Pick a handful of measures
Choose five to eight measures and track them monthly. Good candidates include profile calls and direction requests, profile views from search, website clicks from search, impressions and clicks in Search Console, number of new reviews and average rating, form submissions, tracked calls and new customers.
Each measure should answer a question, such as are we visible, are people interested, are they contacting us.
Where each number comes from
Profile actions come from the performance section of your business profile. Website search data comes from Search Console. Leads come from your analytics events, your call logs and your own records. Reviews come from the profile, and you can note them by hand.
Put them all in one spreadsheet, one row per month. Add a column for notes on what you changed that month.
Compare like with like
Local businesses are seasonal. Compare each month with the same month last year when you have the data, and look at three-month averages. A heating company will see lower numbers in July regardless of SEO.
Beware of changes in how Google reports data, which can create sudden jumps. If a number moves sharply, check whether the definition changed before celebrating or worrying.
Beware of misleading numbers
Rank tracking from a single location can mislead, since results vary by searcher location and device. Average position hides details. Raw traffic can rise with irrelevant visitors who never buy.
Lead quality matters. Ten calls from people outside your service area are worth less than three from ideal customers. Ask staff to label leads.
Tie results to money
For each lead source, estimate how many leads become customers and what a typical job is worth. Even rough figures show whether the work pays off. If ten leads a month produce two jobs and each is worth a good amount, you can judge whether the effort and fees make sense.
Be honest about gaps in the data. A rough picture based on real records is better than invented precision.
Hold a thirty-minute review monthly. Ask what went up, what went down, and what you will do next. Pick one action and track it. Over a year, a simple routine turns scattered data into steady decisions.
A sample scorecard
Create a table with columns for the month, profile calls, direction requests, search clicks to the website, impressions in search, new reviews, average rating, form leads, tracked calls and notes. Fill one row each month in about twenty minutes.
After six months, add a chart for each column if you like, and highlight the notes that explain changes: new service page, price change, holiday closure, review campaign. Patterns then become visible. You might notice that review volume and calls rise together, or that a seasonal dip is predictable. That insight lets you plan staffing and promotion, which is the real payoff from measuring at all.
Show the scorecard to everyone who touches the customer, from the person answering phones to whoever does the work. They often explain the numbers better than any tool can.
Common questions
How long before I see results?
Often several months. It depends on competition, the starting point and how much you change.
Is ranking number one the goal?
No. Calls, visits and customers are the goal. Rankings are only a means.
This guide is general information. Search engines change how they work and their guidelines; check Google's current documentation for your situation. Nobody can guarantee a ranking.