A local SEO audit checks whether customers and search engines can find your business and how easily people contact it. For a contractor it covers your Google Business Profile, your listings on other sites, your website's service and city pages, mobile speed, structured data and how easily a visitor can call. Most checks are free with Google's own tools.
What is a local SEO audit?
A local SEO audit is a review of everything that decides whether your business shows up when someone nearby searches for your service, and whether they call once they find you. Google says it ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence. An audit looks at the parts of those you control: how well your profile and pages match what people search, and how well-known and trusted your business looks across the web.
It's different from a general website audit, which mostly looks at code and speed. A plumber with a technically perfect website can still lose calls to a wrong phone number on Yelp or a profile category that doesn't match the trade.
What you need before you start
- Owner access to your Google Business Profile.
- Google Search Console set up for your website. It's free; if you don't have it, setting it up is the first fix.
- A phone, because most of your customers will see you on one.
- PageSpeed Insights and Google's Rich Results Test, both free.
- A spreadsheet or notepad to mark each check pass, fail or not sure.
Part 1: Google Business Profile audit
Start here. For most contractors the Business Profile brings more calls than the website, and every check below takes minutes.
| Check | How to check it | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
| The profile is verified and you're an owner | Open business.google.com while signed in. Check who else has access under the profile's people and access settings. | You and a trusted manager are owners; no ex-employee or old agency has access. |
| Primary category is the most specific fit | Compare yours with the top three competitors for your main search. | Your main trade (Plumber, HVAC contractor, Electrician, Roofing contractor) and only a few real secondary categories. |
| Business name is your real name | Compare the profile name with your signage, truck wrap and invoices. | No city, service or slogan added. Google's guidelines don't allow it. |
| Address or service area follows the rules | If customers don't visit you, the address should be hidden with service areas listed. | Up to 20 service areas, within about two hours' drive of your base. |
| Hours are current, including holidays | Compare profile hours with when someone picks up the phone. | Hours match reality; emergency hours only if someone answers. |
| Services and description are filled in | Read them as a homeowner would. | Each main service listed in plain words; description says what, where and since when. |
| Photos are your own and recent | Scroll the Photos tab; check for stock images and old vans. | Real jobs, crew and vehicles, with new photos added through the year. |
| Reviews are flowing and answered | Count reviews from the last 90 days and replies to them. | New reviews every month, each one answered. |
| The website link points to the right page | Click it from the profile on a phone. | It opens your home page or location page fast, with a tap-to-call button. |
Part 2: Listings and reputation
Google checks your details against the rest of the web, and AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Copilot read the same listings.
| Check | How to check it | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Name, address and phone match everywhere | Search your business name and your old phone number in Google. Check Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp, the BBB and Angi. | Identical details on every listing, including suite numbers and the format of your name. |
| No duplicate profiles | Search Google Maps for your name and phone. | One profile per real location. Ask Google to merge or remove duplicates. |
| Bing Places and Apple Business Connect are claimed | Search your business on Bing Maps and Apple Maps. | Both claimed and matching your Google profile. Both are free. |
| Trade and manufacturer listings are current | Check dealer locators for the brands you install and your trade association directory. | Current address, phone and website on each. |
| Your license can be looked up | Search your state licensing board's public lookup. | License active, under the same business name you market. |
Part 3: Website and content
The website backs up the profile and is what AI tools quote. These checks catch the most common gaps we see.
| Check | How to check it | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
| A page for each main service | List the services on your profile and find the matching page on your site for each. | Every main service has its own page with prices or price factors, timelines and real job photos. |
| Useful pages for the main towns you serve | Read two of your city pages side by side. | Each says something specific to that town. No copies with only the city name swapped. |
| Price ranges in text | Search your site for a dollar sign. | Typical ranges for main jobs, with the factors that change them. |
| Questions answered directly | Look at your headings. Are they the questions customers ask? | Question headings with a 40 to 60 word answer right below each. |
| Comparison tables where customers compare | Check pages like tankless vs tank or repair vs replace. | A simple HTML table, not an image of one. |
| A named, licensed author on advice pages | Open a blog post or guide. Who wrote it? | A real person's name, license and years in the trade, linked to a short bio. |
| Proof near the top on a phone | Open the home page on your phone without scrolling. | Star rating, license number or warranty visible in the first screen. |
In our October 2026 audit of 20 Tulsa contractor websites, 16 had no comparison table anywhere, 15 had no named author on their advice content, and none answered every question heading with a short direct answer. Price information was patchy: 4 sites had none, and none set out clear ranges for their main jobs. Our service page guide shows how to fix the first three in one rewrite.
