What is the Difference Between Local and National SEO?

If you want your business to not only survive but thrive in the digital age, you must have a solid search engine optimization (SEO) campaign. If your company is coming up on the second or third search engine results page (SERP), it isn’t going to be around for very long. Your SEO campaign should focus on local SEO, not just national. What is the difference between local and national SEO? In California, it’s crucial to understand this information. We will guide you through the finer points of both methods.

Understanding National SEO

National SEO may sound like a federal agency to some, but it’s a technique that has been around since the inception of the internet as we know it. National SEO (sometimes referred to as traditional SEO is focused on driving traffic from search engines nationwide to a single website. When engaging a national audience, broader, less specific keywords are used to reach customers. The content used may involve things like blog posts, infographics, articles, and video content. National SEO is an excellent strategy if you are trying to build a brand nationwide and increase visitors to your website. When link building, it focuses on trustworthy, high-quality links from an authority on a subject.

Understanding Local SEO

If you are trying to reach customers in California in cities like Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and San Diego, then you need to use local SEO to reach those target audiences. This technique is best if you want more local foot traffic to a retail location or more calls to your service-based business. It focuses on customers who are ready to buy a good or service and weeds out national competitors by using keywords related to the local area. Another advantage of local SEO is that you are marketing to a smaller area so that it can fit a small business budget. It requires constant maintenance to be effective, but the savings make it viable. Unlike national SEO, local SEO focuses on links from regional website directories and boards. Local business links to your website have a much more significant impact than those from outside your area. Places like churches, local civic organizations, and the chamber of commerce are all excellent sites to link to yours. They lend a significant amount of credibility to residents in your business area. With both national and local, make sure that in both types of SEO, your links are not spam or adult material.

Google states that over half of all mobile searches have made contact with a local business through their Google Business listing. Make sure your Google Business profile is up to date and complete. Everything should be filled in, and having reviews gives your business both legitimacy and trust. When you have a satisfied customer, send them a link or QR code to your Google Business profile to leave a review. Be sure to respond to all reviews, good or bad, to show that your business is still running and cares about its customers. In larger California cities such as Los Angeles or San Francisco, you may want to focus on the area of a town where your company resides.

Which Method is Best?

You should focus on your company’s goals when using national or local SEO. If you are trying to bolster a local eatery or plumbing service, then local SEO is the ideal method. Suppose your business is a multimillion-dollar retail chain or manufacturer and wants to expand and build its brand identity, not only across California, but the entire content. In that case, national SEO is the clear choice. So, to answer the question of which is the best method of SEO, both national and local are equal based on your company’s goals.

To Sum Up

If you are trying to increase traffic to your website, it is key that you understand what type of traffic you want. Is your business trying to expand nationwide, or are you starting a small neighborhood market? Understanding your goals will allow you to focus on the type of SEO that is the most beneficial to your company, be it national or local.

Let SEO California Creative Guide Your SEO Campaign

If you are trying to get attention from a local community for your burgeoning small business, or if you want to expand your corporation nationwide, we can help. Get in touch today, and we will schedule a meeting to discuss your company’s SEO goals and how we can help. Don’t let your competition get ahead; contact us right away.