Location Spoofing With gs location changer

In a recent interview with Joy, Toronto SEO Steve Toth answered the question "What is your favorite underrated SEO tool?" without hesitation: Google Search.

That's not a new idea. (Not to diminish Steve's response! I think he nailed it.) Local SEO legend and co-host of the gone but not forgotten "Last Week In Local" podcast, Mary Bowling, used to say something similar. In Mary's version, the best SEO tool was Google Search plus your brain.

IMO, there's one more layer for people working in local. (It's implied by Mary but I think it's worth mentioning explicitly.)

The best underrated local SEO tool is Google Search + your brain + a tool to spoof your location.

In local, you need to know what the SERPs look like from different locations.

That's not a new idea either. Local Search Forum members have been talking about solutions for spoofing your location at least as far back as 2015.

To spoof my location, I use a browser plugin called gs location changer. I use it more than any other SEO tool, by far. It's easy to use, lightweight, and allows me to spoof my location down to a specific street address.

Fig. 1 - Spoofing location down to a specific address


Plus it's free and available for both Chrome and Firefox. GS Location Changer for Chrome & Firefox

If you're new to local SEO and looking to improve your toolbox, this might be the best location changer available.

 

[JS Girard]

I thought that expansion was better known. I use it a LOT in my work, both for practical reason (sometimes geographical keywords are insufficient because of homonyms) and just to check if I can trigger tests that are English/US locked.

In my experience, though, location changer is somewhat unreliable if you're not in incognito mode. Also you should always change your search language if searching in a locale with a different language than your default, as some search feature are both geographically and language-restricted.

 

[Stefan Somborac]

Ah! Language settings! Great addition! That's a much less significant concern for North American businesses.

I do all my work in English so I totally overlooked the language issue.

 

[CarrieHill]

Thank you for the Mary mention - I miss working with her so much! I can confirm she is loving the retired life, though!

(I also miss doing Last Week in Local like CRAZYYYYY)