with these recommended SEO formation tool suggestions by seo formation Paris website, where you can rely on regional data and insights to optimize your local search results.
From Chrome extensions to rank trackers and Google products, these tools serve as a helpful guide for your SEO strategies. Here are some essential tools to build your strategy and execute each tactic while also being aware of their limitations.
- Google Analytics
Google Analytics 4 is useful for filtering specific pages and user types. This tool allows you to view the right metrics for your site. Although it’s a great data collection tool, it’s not always effective for reporting.
Nevertheless, most local SEOs still need to use GA4 for reporting, as it’s an excellent tool for assessing the progress of your SEO campaigns and the performance of landing pages. You can typically find this information under Reports > Engagement > Landing Pages, which gives you insight into how your pages are performing.
If you want to see how a page performs for a specific type of conversion, like phone calls, you can click the tiny arrow under “Key Events” and select a single event to identify which pages are generating conversions. This tool allows you to track all the ways people can contact your business from your website, including click-to-call, emails, contact forms, chatbots, and text messages. You can set these interactions as key events in the GA4 admin section to leverage this feature fully.
Benefits: Filtering specific pages and user types
Also viewing relevant metrics and data collection capabilities
Limitations: Not ideal for reporting, but still widely used for progress assessment
Key Features: Accessing the Landing Page Report – Tracking specific conversions (e.g., phone calls)
How to Utilize: Great for setting up key events for various contact methods (click-to-call, emails, etc.)
2. CallRail
To track actual calls made by visitors to your site (as opposed to just click-to-calls), CallRail can help elevate your SEO reporting. Click-to-call numbers may be misleading because they don’t account for desktop users who type the number manually or indicate the quality of the call.
However, for mobile users, you can gain valuable insights. With CallRail, you can track first-time phone calls to gauge how many new individuals are calling from your organic landing pages. This understanding helps you evaluate the true value of each landing page.
Importance of Tracking Calls: Differentiating between click-to-calls and actual calls
This tool is great for understanding user behaviour
Key Features: Tracking “first-time phone calls”
Benefits: Assessing the effectiveness of landing pages in generating calls
3. Google Search Console (GSC)
Google Search Console allows you to select a date range and compare it with a previous period or year. It makes date range comparisons much easier and shows you percent changes and search volume data directly within the platform. However, GSC has some limitations, particularly regarding query filtering, as it does not include all queries and often excludes those that don’t get searched frequently. This exclusion can be problematic for small business websites that receive only a few dozen clicks each month.
Features: Date range selection and comparison
Displaying percent changes and search volume data
Its Limitations: Filtering queries: potential downside for small businesses –
Utilisation Tips: Making the most of GSC data for website optimization
4. Places Scout
Places Scout is, in my opinion, the most accurate and robust local keyword tracking tool available. It can create custom grid tracking reports for local map rankings and organic rankings on the same grid. Local rankings can vary significantly depending on several factors, including search location and the Google-defined boundaries of a city, which are increasingly influencing organic rankings as well. A fantastic feature of this tool is its SERP screenshot function, which captures a screenshot of the search results, providing a useful organic ranking report.
Key Features: Custom grid tracking for local map and organic rankings – SERP screenshot feature for organic ranking reports
Benefits: Understanding local ranking variations and their impact
5. Local Falcon
Local Falcon is a staple for local rank tracking, providing quick local ranking scans that are ready in just a few minutes. One limitation is that it does not track organic rankings. My favourite feature of Local Falcon is its proprietary search value metric, which is a highly underutilised metric for measuring local SEO success. No other rank tracker offers this metric, making Local Falcon a standout for local grid rank tracking.
Key Features: Quick local ranking scans
Proprietary search value metric
Limitations: Does not track organic rankings
Benefits: Unique metric for assessing local SEO success
6. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is user-friendly, but one drawback is that it does not provide search volume metrics at the state or city level, only at the country level, which can be a challenge for local SEO. Despite this, Ahrefs offers a wealth of other tools that assist with backlink and off-site SEO research.
One standout feature is the Link Intersect tool, which simplifies competitor link analysis. You can input 2 to 5 competitor websites, and it will show you all the backlinks they have that your website doesn’t—an incredibly valuable resource! **Tip:** Download the Ahrefs extension to see a ranking number count directly in the SERPs. This makes it easy to see where your page ranks.
Strengths: User-friendly interface
Comprehensive backlink and offsite SEO research tools
Limitations: Lack of detailed state/city-level search volume metrics
Notable Features: Link Intersect tool for competitor analysis
Ahrefs extension for in-SERP ranking visibility
7. GS Location Changer
Last but not least, every local SEO professional needs the GS Location Changer in their browser extension bar. This extension is crucial for manually checking local SERPs, as it allows you to set your IP to search from a specific location. It’s fast, accurate, and incredibly helpful for double-checking SERPs when a client sends you a screenshot of the rankings they are seeing for their Google Business Profile or website.