Track Local Search Rankings With Heatmaps

If customers find you by searching "near me", your ranking can differ from street to street. A heatmap shows exactly where you appear across your service area.

What you see

A grid or ring of pins sits around your business. Each pin shows your position in local results for one keyword at that spot. Colors help at a glance: green for 1 to 3, yellow or orange for 4 to 10, red for 11 to 20 and grey for lower. An Average Rank summarizes the whole map, and you can overlay a competitor.

Set it up

1. Connect your Google account in SEO Settings and allow access to your Google Business Profile.
2. Go to Sites > SEO > Local SEO and add your business.
3. Open the heatmap and enter a keyword such as "plumber in Denver".
4. Choose the map radius or grid size and how often to rescan.

Track several keywords by switching between their heatmaps.

Points

Each pin costs one point per scan, and scanning both desktop and mobile doubles it. A 7 by 7 grid has 49 pins, so one weekly scan is about 196 points a month.

To save points:

• Use a smaller grid.
• Scan less often.
• Track one device type.
• Focus on your best few keywords.

Improve what you see

Add pages for areas where you rank poorly, keep your business profile complete, and rescan after changes.

Good to know: Judge trends over several scans; a single scan can swing slightly from day to day.