Local SEO checklist for moving companies

What does a local SEO checklist cover?

A local SEO checklist covers five areas a moving company controls: its Google Business Profile, its reviews, its website, its details on other listings, and its tracking. Google says local results "are mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity." Each item below supports relevance or prominence. Distance depends on where the searcher is. For background, see what is local SEO.

How do you set up the Google Business Profile?

1. Verify the profile. Google says verification "tells Google that you're authorized to represent the business, so it's more likely to show up in search results." See Business Profile verification.
2. Choose the right address setting. A mover that doesn't serve customers at its office hides the address and sets a service area. See what is a service area business.
3. Pick a specific primary category. Google says "the categories you select affect your local ranking on Google." See how Business Profile categories work.
4. Complete every field that applies: hours, services, description, website, and phone number. Google says "businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results."
5. Add photos and videos of the crew, trucks, and work. Google lists photos and videos among its tips to improve local ranking.
6. Use the real business name without added keywords. Google says the name "should reflect your business's real-world name."

How do you handle reviews?

1. Ask every customer after the job. Google allows businesses to ask for reviews but not to "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers." See how to get more Google reviews.
2. Never offer incentives for reviews.
3. Reply to reviews, including negative ones. Google says "positive reviews and helpful replies can help your business stand out." See how to respond to negative reviews.

How do you check the website?

1. Give each main service its own page, such as local moving, long distance moving, packing, and storage.
2. Describe the areas served with content that's useful to customers in each area. Google's spam policies treat pages "created to rank for specific, similar search queries" as doorway abuse. See service area pages vs. doorway pages.
3. Show the business name, phone number, and service area on the site, matching the Business Profile.
4. Add local business structured data. Google says it can "tell Google about business hours, different departments within a business," and more. See what is schema markup.
5. Link the Business Profile to the right page: the home page for one location, or each location's page for several.

How do you check other listings?

1. List every place the business appears: Bing Places, Apple Business, directories, social profiles, and industry associations.
2. Match the name, address, and phone number to the Business Profile. See what is NAP consistency.
3. Fix or remove outdated listings, especially after a move or a phone number change.

How do you measure local SEO results?

1. Tag the Business Profile website link with UTM parameters so Google Analytics can separate those visits. Google says to "always use utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign." See what are UTM parameters.
2. Track phone calls as well as form submissions. See what is call tracking.
3. Count booked jobs, not only visits. Compare leads and bookings from local search month to month.