Whether you operate locally or globally, a strong local SEO presence is essential to driving more customers to your store, especially when your business has physical locations.
It might seem unusual for brick-and-mortar stores to focus on their online presence until you realize that most customers use the internet to learn about a company.
For instance, during the height of the pandemic in March 2020, more than 50% of shoppers searched online to find out if stores were open or closed.
Local SEO has become part of the “new normal.”
The good news is that there are local SEO tools available that can help keep your business relevant and improve its visibility in organic and Map Pack results efficiently.
When combined with local listing management tools, you’ll be ahead of the competition.
Local SEO tools can help you:
- Automate rank tracking.
- Conduct local keyword research.
- Discover competitor insights.
- Monitor performance.
Additionally, local listings management tools provide businesses with brick-and-mortar locations a single platform to manage and update location data on their online environments.
Here’s a selection of local SEO and local listings management tools for businesses of all sizes that you’ll want to check out:
Local SEO & Listings Management Tools
1. Whitespark
Originally a web design agency, Whitespark now offers SEO software tools to assist businesses with local search marketing.
The Citation Finder tool is Whitespark’s most popular offering, designed to help you find the citation opportunities you’re missing to improve local search rankings.
This tool is free for up to three searches per day with limited search results – perfect for exploration.
Paid subscriptions start at $33/month, billed annually, supporting five campaigns, 20 searches/day, and unlimited search results.
Other notable Whitespark tools include:
Local Rank Tracker
This tool uses precise location settings to provide insight into overall SEO performance.
Reputation Builder
Prompts customers (via email or SMS) to share reviews on various review sites, and calculates the Net Promoter Score (NPS). It also allows direct responses to Google reviews and Facebook recommendations.
Review Monitoring
This feature alerts you to bad reviews so that you can take immediate action.
2. Yext
Yext offers various solutions to improve local SEO by integrating with hundreds of directories to keep business information and data up-to-date.
Popular Yext tools include:
Knowledge Manager
Answers common consumer questions about your business, including staff, store hours, locations, and promotions.
Yext Pages
Ensures listing information is accurate and optimized for search engines to provide customers more information about your brand’s nearest locations.
Yext Listings
Integrates with a large network of maps, apps, search engines, and social networks, facilitating easy customer finds.
Plans start at $199/year.
3. ReviewTrackers
Trusted by brands such as Benihana and American Family Insurance, ReviewTrackers is a customer review software tool that sends alerts regarding feedback from various sources, compiling the information in one dashboard.
Using ReviewTrackers, you can:
- Solicit feedback from customers.
- Monitor reviews from various sources like Google, TripAdvisor, and Yelp.
- Track location performance.
Prices are available upon request.
4. Moz Local
Moz Local is perhaps the most popular local SEO tool, boasting years of experience and a trailblazing role in the SEO software market.
Moz Local supports both small and enterprise businesses, ensuring online listings are correct and consistent to boost website visibility.
When using Moz as a local listing management tool, you only create a listing once, as it automates the rest of the process.
Moz Local sends your listings to major search engines, apps, directories, and business data aggregators. For any necessary edits, log back into Moz Local, and it updates all directories accordingly.
Other features include:
- Google and Facebook integration.
- Automated duplicate deletion.
- Social posting.
Pricing starts at $129/year.
5. Synup
Synup is an all-in-one local SEO tool designed to streamline your marketing efforts by managing listings, monitoring analytics, and creating reports.
Synup allows for unlimited listing updates and immediate notifications for new reviews, with automatic in-tool responses.
Features include:
- Automatic sync of business and location data across websites.
- Management of industry and niche-specific sites.
- Crawling of over 200 local search engines and directories to detect inconsistencies.
The cost is $30 per location for the first 25 locations, scaling down as more locations are added.
6. Semrush Listing Management
Favored by companies such as eBay, HP, and Quora, Semrush is a popular search analytics and local SEO tool that offers listing management in collaboration with Yext.
Semrush’s tool uses Yext’s Knowledge Network to publish data across platforms, allowing for management from a simple dashboard.
The listings tool requires a Semrush plan starting at $99.95/month, with an additional $20/month per location.
7. BrightLocal
BrightLocal is used by over 62,000 agencies, businesses, and freelancers for analytics and reporting functions.
Top features include:
- Customized location dashboard to monitor data.
- Tracking of organic, local, and mobile search rankings.
- Cleaning up and building citations.
- Monitoring of online reviews across 20+ websites.
- Scanning and auditing of directory sites for necessary updates.
- GB and NAP audit.
- White-label solutions for agencies.
Prices start at $29/month for a single business.
8. Advice Local
Advice Local competes with Yext in terms of directory support and offers digital agency services like SEO, digital marketing, and website development.
Advice Local typically works with agencies, resellers, and partners rather than directly with local businesses and manually builds out local citations.
Prices are available upon request.
9. Birdeye
Birdeye offers multi-location enterprise businesses a “bird’s-eye view” of local SEO, monitoring customer experience, and managing reviews.
What sets Birdeye apart is its messaging platform, supporting multiple communication modes, thus facilitating an omnichannel approach to attracting and delighting customers.
Features include:
- Data integration for efficient monitoring.
- Review management across 200+ platforms.
- A messaging platform supporting text, email, webchat, live chat, and chatbots.
Prices are available upon request.
10. Rio SEO
Rio SEO boosts online visibility, grows e-commerce, and drives in-store revenue for enterprise brands using its Open Local Platform. It integrates with over 170 top directories, provides insights, and increases control.
Rio SEO releases notifications with benchmarks for metrics like Search Views and Clicks to Call monthly.
Prices are available upon request.
11. Chatmeter
Chatmeter aids multi-location brands in monitoring their online listings, reviews, and social media, enabling you to add photos, menus, and other enhancements to your listings.
Other features include:
- Local SEO tracking for a “near me” strategy.
- Local Brand Visibility (LBV) score to measure online presence.
- Pulse for text and sentiment analysis.
- Voice optimization.
Prices are available upon request.
12. SOCi
SOCi is an enterprise platform for multi-location marketers, serving as a central command for managing local search, social, reputation, and messaging.
Features include:
- Single login to manage multiple listings.
- On-brand social content management.
- Review tracking and competition monitoring.
- Local social ad management.
Prices are available upon request.
13. Uberall
Uberall helps brick-and-mortar businesses stay relevant through local online visibility. It assists in tracking the customer journey from discovery to repeat purchases using Uberall CoreX.
Features include:
- Optimizing data for local search ranking factors.
- Maintaining brand location data across 125+ websites.
- Building online communities through engaging local content.
Prices are available upon request.
14. Surfer Local
Surfer Local optimizes, manages, and positions GBP listings, great for competitor analysis and improving local SEO strategy. Features include:
- Local Rank Tracker for SEO efforts tracking.
- Free position checker for multiple tracking spots.
- Keyword research tool with information and suggestions.
At $348/location/year, Surfer Local is a comprehensive tool.
Summary
Brick-and-mortar businesses can no longer ignore local SEO.
Fortunately, numerous local SEO and listing management tools can help prevent common local SEO issues. These tools help your business track rankings, update information, find SEO-optimized keywords, and monitor customer reviews.
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita
