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The role of website audits in local SEO for moving companies | Movers Development

The role of website audits in local SEO for moving companies

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As a moving business owner, you’d like to do everything humanly possible to ensure growth. However, expanding your business can be challenging without a solid online presence. That’s why you must put effort into increasing your visibility to potential customers in the area, which is something local search engine optimization (SEO) can help with. However, there’s more to optimizing your website than just including a few keywords here and there. Before investing in local SEO for movers, you must thoroughly evaluate your site to identify potential issues holding you back from ranking higher. You aren’t alone if unsure how to perform such an evaluation. But lucky for you, today, we dive deeper into doing just that and, while at it, explain the exact role of website audits in local SEO.

The importance of local SEO for moving companies

Before getting into the nitty-gritty details of the role of website audits in local SEO, let’s first understand why local SEO is crucial for your moving company. Generally speaking, localized search engine optimization helps your business appear in relevant search results—ones performed by potential customers looking for moving services in your area. And since approximately 90% of users take to search engines to find businesses nearby, neglecting to optimize your website for local search could prove catastrophic.

Having said that, what are the main components of SEO that local moving businesses should focus on? Well, the majority of their resources should be spent on the following:

  • Keyword research
  • Link building
  • Google My Business (GMB) optimization

Local keyword research

Anyone looking to advertise my moving company should know that relevant keywords must be used throughout the website to improve local search rankings. Keyword research is a crucial aspect of SEO which helps you identify the most adequate and popular keywords for your business. Furthermore, using such keywords increases your chances of appearing in search results, making it easier for leads to stumbling upon your business.

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Businesses must engage in local keyword research to improve their local SEO efforts.

That begs the question, how does one perform such research? Well, to start, develop a short list of service-related keywords. You may begin by including ones like ”moving services”, ”local movers”, ”residential movers”, etc. Once you have compiled a solid list, it’s time to create a free Google AdWords account. While Google AdWords is typically used to set up marketing campaigns, in your particular case, it will be used to access Google’s keyword planner tool. Such a tool can prove helpful as it allows you to input your chosen keywords to find how much traffic they receive. As a bonus, the planner will suggest similar keywords. Ones that you may not have thought about including.

Local link building

You cannot possibly expect to assume the highest position on SERPs if you aren’t adept at link building. In essence, local link building revolves around getting other websites in your area to link back to your website. These links act as ”votes of confidence” to search engines, indicating that your website is relevant and authoritative in your local area. With that in mind, your primary focus should be building linking relationships with those offering complementary (but not same!) services. Being a moving company, you may want to search for realtors to trade links with. And when in doubt, you can always use tools to help you learn where other movers find their links.

GMB optimization

The ”Map” part of Google local listings includes a link to your Google My Business (GMB) profile. This ”miniature website”, per se, improves your company’s online visibility and helps introduce potential customers to your services concisely. Some would even go as far as to say that a GMB profile enables you to climb the ranks faster than the website alone ever could! However, to ensure your SEO for moving company efforts are fruitful, you must provide your GMB contains up-to-date and accurate information. It needs to include details such as:

  • NAP – business name, address, and phone number
  • Categories – between three and five service-based categories are ideal
  • Description – needs to be 100-200 words in length with a call-to-action at the end
  • Photos – include anything from a logo to images showcasing team members doing the work
  • Working hours
A person holding a phone and looking at a GMB profile through Google Maps
GMB profile is a crucial component of local SEO and must be updated.

The role of website audits in local SEO

Now that the importance of local SEO is covered, it’s time to discuss the role of website audits in improving the local ranking of moving companies. But first, allow Movers Development to explain what a website audit is. We can define a website audit as a comprehensive analysis of your website. It’s a thorough evaluation that aims to identify any technical issues or errors preventing you from assuming the SERP position you want. When performing one, you may want to focus on inspecting the following aspects of the website:

  • Technical SEO: Believe it or not, slow loading times can negatively impact rankings. That’s where technical SEO comes into play, as its primary goal is ensuring the website runs smoothly and efficiently. The website audit should focus on recognizing potential issues connected to website speed and those associated with its structure and mobile responsiveness. After pinpointing the problems, you can make the necessary changes to improve the site’s performance and your SERP position.
  • On-page SEO: By on-page SEO, we are referring to the optimization of your website content. This includes identifying whether relevant keywords are being used and whether meta descriptions have been generated, along with title tags. After the analysis, business owners can make educated decisions on updating the existing content for the best results.
  • Local SEO: Once technical and on-page SEO has been analyzed, it’s time to focus on the abovementioned local SEO aspects. Inspect your Google My Business profile if there is one. If not, open one as soon as possible! Then, evaluate your previous keyword research efforts and look for ways to improve them. And finally, consider your current link-building game and reach out to others willing to trade links.
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The role of website audits in local SEO is more significant than you think.

To conclude

Having learned about the role of website audits in local SEO and their importance, we hope you have realized what you need to do to improve your moving company’s online presence. In short, after you have identified any technical, on-page, or local SEO issues, it will be possible to make the necessary changes. Changes that will improve your website’s performance. But more importantly, the ones that will attract more customers to your business!