{"id":1504,"date":"2022-09-04T19:07:52","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T19:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/local-seo-9-free-tools\/"},"modified":"2022-09-04T19:07:52","modified_gmt":"2022-09-04T19:07:52","slug":"local-seo-9-free-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/?p=1504","title":{"rendered":"Local SEO: 9 Free Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>Search engine optimization is critical for local businesses looking to attract repeat customers.  Product research, driving directions, price comparisons \u2013 consumers are increasingly turning to the web before visiting a local store.<\/p>\n<p>Here are nine free tools to improve your local SEO.<\/p>\n<h3>Google Review Link &#038; Place ID Generator<\/h3>\n<p>The Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) can be confusing.  Even finding your listing&#8217;s URL is difficult. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightlocal.com\/free-local-seo-tools\/google-id-and-review-link-generator\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">Google Review Link &#038; Place ID Generator<\/a> from BrightLocal can help.  It&#8217;s free for up to three searches per day.<\/p>\n<p>Type in your company name and the tool will provide:<\/p>\n<p>A direct link to your company&#8217;s reviews.  A link for customers to leave a review (as long as you follow the Google <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/business\/answer\/3474122?hl=en\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">guidelines<\/a>), preview link of your local listing on the search results page containing your knowledge panel.<\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504023\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Google Review Link &#038; Place ID Generator provides the link to your reviews, search result previews and more.<\/p>\n<h3>GMBspy<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/gmbspy\/hijfnlgdhfpmnckieikhinolopcolofe\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">GMBspy<\/a> is a Chrome extension with one goal: to show the categories your local competitors have chosen for their local business listing.  It&#8217;s helpful to understand why you&#8217;re outranked for specific phrases.<\/p>\n<p>The extension worked fine for me for an individual business listing, but it didn&#8217;t show categories for the local 3-pack in the search results, which it claims to support.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504024\" title=\"Screenshot of GMBspy\" alt=\"Screenshot of GMBspy\" width=\"570\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-GMBspy-570x299.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-GMBspy-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-GMBspy-768x403.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-GMBspy-1536x806.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-GMBspy-150x79.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-GMBspy-500x262.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-GMBspy.jpg 1800w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-GMBspy-570x299.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" class=\"wp-image-1504024 size-large lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504024\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GMBspy, a Chrome extension, shows the categories of your local competitors.<\/p>\n<h3>GMB everywhere<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/gmb-everywhere-gbp-audit\/oibcaeeplepnjfjhokfcabnaafodppik\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">GMB everywhere<\/a> is another Chrome extension for identifying competitor categories and subcategories in local search results.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504025\" title=\"Screenshot of GMB Everywhere\" alt=\"Screenshot of GMB Everywhere\" width=\"570\" height=\"586\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-GMB-Everywhere-570x586.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-GMB-Everywhere-292x300.jpg 292w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-GMB-Everywhere-768x789.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-GMB-Everywhere-150x154.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-GMB-Everywhere-487x500.jpg 487w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-GMB-Everywhere.jpg 1242w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-GMB-Everywhere-570x586.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" class=\"wp-image-1504025 size-large lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504025\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GMB Everywhere identifies competitor categories and subcategories in local search results.<\/p>\n<p>The tool allows five free local &#8220;audits&#8221; per month, including:<\/p>\n<p>Total number of comments, Number of reviews provided by <a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/localguides\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">Local guides<\/a>Number of reviews with photos Keyword analysis i.e. the most common words in reviews, which is useful as Google uses keywords in reviews as a local ranking signal Viewing review growth .<\/p>\n<p>GMB Everywhere&#8217;s handy &#8216;Teleport&#8217; feature lets you change your location to view local results from anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n<h3>GS location changer<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/gs-location-changer\/blpgcfdpnimjdojecbpagkllfnkajglp\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">GS location changer<\/a> is a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox to simulate a location and access hyperlocal rankings.  Location is the crucial local SEO ranking factor.  This extension allows agencies or businesses in multiple locations to know what consumers are seeing near their search results.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504026\" title=\"Screenshot of GS Location Changer\" alt=\"Screenshot of GS Location Changer\" width=\"570\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-Review-Audit-Graph-570x535.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-Review-Audit-Graph-300x282.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-Review-Audit-Graph-768x721.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-Review-Audit-Graph-150x141.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-Review-Audit-Graph-500x470.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-Review-Audit-Graph.jpg 1200w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-Review-Audit-Graph-570x535.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" class=\"wp-image-1504026 size-large lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504026\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GS Location Changer simulates a location anywhere to access hyperlocal rankings.<\/p>\n<h3>Scheme mark generator<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/technicalseo.com\/tools\/schema-markup-generator\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">Scheme mark generator<\/a> creates local JSON-LD markup for use on your site.  Select &#8220;Local Business&#8221; from the tool&#8217;s drop-down menu and copy and paste the markup.  Make sure the business name and address are exactly the same as your verified Google Business profile.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504028\" alt=\"Screenshot of the local schema generator\" width=\"570\" height=\"208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5a-Schema-570x208.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5a-Schema-300x109.