Online Searches and leaving positive reviews are not a new thing. It has seeped in our daily lives and is an integral part of it. Potential customers are equipped to find any product or services in the online world.
This is where SEO comes in. It ranks, propagates and markets your website. But if we say, the organic search rankings are not limited to the online realm.
It generates foot traffic and high conversion in brick and mortar business as well.
The above phenomenon is called Local SEO. Then, what is local SEO optimization and how much it is different from SEO. There is only one way to know. Read and be your own judges.
What is Local SEO vs. SEO?
Everyone wants sales and revenues in business, be it business owners of local stores or an online business. This is where SEO and strategic positions in search results comes in. It generates traffic to your website.
But SEO helps in conquering the business industry on a global or national scale. Local SEO uses strategies to help in capturing local search territories.
Well that is one aspect of the difference. Let’s know more differences.
Table for the difference between local SEO vs. SEO
| Organic SEO | Local SEO |
| Audience is looking for information and have to lead them through various stages of the marketing funnel. | Audience has made the decision of purchasing. |
| Content hovers around information. | Content is more geo-specific |
| Backlinks are important | Citations are important. |
What is SEO?
Simply said, SEO is a tool which helps in bringing quality and quantity traffic to the table. Quality traffic are the visitors who are great fans of the products/services and their search intent is clear. They are here for availing the products/services.
On the other hand, quantity traffic comprises people who are still looking for answers to their questions. This is where an on-page optimized website comes in handy. It will give answers as well as solutions to their problems.
The main goal of SEO is to increase organic traffic by pleasing both users and search engine robots.
Anatomy of a traditional search result
To better understand the workings of SEO, let’s conduct a Google search on the “best hotels in London”. When you are viewing the result pages, the SERPS first few rows are filled with various paid search advertisements.
Marked with the symbol ‘ad’, it appears before organic search results-at the top. Our goal is not paid ads, but organic results. Below that, you will see various SERP features.
SERP features assist users in gaining information without clicking on the website. That includes:
- Featured snippets
- Reviews
- Sitelinks
- Videos
- Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
- People also ask boxes
- And more
In featured snippets, there will be answers to the questions, like
After this we see the list of organic results- the answer to our query.
It’s crucial to retain top ranks because 67.6 percent of all clicks go to the first five results in search results, ensuring that people can find and contact you.
But before going into local SEO vs. Organic SEO, we should understand how the rankings work. Read on to gain more knowledge!!
What is local search engine optimization?
The optimization process can be catalogued into three steps:
- Crawl
- Index
- Retrieve
Google has a massive amount of content stored in the forms of blogs, web pages, website content and much more. They crawl in each website, process their content page by page and then index it for users to find during their searches.
The search engine retrieves the most pertinent content from its index. It is done to display on the search engine results page, or SERPs. As users type their queries into the search field.
Now let’s understand how google search can help in Google local search. But before that: what is local search optimization?
What is a Local SEO?
A subset of SEO that focuses on the geographic aspects of search is local search engine optimization. The technique of local SEO is optimizing your website for local search results. In order to boost visibility, traffic, and foot traffic to your brick and mortar store.
Local search and the intent behind it
Organic search bases its outcomes on the usefulness of each user’s
- search query,
- links (internal and external), and
- other search ranking considerations.
While local search, considers different ranking consideration:
Geographically relevancy.
This specifies users intent search queries. Organic searches caters to both types of audience, transactional and informational. Local search also caters to informational, but the scales tip more towards purchase intent within a user’s local search query.
Users performing local search are looking for something which can be accessed near home. Think local cafeterias, local jewelers, local doctors, etc. But how can you make search intent local? Using these modifiers:
(Keyword) + city
(Keyword)+ near me
(Keyword)+closest to me
Based on the user’s location, their willingness to travel, and the urgency of the search. These modifiers help narrow the search results and amplify search performance.
But nowadays these modifiers have been dropping from users’ queries. According to Google, neural matching has been put into place for local searches.
This implies that even if no signs, such as a business name or precise locations, are entered. Their search engine can nevertheless grasp the meaning behind phrases that may imply local intent. Match them with the most appropriate local search results.
