• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, August 31, 2022

Performance in local search engine optimization (SEO) can be difficult for marketers to measure and keep informed of changes. The ability to identify the performance of each location and how that performance changes across keywords is particularly challenging.

Uberall on Wednesday introduced several features designed to help businesses support multiple locations by better understanding the performance of each. The features include local SEO reporting, sentiment analysis, mobile app, reply assistant, and content collections. 

Florian Hübner, Uberall CEO and founder, believes the tools will give businesses the ability to become “more visible in each of their operating areas.”

Marketers now have the ability to track the position of the company’s Google Business Profiles in searches for keywords across different locations and times. Uberall automatically pulls the keywords configured in the brand’s location profiles.

The keyword searches are pulled on a monthly basis by automatically inputting a brand's search parameters into Google Local Finder to determine the search position for each location and keyword. Google Local Finder replicates results as seen in the top three search results in Google on a mobile device when “near me” searches are performed.

Google Local Finder is used for searches with more intent from a mobile device, which is why Uberall relies on it rather than Google Maps. The approach helps marketers get a better understanding of how search rank position -- in the top three results -- influences Google views and clicks and impacts business by location. 

The Local SEO Report allows marketers to track the ranking of locations in local searches for the keywords that are most important to them -- for example, “coffee” or “breakfast” for a cafe chain.

The feature shows the average ranking across all locations for specific keyword set, or drill down into specific locations and keywords to get more detailed insights.

The report also allows marketers to see the impact of ranking on downstream metrics, like clicks. With this feature, both SEO managers and marketing leaders can have a better understanding of their visibility at the local level, and adjust their local SEO strategy with pinpointed precision.

The most interesting technology released today, Sentiment Analysis, is an AI-powered review analysis tool that helps businesses “hear” what customers say about locations so they can make changes to improve customer satisfaction. The technology tracks what customers say about the brand and allows marketers to understand the themes, from services to food quality. It also provides insight into whether sentiment has a positive, a neutral, or a negative impact on customer satisfaction at each of locations.

The feature allows brands to read -- or listen to -- large amounts of review data being posted online, and to gain insights at a glance from that data for each location.

The data identifies trends and preferences -- for example, that customers in Detroit may prefer a certain offering, while customers in Seattle do not. 

The solution uses an advanced Natural Language Processing model to analyze review text for sentiment toward industry-relevant topics such as service, drinks, and value. Then it organizes key insights in a dashboard. With these insights, businesses can isolate what’s working and what’s not among a subset of locations or a single location.  

Other features include Uberall’s Mobile App to let local managers and franchisees market their stores. Local managers can quickly and conveniently view and update opening hours, respond to reviews on their own or using templates, answer questions, and post to their social channels.  

Uberall’s Reviews capability gets a boost with the addition of Reply Assistant, a combination of intelligent tools that help businesses dramatically increase their response rates for every location, across multiple platforms. And Content Collections provides a way for businesses to improve on Listings and Local Pages with products, services, menu items, and more, so that their locations are more likely to rank higher and appeal to customers searching for what they offer.