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5a-Schema-768x280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5a-Schema-150x55.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5a-Schema-500x182.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5a-Schema.jpg 1140w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5a-Schema-570x208.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" class=\"wp-image-1504028 size-large lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504028\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Local Schema Generator creates local JSON-LD markup.<\/p>\n<h3>Local file health scanner<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightlocal.com\/free-local-seo-tools\/local-listings-health-scanner\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">Local file health scanner<\/a> allows you to view your listing on dozens of platforms including Google Business Profile, Yelp, Bing, Yellow Pages and many more.<\/p>\n<p>The tool shows spelling and other inconsistencies between platforms.  For example, adding an &#8220;the&#8221; in front of a business name can cause Google to treat the listing as a separate business.  The tool also identifies missing directories, i.e. missed opportunities.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504029\" title=\"Screenshot of the health scanner for local tiles\" alt=\"Screenshot of the health scanner for local tiles\" width=\"570\" height=\"622\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-Local-Listings-Health-Scanner-570x622.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-Local-Listings-Health-Scanner-275x300.jpg 275w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-Local-Listings-Health-Scanner-768x838.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-Local-Listings-Health-Scanner-1407x1536.jpg 1407w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-Local-Listings-Health-Scanner-150x164.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-Local-Listings-Health-Scanner-458x500.jpg 458w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-Local-Listings-Health-Scanner.jpg 1482w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-Local-Listings-Health-Scanner-570x622.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" class=\"wp-image-1504029 size-large lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504029\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Local Listings Health Scanner allows you to check your listing on dozens of platforms, including Google Business Profile, Yelp, Bing, Yellow Pages and many more.<\/p>\n<h3>UpCity Local SEO Newsletter<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/upcity.com\/seo\/report-card\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">UpCity<\/a> offers free, easy-to-understand &#8220;report cards&#8221; for Google search terms.  Enter your location and your most important keywords.  Upcity then displays your score.<\/p>\n<p>The report, while basic, also provides a quick insight into your local competitors and areas to focus on.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504030\" title=\"Screenshot of UpCity's sample report card\" alt=\"Screenshot of UpCity's sample report card\" width=\"570\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7-SEO-Report-Card-570x408.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7-SEO-Report-Card-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7-SEO-Report-Card-768x550.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7-SEO-Report-Card-150x107.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7-SEO-Report-Card-500x358.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7-SEO-Report-Card.jpg 1200w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7-SEO-Report-Card-570x408.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" class=\"wp-image-1504030 size-large lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504030\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">UpCity&#8217;s free SEO reports show a visual representation of your score.<\/p>\n<h3>Local AdWords and keyword lists<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.5minutesite.com\/local_keywords.php\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">Local AdWords and keyword lists<\/a> generate targeted keywords for local search.<\/p>\n<p>To use it, enter your company&#8217;s zip code and shopping radius.  The tool will show the towns, cities, counties and even abbreviations within that area and the destination keywords to add and monitor for each.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504031\" title=\"Local AdWords screenshot and keyword lists\" alt=\"Local AdWords screenshot and keyword lists\" width=\"570\" height=\"410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-Generate-Local-Adwords-570x410.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-Generate-Local-Adwords-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-Generate-Local-Adwords-768x553.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-Generate-Local-Adwords-150x108.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-Generate-Local-Adwords-500x360.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-Generate-Local-Adwords.jpg 1200w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-Generate-Local-Adwords-570x410.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" class=\"wp-image-1504031 size-large lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504031\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Local AdWords and keyword lists generate targeted keywords for local search.<\/p>\n<h3>Postmatic<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/workspace.google.com\/marketplace\/app\/%F0%9F%A4%96_postamatic\/460920737213\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">Postmatic<\/a> is a free Google Sheets plugin for publishing (and scheduling) posts to your local business listing to keep it active.  The tool supports posting for events, offers and updates, with simultaneous posting to multiple lists, handy for agencies and businesses with multiple locations.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504032\" title=\"Screenshot of Postamatic\" alt=\"Screenshot of Postamatic\" width=\"570\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-Postamatic-570x607.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-Postamatic-282x300.jpg 282w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-Postamatic-768x818.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-Postamatic-150x160.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-Postamatic-470x500.jpg 470w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-Postamatic.jpg 1418w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-Postamatic-570x607.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" class=\"wp-image-1504032 size-large lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504032\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Postamatic is a free Google Sheets plugin for publishing (and scheduling) posts to your local business listing to keep it active.<\/p>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/local-seo-9-free-tools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google Review Link &#038; Place ID Generator A direct link to your company&#8217;s A link for customers to leave a review (as long as you follow the Google guidelines), preview link of your local listing on the search results&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1506,"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504\/revisions\/1506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}