We have understood what SEO is and what is meant by local SEO and how it is a subsection of it. But mere knowing the concept will not lead you anywhere. You have to develop strategies along with that. How to do that? Let’s find out!!
How local SEO strategies different?
Organic SEO strategies are focused upon in-depth content about industry and creating a niche in it. As well as optimize the web pages by reducing load time, streamline code and navigation.
In Local SEO strategies, it not only aligns with the above work requirement but also does so much more. These include:
- Claiming the pages of Google My Business profile and optimizing it.
- Earning and doing follow-up on reviews of the site.
- Targeting local keywords in it and link building.
- Creating geo-specific website copy.
- Optimizing NAP Citations
- Earning backlinks from prestigious local websites and directories.
Since we have come along so far in our description about everything, it is imperative to know about the star of the show. In our case, the ultimate topic. So presenting to you differences between local SEO vs. national SEO.
What is the difference between SEO and local SEO?
There are huge differences as both the tools cater to different audiences. So let’s know how local vs. national SEO is different.
Audience
This is the first significant difference and an important one. Both SEOs’ audiences are very different. While, local SEO deals with shoppers who are supporters for the local market and actively purchase them.
They will include the modifiers stated above and include the product/service or business from the city. They fully expect to make their purchase.
Organic searchers are looking for answers to their questions. They are still in the informational stage.
They are researching, not necessarily with the intention of transacting. They seek out knowledge and data that will help them resolve their current problem. They might, however, be eager to subscribe to a newsletter or download a PDF guide on the subject.
Content
Local SEO campaign is concerned with the content. The content should be geo-specific and have accurate NAP citations. Highly localized content is what establishes your geographic focus.
It helps search engines and Google map draws in a local audience.
Organic SEO is concerned with material that is centered on topical families and the cluster of keywords that exist in relevant natural content.
For instance, if your organization is in the HVAC industry. You should include content that concentrates on furnaces and air conditioning. However, you should also pay attention to associated components, guarantees, names, goods, and other things.
Citations Vs. Links
Citations form a core component for Local SEO and backlinks are core components for SEO.
Local citation occurs when the business gets mentioned in various directories complete with every NAP citation. The common directories are Yelp, GMB and Angie’s list. This also includes every bit of information such as working hours, parking amenities and much more.
In the meantime, you want your backlinks to originate from other trustworthy and reputable websites. A variety of connections to different pages on your website are preferred. Also you want the anchor text to contain significant search phrases thus helping in Google analytics.
With this, we have come to the end of the blog. But we know you will have questions. Hence, the FAQs. So here, it is.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) When to focus on local SEO?
If you have a brick and mortar business with multiple stores accompanied with a bustling community, then Local SEO is for you. Putting in the required Local SEO strategy and optimization effort will enhance your business. Also, with rave reviews it will only make your business a hotspot.
2) How do local SEO and organic SEO affect each other?
SEO in any form- be it organic or Local SEO- have a mutualistic relationship. One form helps the other form. If one strategy is booming in SEO then it is likely to boom in Local SEO as well.
You can target a local audience, for example, by including location-specific keywords and material rather than more broad information. Your organic SEO strategy will benefit from adding these sites as you’ll have more chances to appear in relevant search results.
3) What affects local SEO?
- The current location from where the search is being conducted.
- NAP references.
- Google My Business listing is present.
- In the Google My Business profile, keywords are used.
- Attitude expressed in internet reviews.
- Online reviews’ keyword phrases.
- The quantity of “check-ins” at that place
Conclusion
You have the best online shoe business that can cater to a vast audience, therefore you want to draw clients from all over the nation. How to do that? Answer: Local SEO
Local SEO is great when you want presence in your physical store. As traffic in physical stores will transcend in online stores, online visibility and organic listings.
With a boost in online stores it will get its due recognition all over the country as well as become popular in its home state.
So, you can see both of the things are vice versa. They are as different as chalk and cheese. But, when one is being affected, the impact is transcended into the other one. But both cater to different audiences and boost your sales.
You must combine local and broad SEO efforts to ensure that everyone can locate what you sell.
