For local government websites, SEO is not just about ranking higher in Google. It is about making it easier for residents to find information quickly, whether they are searching Google, using an AI-powered search tool or navigating directly through your website.
When residents can easily find waste collection dates, pet registration information, planning requirements or community services, they are less likely to call or visit your customer service team.
The good news is that maintaining good SEO does not require a complete website audit every month. A handful of regular checks can identify issues early and help keep your website performing well.
Whether your council website uses Xperience by Kentico, WordPress or another content management system, these five SEO checks should form part of your regular website health review.
1. Check for broken links
Broken links create a frustrating experience for residents. If someone clicks through to a page about rates, bin collection or a community event only to receive a page not found error, confidence in your website can quickly drop.
Search engines also use links to discover and understand your website. Too many broken links can make it harder for Google to crawl your content effectively.
Why it matters
Fixing broken links helps residents find the information they need the first time, improves the overall user experience and ensures search engines can continue crawling your website efficiently.
Clear and reliable links can also help AI-powered search tools understand the relationship between pages and locate the most relevant information to include in generated answers.
Tools to use
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider, which is free for websites with up to 500 URLs
- Ahrefs broken link checker
- Your CMS reporting tools, where available
What to look for
- Internal links returning 404 errors
- Broken PDF or document downloads
- Links to external websites that no longer exist
Where possible, update the link to the correct page, replace outdated external resources or add a redirect if the original page has moved.
Quick tip: Make broken link checks part of your monthly website maintenance schedule, particularly after deleting, moving or restructuring content.
2. Review your page titles
Page titles are one of the strongest SEO signals your marketing and communications team can control. They tell Google what a page is about and are often the first thing residents see in search results.
Many local government websites contain generic or duplicated page titles such as “News”, “Services” or “Home”. These titles make it harder for search engines, AI tools and residents to understand the purpose of the page.
Why it matters
Clear, descriptive page titles can improve visibility in Google, encourage more people to click through to your website and make it easier for AI-powered search tools to understand what each page covers.
They can also help residents decide whether a page contains the information they need before they click, improving the quality of traffic reaching your website.
Tools to use
- SEO Meta in 1 Click browser extension
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider
What to look for
- Missing page titles
- Duplicate page titles
- Titles that are too long
- Generic titles that do not clearly describe the page
Each page should have a unique title that describes the content and naturally includes the main topic.
Instead of: “Community” use “Community grants | City of ALYKA” or “Waste collection days | City of ALYKA”
3. Refresh pages that are losing visibility
One of the quickest SEO wins is often improving existing website content rather than creating a new page.
Over time, pages can lose clicks and impressions because information becomes outdated, competing pages become more useful or residents begin using different search terms.
Why it matters
Refreshing existing content can improve search visibility, keep council information accurate and increase the likelihood that your pages will be referenced in AI-powered search results.
It can also reduce duplicate content and save your marketing and communications team time by improving a page that already has search authority, rather than starting again.
Tool to use
In Google Search Console, compare page performance over the last three to six months with the previous period. Look for important pages where clicks or impressions have declined.
What to review
- Outdated dates, fees or service information
- Old statistics or references
- Expired programs, events or initiatives
- Pages with limited or unclear information
- Missing answers to common resident questions
Ways to improve the page
- Update outdated information
- Add frequently asked questions
- Improve headings so the page is easier to scan
- Expand sections that do not fully answer the user’s question
- Add internal links to relevant services or related pages
Often, a relatively small update is enough to improve performance without creating an entirely new page.
4. Check your XML sitemap
Your XML sitemap acts as a roadmap for search engines. It provides a list of the pages on your website that you want search engines to discover and index.
If your sitemap is missing, outdated or not submitted correctly, important pages may take longer to appear in search results.
Why it matters
An accurate XML sitemap helps Google discover newly published and updated content more efficiently. This can make it easier for residents to find new council information through Google sooner.
Making your pages easier for search engines to discover also improves their likelihood of being available to AI-powered search experiences that rely on accessible, indexable online content.
Tools to use
- Your web browser (visit yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml)
- Google Search Console
Check that:
- Your sitemap has been submitted
- Google has processed it successfully
- There are no major errors
- The sitemap is being updated as new content is published
If your local government website uses Xperience by Kentico, your sitemap can be generated automatically. However, it is still important to check it periodically to ensure it is working correctly and includes the pages you want residents to find.
5. Check whether your important pages are indexed
Publishing a page does not guarantee that Google knows it exists.
If an important page is not indexed, it will not appear in Google search results. It is also much less likely to be referenced by AI-powered search tools.
Why it matters
Checking indexation gives your marketing and communications team confidence that important service information can actually be found through search.
This is particularly important for high-demand content such as waste services, rates, planning information, facility opening hours, registrations and community programs.
Tools to use
- Google search
- Google Search Console URL Inspection
To perform a quick check, search Google using:
site:yourwebsite.com
If your pages appear in the results, Google has indexed at least some of your website.
For a more reliable check of an individual page, paste its URL into the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console.
If a page is not indexed, check whether:
- The page has been blocked from indexing
- The page is included in your XML sitemap
- Other pages on your website link to it
- Google Search Console reports a crawling or indexing issue
Indexing checks are especially important after launching a new local government website, migrating content or moving to a new platform such as Xperience by Kentico.
Good SEO supports good customer service
For local government websites, SEO is closely connected to customer service.
Every improvement you make can help:
- More residents find answers through Google
- Council information appear more clearly in AI-powered search results
- Residents complete tasks without contacting customer service
- Reduce unnecessary calls, emails and in-person enquiries
- Increase confidence that online information is accurate and current
For marketing and communications teams, these regular checks can improve website performance without requiring a major redevelopment or ongoing developer involvement.
Make SEO part of your website governance
SEO is not a one-off project. Local government websites change constantly as services are updated, new pages are published and information becomes outdated.
Adding these checks to a monthly or quarterly website health review can help your team identify issues early and keep your website visible, useful and easy to navigate.
Even setting aside an hour each month to review broken links, page titles, declining content, sitemap issues and indexing can make a meaningful difference over time.
Xperience by Kentico makes ongoing SEO easier
Strong SEO relies on useful content, regular maintenance and a content management system that gives your team the right level of control.
This is one reason Xperience by Kentico is well suited to enterprise local government websites. It gives marketing and communications teams the ability to manage important SEO settings and update website content without relying on developers for everyday changes.
Xperience by Kentico can support ongoing SEO through features such as:
- Editable page titles and meta descriptions
- Automatically generated XML sitemaps
- Redirect management
- Flexible URL structures
- Content workflows and approvals
- Reusable content and structured content management
- Easy page updates through the Page Builder
Combined with regular website health checks, these tools make it easier to keep local government content visible in Google, discoverable through AI-powered search and useful for your community.
Get in touch with our team if you'd like help with your next digital project.