Local SEO vs National SEO: The Fundamental Differences & Which of These You Should Focus On
Hot or cold. Left or right. Yes or no. Local or National SEO. Rhymes aside, every digital marketer worth his or her salt knows that SEO is extremely vital to an online business’s growth. And much like the basic dilemmas that were used as examples in the first sentence of this article, the question between using either local or national SEO is also a question that is asked often.
Both types of SEO are important and beneficial. Let’s get the record straight in that regard. But, the main impact that either of these is going to have on your business depends on the type of business you own and your chosen target market. This difference will be elaborated upon below:
Local SEO
Local SEO is all about marketing your business in a specific locale or community. It works best for businesses that have a physical location. These local businesses, as the name implies, serve the local market in their respective areas. They are often associated with a specific area. For example: “Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles”.
Using local SEO is advantageous because you naturally get filtered traffic. People who are searching for, let’s say “affordable hotels in Houston” are more likely to push through with a transaction than those who simply search for “affordable hotels”.
National SEO
In the case of national SEO, the location of the business does not have much of a bearing in searches. This type of SEO is typically used by purely online businesses. The target market, in this case, is not limited to a specific market or locale. As one might assume correctly, a national SEO campaign is much more difficult to carry out and is also more expensive to fund because you are competing with similar businesses from other countries as well. This also means that the chances for success are also lower here.
So, Which Should You Focus Your Efforts On?
You can approach this scenario in the same way that you approach the construction of a house. You start with a solid foundation and you work your way up. So, it’s better to prioritize local SEO over national SEO if you’re starting out. This may not come as a surprise to most of you. But, the reason for prioritizing local SEO, even when you don’t have a physical location, is that the higher your website ranks locally, the higher you’re also going to rank nationally.
How you rank in local SEO also affects how your rank nationally. So, it’s a rather simple objective. You establish your own little corner of the universe, and then, you grow from there on.
The Hybrid Approach
There are some instances where your business might benefit more from a hybrid SEO campaign which combines elements from both types of SEO. Whichever the case is, the best way to determine which type of SEO campaign you need is to consult with a reliable SEO company. BestSEOCompanies.com is a great resource that shows you which SEO companies fit that description.
