🧭 Overview
Search Atlas includes two distinct features that both involve site analysis and visual reporting — but they serve very different purposes. This article clarifies what each tool does so you can point prospects to the right feature and avoid confusion.
- Site Analysis — a prospect-facing tool that lets potential clients audit their own website before signing up.
- Local SEO Heatmaps — a separate, geographic ranking visualization tool available inside the platform for existing clients.
🌐 What Is Site Analysis?
Site Analysis is designed for prospect engagement. It allows people who are not yet Search Atlas clients to run a full audit of their website to get a snapshot of their SEO health. This is typically used by agencies or consultants to demonstrate value to potential clients before they commit to a subscription.
What prospects can see in Site Analysis:
- On-page SEO issues and recommendations
- Technical health indicators such as broken links, page speed signals, and crawl errors
- Content and metadata analysis
- A high-level SEO performance summary
Important: Site Analysis does not include Local SEO Heatmaps. Geographic ranking heatmaps are a separate tool and are only available to active platform users after logging in. Prospects using Site Analysis will not see heatmap reports as part of that audit.
🗺️ What Are Local SEO Heatmaps?
Local SEO Heatmaps is a standalone analytics tool inside Search Atlas for existing clients. It visualizes how a business ranks across specific geographic areas for target keywords, displaying results as a color-coded grid overlaid on a map. This helps local businesses and agencies understand ranking performance neighborhood by neighborhood or city by city.
Local SEO Heatmaps are:
- Only accessible inside the platform by logged-in users
- Not part of the Site Analysis prospect flow
- Configured separately using a business location, target keywords, and a scan radius
- Used for ongoing local ranking tracking, not one-time site audits
📋 Quick Comparison
- Site Analysis — Who uses it: Prospects (non-clients) | Purpose: Pre-sale site audit | Includes heatmaps: No | Access: Public-facing tool
- Local SEO Heatmaps — Who uses it: Active clients | Purpose: Geographic ranking visualization | Includes heatmaps: Yes | Access: Inside the platform only
🚀 How to Use Site Analysis for Prospect Engagement
- Share your Site Analysis link or embed it on your agency website so prospects can enter their domain directly.
- The prospect enters their website URL and runs the audit — no account or login is required on their end.
- Results are generated instantly and display SEO health metrics the prospect can review.
- Use the report as a conversation starter to demonstrate SEO gaps and the value of your services.
⚙️ How to Set Up Local SEO Heatmaps
- Log in to Search Atlas and navigate to Local in the left sidebar.
- Select the Local SEO Heatmaps option from the Local sub-navigation.
- Enter the business name, target location, and keywords you want to track.
- Set your scan radius and grid size to define the geographic coverage area.
- Run the scan — results will display as a color-coded map showing ranking positions across the defined area.
- Return to this section at any time to run updated scans and track ranking changes over time.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
- Can a prospect see heatmaps during a Site Analysis audit? No. Site Analysis and Local SEO Heatmaps are separate tools. Heatmaps are only available inside the platform to logged-in users.
- Do I need to set up Local SEO Heatmaps separately from Site Analysis? Yes. They are independent features. Running a Site Analysis audit does not create or link to any heatmap reports.
- Can I show a prospect a Local SEO Heatmap report? Yes — you can log in yourself, generate a heatmap for a prospect's business location, and share or present the results to them as part of your pitch. However, the prospect cannot generate heatmaps on their own through the Site Analysis tool.
- Where does Site Analysis appear in the platform navigation? Site Analysis is a prospect-facing tool and is not accessed through the standard left sidebar. Contact our team for details on sharing or embedding your Site Analysis link.
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.