What are the most important metrics in monitoring local SEO health?

[Annika Neudecker]

I'm working on pulling together a new report to track performance changes in local search month over month for my company. There are so many different factors and bits of information that I could pull in that I've gotten my head into a bit of a knot over which ones actually matter. I could use some advice from an outsider to put things into perspective, tell me if my ideas are on the right track, and point out some other areas to look at which could be useful.

Goal: Monitor listing health, track performance, and look for trends
Scale: 1,200+ locations spread across the USA
Tools: (Keeping it vague) A major local listings management platform, an SEO tracking tool, a review and survey tool, and Adobe Analytics

Metrics I'm currently considering:

• Visits, conversions, revenue, and conversion rate of UTMs associated with our GBP listings, post CTAs, and products CTAs
• GBP-tracked listings actions (directions, website clicks, phone calls, views, searches)
• GBP keyword searches (pulled via API from the Searches Breakdown section of Insights)
• Reviews gained, especially by percentage increase over previous total (thinking about this article and how getting to 10 reviews can cause ranking boosts)
• Keywords where stores have lost or gained local 3-pack position (KW pool is limited to what we track; I like the data but have difficulty explaining the why of the changes)

Apologies if this is vague, I'm feeling a little scattered and I'm happy to discuss and clarify. The most important question is: What metrics are most important to you when monitoring local listing and local SEO health?

 

[WilliamGMBE]

My answer is based mainly from a startup point of view, and not from a GMB point of view.

I think the one you are using is overly complicated. You should have one primary number which you should look at. The rest should be secondary.

The reason for this is psychological, as many numbers can mean different things and it can get confusing. It is difficult to concentrate a team around many metrics. Also, there is a difference between correlation and causation, so many of the number wont make sense for the bottom line. Another major reason is that this will force you to stay away from vanity metrics, where a number feels good, but it does not mean anything in real world.

From the one you have in your list, one that looks attractive for me is 'revenue from GMB conversions'. If you have excellent attribution setup, then it can be 'Profit from GMB conversions' or 'Total revenue ( Life Time Value of customers ) from GMB conversions'. I am assuming yours is a for profit organization.

For SAAS startups, it is common to use Monthly Recurring Revenue.

The above is just a personal opinion. This is also basis of the book Lean Analytics: Amazon product ASIN 1449335675

 

[Andrew Scherer]

I'm a fan of looking at engagement for individual pieces of content. I think Google is going to follow what major social media sites are doing (if they aren't doing this already) - content that is well engaged with the visitor will end up ranking higher.

This is time on page, click through, etc...