A software platform supporting independently-owned restaurant chains with a full technology stack needed a streamlined way to track the search engine listing robustness across thousands of unique locations. Furthermore, they were looking to identify the exact data points that ultimately had the biggest impacts on listing exposure and map rankings.

The LocalClarity team was thrilled to work on a project so foundational to local SEO optimization. The first step was to establish a mechanism to grade the strength of each listing based on industry best practices for local search optimization. It was decided that the best approach would be to build a proprietary version of the Google Business Profile Health Score, but without the “baggage” included in this metric. (Google will only provide the highest scores if the connected account also participates in paid advertising programs).

A set of 17 listing-centric universal factors were identified that serve to feed to Google positive algorithm signals and cause store to rank for more search and ahead of competitors for each keyword. The factors rolled up into three categories: Discovery, Engagement, Reputation. An initial score (on a scale up to 100) was assigned to every active listing to establish a baseline.  A text cohort of locations with poor scores (under 50) were created with a control group.

The LocalClarity Client Success team worked with the client to append the missing data points, publish engaging content (Google Posts, photos, video, and social media links), and make certain all reviews received a response.

Over the course of two months, the average Health Score of the test cohort increased from 42 to 64. (While some individual locations scores moved all the way into the 90s, some locations weren’t able to provide new media assets or faced a score challenges based on negative reviews.) The next step was to analyze the impressions and actions recorded for the text versus control groups. By the end of month 5 (two months to improve scores and three months to see effects) we saw an increase in impressions of 12% and an increase in actions of 10% compared to the control holdout.

The test results were so positive, the client decided to halt the test and roll out a program to focus on Health Score maximization for all locations. A 10% actions increase would be worth millions in revenue collective for the restaurants. By jumping straight to rollout, however, we were not able to continue the granular analysis to determine which listing updates showed the greatest correlation with more clicks, calls, and requests for driving directions to the locations.

By working hand-in-hand with our client, LocalClarity developed a new roadmap for identifying and optimizing Google Business Profile Health Scores—a tool that not only boosted performance for thousands of locations but can now serve as a scalable solution for all businesses. Together, we simplified the process of local SEO management, streamlined the tracking and improvement of key listing factors, and created a system that will scale across markets and industries, driving growth for clients on a global scale.