Search engine optimisation is the process of getting your website to rank higher in Google search for terms related to your business. Did you know that there are different ways you can approach SEO though, depending on where your customers are based and what you sell?
In this article, we will look at the two main types of search engine optimisation – local SEO and national SEO. What’s the difference between the two? Does one perform better than the other? Which is better suited to your business?
By the end of this article you will know all about local SEO and national SEO, and will be in a clear position to decide which is best for your business.
What is the Main Difference between Local and National SEO?
Regardless of what SEO approach you take, the end goal is very similar. To get your website ranking higher organically. National SEO is seen to be the more traditional approach, where the objective is to get your website ranking high for searches nationwide.
A local SEO strategy will instead help focus on growing your organic positioning for searches and customers in your local area. This could be a specific town or county. Local SEO often relies heavily on factors such as citations and website copy to signal to Google where your business is based and who it serves.
How to Grow with Local SEO
Local SEO relies heavily on off-site SEO practices just as much as on-page. Google MyBusiness is an extremely important platform to have for any business, even if you aren’t a traditional brick-and-mortar company.
Google MyBusiness results often appear above standard organic results in Google results, meaning they are gold mines for relevant clicks from local customers.
Whilst organic results will never top paid PPC ads, having an optimised Google MyBusiness listing will greatly see your dominance on the results page grow.
Two Important Local SEO Factors – NAP Data and Reviews
Google doesn’t give away exactly what is factors in to ranking a website, but experts and SEO agencies can have a well-educated assumption from past work. NAP data and online reputation are two big ways to grow a local company organically, however they are often overlooked.
NAP Data
This stands for Name, Address, Phone. Three core pieces of information that must be consistent across the web for Google to easily rank a business. Google gets great confidence from business listings, known as citations, and if they all show the same information about your business then Google is even more likely to show your information when people are searching for relevant services to you.
Inconsistencies in this NAP data can confuse the Google algorithm and cause it to be less likely to show your business to searches. Therefore it is important that this data is correct, up to date, and consistent across all online platforms.
Reviews and Reputation
Again Google has not said specifically that reviews impact organic rankings, however 91% of digital marketers have said they see a positive increase in conversions when a business has strong reputation management.
Many review websites like Facebook and Yelp are important, but again Google MyBusiness is one of the greatest influences in search results that can swing a potential customer one way or another.
According to BirdEye, a single negative review can cost a business up to 30 future customers – so it’s important to keep encouraging reviews and ensuring you have a service to deserve the top ratings!
How National SEO Differs from Local SEO
The best practices above help local SEO rank well in their areas, but they also help contribute to national SEO. The primary place that a national SEO campaign differs is through domain authority and backlinking.
A backlink is a link back to your website from another site. Domain authority is how trustworthy Google portrays your website to be. These two key SEO metrics work hand in hand together to help rank a website for searches nationally.
The number of backlinks a website has signals to Google that the website may be more trustworthy, and if these backlinks come from a site with higher domain authority then this is an even better signal.
But what is domain authority? Developed by Moz, it is a way of scoring a website from 0 – 100 depending on how authoritative and trustworthy a website is. How do you gain authority? Through links!
Not all sites have the same level of authority. This article, if published on the BBC News website for example, would likely see the BBC rank higher than us due to them naturally having a much greater readership and numbers of both inbound and outbound links.
National SEO and ranking your site across the country is highly dependent on these metrics and growing these will help build your organic rankings.
Local and National SEO in Summary
There are many differences between the two approaches to search engine optimisation, but on the contrary there are also many similarities. Engaging copy and content that provides value will always help keep people on your site for longer and want to share its content more.
Search engines are always looking to serve up quality and value to searchers, not just volumes of content that provides little of either.
For local SEO rankings, it’s important to remember that consistency is key. NAP data and citations that remain consistent will give your business trust on Google and help grow in the rankings.
National SEO is heavily influenced by backlinks and domain authority. Growing these metrics and creating share worthy content will help your business rank higher for searches no matter where your customer is based.
If you’re looking for an experienced web design agency in Chesterfield to help grow your business locally or nationally, get in touch with Chesterfield Web Design today.