Local Ranking Change Log
A dated log of every profile, website, and review change alongside the share of local voice before and after, so you can tell which actions actually moved the map.
Reviewed for 2026, updated September 8, 2026.
Local rankings respond to changes over weeks, not hours, and if you change five things at once you will never know which one worked. The fix is boring and effective: write down every change with the date, note the grid figure before you made it, and come back thirty days later to record the figure again. Over a few months the log becomes the most honest record you have of what moves your market and what does not.
The worksheet uses share of local voice (SLV), the percentage of grid points where the business appears in the top three for a term, because it captures the shape of the map better than a single average rank. Read the before figure from your baseline grid and the after figure from the same grid, same terms, and same device thirty days on. The example rows show the kinds of changes worth logging, including outside events you did not cause, since a competitor opening nearby explains a drop just as well as anything you did. Our guide to reading grids and reporting progress (/guide/) and the article on reporting local SEO to a client (/blog/report-local-seo-to-client/) explain how to turn the log into a monthly report.
| Date | Change made | Area | Terms affected | SLV before | SLV after 30 days | Notes and verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-08 | Baseline grid recorded, no changes yet | Tracking | All tracked terms | Your figure | Not applicable | Save an export of this grid; everything below is compared to it |
| Your date | Corrected primary category to the most specific true match | Profile: category | Bare category term | Your figure | Your figure | Category edits often show within days; watch the whole grid, not the office point |
| Your date | Added two secondary categories for services actually offered | Profile: category | Service terms | Your figure | Your figure | Expect movement on service terms only |
| Your date | Filled the services section with real descriptions | Profile: services | Service terms | Your figure | Your figure | Small on its own; supports the category change above |
| Your date | Published a dedicated website page for one service and linked it from the profile | Website | That service term | Your figure | Your figure | Typically slower than profile edits; allow more than one cycle |
| Your date | Started asking every customer for a review with a direct link | Reviews | All tracked terms | Your figure | Your figure | Judge by review count and recency first, ranking second; effect accrues over months |
| Your date | Fixed an old address on a major directory and a data aggregator | Citations | All tracked terms | Your figure | Your figure | Removes a trust problem rather than adding a signal; do not expect a jump |
| Your date | Uploaded twelve new photos and replied to all open reviews | Profile: activity | All tracked terms | Your figure | Your figure | Keeps the profile active; usually no measurable ranking change by itself |
| Your date | Competitor opened a second location on the east side (outside event) | External | All tracked terms | Your figure | Your figure | Log it so a contraction on that side of the map is not blamed on your own work |
| Your date | Grid radius changed from 5 to 8 miles | Tracking | All tracked terms | Your figure | Your figure | Measurement change, not a ranking change; start a new baseline from this date |
https://maprankr.com/templates/local-ranking-change-log/Use it in your business, share it with your team, or link to it from your own site.
Also from MapRankr
- Geo-Grid Rank Tracking Setup Checklist: A step-by-step checklist for setting up local rank tracking that measures the area you actually serve instead of a single flattering point.
- Free calculators