Part 4: Technical health
Most contractor sites pass the basics. Speed on phones is where they fall down.
| Check | How to check it | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile speed: Largest Contentful Paint | Run your home page and top service page through PageSpeed Insights (free). | 2.5 seconds or less on mobile. |
| Mobile responsiveness: Interaction to Next Paint | Same PageSpeed report. | 200 milliseconds or less. |
| Layout stability: Cumulative Layout Shift | Same PageSpeed report. | 0.1 or less. Nothing jumps as the page loads. |
| Google can index the important pages | In Search Console, open the Pages report and check why pages aren't indexed. | Service and city pages indexed; no accidental noindex. |
| A sitemap is submitted | Search Console, Sitemaps. | Sitemap submitted, read successfully, no errors. |
| HTTPS everywhere, one redirect at most | Type your domain without https or www and watch where it lands. | One clean hop to the secure version of your site. |
| Search and AI crawlers aren't blocked | Open yourdomain.com/robots.txt. Ask your host whether a firewall blocks bots. | Googlebot, Bingbot and OAI-SearchBot allowed. |
Speed was the weakest area for the Tulsa sites. Only 1 of the 20 hit the 2.5 second mark for Largest Contentful Paint on a phone, and none of the 19 we could measure reached full marks for responsiveness. 16 lost points for oversized or hidden images loaded on phones, and 18 for third-party scripts competing with the page as it loaded. Google sets the "good" thresholds for these three measures at 2.5 seconds, 200 milliseconds and 0.1.
Part 5: Structured data and conversion
These checks decide whether Google reads your details correctly and whether a visitor turns into a call.
| Check | How to check it | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
| LocalBusiness markup with a specific type | Paste a page into Google's Rich Results Test or the Schema Markup Validator. | Plumber, HVACBusiness, Electrician, RoofingContractor or GeneralContractor, with address or service area, phone and hours. |
| Markup matches the visible page | Compare the hours, phone and reviews in the markup with what visitors see. | No ratings or details in the code that aren't on the page. |
| Tap-to-call in the first screen on a phone | Open the site on a phone. | A call button visible without scrolling. |
| A short quote form | Count the form fields. | Four fields or fewer, working on a phone, with a clear thank-you. |
| Calls and forms are tracked | Check Google Analytics or your call tracking for last month's leads. | You can say how many calls and forms came from the website last month. |
In the Tulsa audit, 6 of 20 sites had no specific business type with location and hours in their structured data, 18 had no pricing in their service markup, and only 6 showed a call button on a phone without scrolling. Our schema guide for contractors has copy-ready markup.
What to fix first
You'll likely end up with a long list of fails. Work through them in this order, because the early fixes are fast and touch the most calls:
- Anything that stops people reaching you: a wrong phone number on any listing, a broken website link, no call button on a phone.
- Profile basics: category, name, hours, service areas, verification.
- Duplicate or conflicting listings.
- A review routine, so new reviews arrive every month.
- Service pages with prices and direct answers, starting with the job that earns you the most.
- Mobile speed, usually by compressing images and cutting scripts you don't need.
- Structured data, once the pages it describes are right.
How often to run a local SEO audit
Run the full checklist once a year and after any big change: a move, a new phone number, a rebrand, a new website or adding a trade. Check the profile and reviews monthly; it takes ten minutes. If you're paying someone for SEO, ask for this checklist filled in at the start and again after six months, so you can see what changed.
If something isn't showing at all, our guide to why a business isn't showing on Google Maps goes through the causes one by one. For ranking higher once you're visible, see how to rank higher on Google Maps.
Common questions
What is included in a local SEO audit?
A local SEO audit for a contractor checks your Google Business Profile, your listings on sites like Bing, Apple Maps, Yelp and the BBB, your website's service and city pages, mobile speed, structured data and how easily a visitor can call. The goal is to find what stops people finding or contacting you.
How do I audit my Google Business Profile?
Confirm you're a verified owner, check that your primary category is the most specific fit, that the name matches your real business name, and that hours, service areas, services and photos are current. Then count reviews from the last 90 days and make sure each one has a reply.
Can I do a local SEO audit myself for free?
Yes. Google Business Profile, Search Console, PageSpeed Insights and the Rich Results Test are free and cover most checks. Searching your business name and phone number on Google, Bing Maps and Apple Maps covers listings. Paid tools mainly save time and track rankings across your area.
How often should a contractor do a local SEO audit?
Run a full audit once a year and after any big change, such as moving, changing phone numbers, rebranding or launching a new website. Check your Business Profile and reviews monthly. If you pay for SEO, compare a full audit at the start with one six months later.
What are the most common local SEO problems for contractors?
In our audit of 20 Tulsa contractor websites, the most common gaps were slow loading on phones, no price ranges in text, no named author on advice pages, no comparison tables, and structured data missing a specific business type or service areas. Technical basics like HTTPS were usually fine.
What is the difference between a local SEO audit and a website audit?
A website audit mostly checks code, speed and indexing. A local SEO audit adds your Google Business Profile, listings on other sites, reviews, service area setup and whether your pages match local searches. For a contractor, a wrong phone number on Yelp can cost more calls than a slow page.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google (checked October 29, 2026)
- Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google (checked October 29, 2026)
- Google Business Profile Help, Manage your service area (checked October 29, 2026)
- web.dev, Web Vitals (checked October 29, 2026)
- Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search (doorway pages)
- OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers (checked October 29, 2026)
- Realo audit of 20 Tulsa-area contractor websites, October 18, 2026 (unpublished data, businesses not named; summary in our Tulsa contractor website study)
Rather have us run it?
The free audit runs the website, speed and schema checks for you and shows which missing pages are costing you the high-ticket calls.
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