Local SEO audit: find out what is holding you back.
Competitors appear above you on Google, or the phone is quieter than it should be, and nobody can tell you why. The audit answers that. It checks your Google Business Profile, website, listings, reviews and the competitors you are up against, then gives you the three fixes to start with. You do not need to understand SEO to ask for one.
Free five-point check · No obligation · You keep the findings either way
You know something is off. You just do not know what.
- Competitors you know do no better work than you keep appearing above you on Google Maps.
- You have a Google profile, but no idea whether it is set up properly.
- Most of your work comes from referrals, and Google enquiries come and go without any obvious reason.
- You have paid for a website or for SEO before and could not tell what it actually did.
- Marketing companies call promising page one, and you have no way of judging who to believe.
Not effort. Not knowing where to look.
Local visibility depends on a handful of things working together: your Google profile, your website, your business details across the web, your reviews and the competition in your area. When one of them is weak, the others cannot make up for it, and from the outside it all looks the same: the phone does not ring as often as it should.
Guessing is expensive. Posting more, rewriting the website or paying for directory listings might help, or might fix something that was never the problem. The audit exists to find out which of the five is holding you back before you spend anything.
What the audit looks at.
Five areas decide most of how a trade business shows up locally and whether it gets the call. The audit checks each one against the businesses already appearing for your searches.
1. Google Business Profile
Categories, services, description, service areas, photos, hours and links. What is missing, what is wrong, and what the profiles above yours have that yours does not.
2. Website
Whether your pages match what customers search for, how titles and headings read, how the site works on a phone, and how easy it is to call or send an enquiry.
3. Citations
Whether your name, address and phone number appear the same way across the main map apps and directories, and whether old or duplicate listings are confusing things.
4. Reviews
How many reviews you have, how recent they are, whether they get replies, and how that compares with the businesses you are up against.
5. Competitors
Who appears in the Map Pack for your main searches, and what they are doing that you are not. Some gaps are quick to close. Some are not worth chasing.
Then: the three fixes
The findings end with the three changes most likely to make a difference first, so you know where to start even if you never hire anyone.
Evidence before changes.
The audit follows the same order AKVelora uses for all its work: look at what is actually happening before deciding what to change.
- Compared with real competitors. Your profile, reviews and website are judged against the businesses that actually appear for your searches, not against a generic checklist.
- Confirmed problems kept apart from guesses. If something is clearly wrong, the audit says so. If something might matter but cannot be confirmed from the outside, it says that too.
- Prioritised for your business. Three fixes, chosen for the work you want more of, rather than a list of everything that could be improved.
You do not need to understand SEO, know your rankings or have any reports ready. Your website address is enough to start.
Not sure what is holding your business back?
Send your website. You get the five-point check and the three fixes to start with, in plain English. No obligation.
Written, specific, short.
You get a written set of findings for your business, not a template with your name on it, and not a 40-page export from a tool. Each finding says what is wrong, why it matters, and what to do about it.
It is written in plain English. If a term needs explaining, it gets explained. If something is fine, the audit says so rather than inventing a problem.
The audit is yours to keep. Use it to make the changes yourself, hand it to whoever looks after your website, or talk to me about doing the work. The next move stays yours.
The honest limits.
It cannot promise a ranking. Google decides the results, and they change with where the searcher is standing.
It is a snapshot. Profiles, competitors and results move. The audit shows the picture at the time it is done.
It does not see inside your business. Which jobs make you money, which areas you want more work in, and how many enquiries you can handle are things only you know. They shape what is worth fixing first.
Specific enough to act on.
Every finding in the audit follows the same three parts: what is wrong, why it matters, and what to do. The point is that you could hand any single finding to someone else and they would know what to change.
What is wrong: the profile's primary category is a general building category, while the businesses appearing for roofing searches in your area use a roofing category.
Why it matters: the primary category is one of the clearest signals Google uses to decide which searches a profile is relevant to.
What to do: if roofing is the main work, make the roofing category primary and keep the general one as a secondary category.
The scope of the free audit
The free audit is deliberately focused on the five points above and the three fixes to start with. It is not a full technical audit of every page on your website, and it does not include a full keyword research project. Those are separate pieces of work, and the free audit will tell you whether you need them.
It only uses what is public
The checks are based on what anyone can see: your Google Business Profile, your website, your listings on other sites, your reviews and the businesses appearing for your searches. You do not need to give access to your Google account, your website or anything else to get it.
How to get the most from it
A couple of lines in the form make the findings much more useful. Tell me which jobs you want more of, which areas you work in, and anything you have already tried. A roofer who wants more flat roof work in two towns gets a more useful audit than one who simply asks to rank higher.
If we go on to work together
The audit becomes the starting plan. The three priority fixes are usually the first things done, and the rest of the findings are worked through in order. If you decide to do the work yourself or with someone else, the findings are yours to use.
What happens when you ask for one.
You send your website
Through the short form on the homepage. It takes about 30 seconds. Add anything you would like checked.
I review what is public
Your Google profile, website, listings and reviews, and the businesses appearing for your searches.
You get the findings
In writing, in plain English, with the three fixes to start with. A real person replies, usually within one business day.
You decide
Use the findings yourself, or if ongoing help makes sense, we arrange a short call. Only if you want one.
What the fixes usually involve
Most audits point to the same handful of areas: a Google Business Profile that is incomplete or in the wrong category, listings with old details, too few recent reviews and no plan for getting them, or a website with no dedicated service pages or area pages. Which of these matters most is different for every business, which is the point of auditing first.
AKVelora is based in Cardiff, and works with businesses across the areas we serve and further afield. See local SEO in Cardiff.
Common questions.
Is the free audit really free?
Yes. There is no charge and no obligation, and you keep the findings whether or not we work together.
What do you need from me?
Your website address and an email to send the findings to. If there is something specific you would like checked, say so in the form.
Will you try to sell me something afterwards?
The findings come with the three fixes to start with. If you want to talk about help with them, you can. If not, that is the end of it.
I do not have a website yet. Is an audit still useful?
Yes. The profile, listings, reviews and competitor checks still apply, and the audit will say what a first website needs to cover.
Do i need to give you access to my Google account or website?
No. The free audit only uses information that is publicly visible. Access is only needed later, if we work together and you want the changes made for you.
Is the free audit a full technical SEO audit?
No. It covers the five points on this page and ends with the three fixes to start with. If it finds signs of deeper technical problems, it will say so.
Get your free five-point audit.
Send your website and see what is holding your business back on Google, in plain English.
Get my free audit →Takes 30 seconds · Reply from a real person · You keep the findings either way