Local SEO vs. National SEO: Know the Difference

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Search engine optimization (SEO) is a vital strategy all businesses with an online presence should use. SEO determines how your website appears in the search engine result pages and where it ranks. Ideally, all companies want to be on page one of the search results; the closer to the top, the better.  

Another vital aspect of SEO marketing is knowing the difference between local SEO vs. national SEO. Each of these strategies will require implementing SEO with some slight variations and some overlap. By better understanding these, it can help you decide which one is best for your business or if you could benefit from a hybrid solution. 

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Key Differences Between Local and National SEO

As the names imply, local SEO vs. national SEO means whether you want to target your local area or focus on a national strategy. It also means you will use slightly different approaches to implementing your strategies based on the key differences, including:

  • Competitors
  • Keywords
  • Content 
  • Google My Business 
  • Link building

What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO targets local audiences in your city, county, or specific area of your state. Your goal is to improve your visibility in search engine results based on your geographical location. Local SEO strategies are well suited for businesses with a brick-and-mortar location and a local address, such as home-based businesses, local stores, and local services.

What Is National SEO?

National SEO is targeting audiences on a national level. It could include strategies to target your entire state, specific regions of the country, or the entire U.S. National SEO strategies are well-suited for online businesses, tech companies, and large retail chains with multiple locations or corporations. 

Core Strategies for Each Approach

The core strategies for each approach will be different depending on which one you decide is best for your business. 

Local SEO

With local SEO, most people will conduct a search looking for a particular product or service near their current location. Your local SEO strategy’s objective is to make it easier for current and potential customers to easily find you by being ranked and placed in the top search results. Other core strategies for local SEO include:

  • Competitors: You compete with other local businesses and want to rank higher in search results for your particular market segment or industry. 
  • Keywords: The keywords used in your online content should focus on the specific geographical location you are targeting. For example, “plumbers in Las Vegas,” “plumbers in Clark County,” or “plumbers in Southern Nevada.” They could also include other useful information, like “local Las Vegas produce.”
  • Content: Your content should focus on the local community and things of interest in your specific area, such as upcoming events, special promotions, or relevant local news. You could also have content that provides valuable information, like local “how-to” guides. 
  • Google My Business (GMB): Your GMB profile is a vital tool and an essential part of local SEO strategies. It allows your business to show up on Google Maps in search results. You need to verify that your GMB profile is complete and accurate with current information. Review your address, phone number, business hours, and other such details. Make sure to include allowing customer reviews to be posted to your GMB profile. 
  • Link building: Link building is a crucial part of SEO rankings because it establishes authority and credibility. Local SEO should focus on high-quality backlinks from reliable local sources, blog posts, or directories. 

National SEO

National SEO strategies involve optimizing your website and online content to rank higher in national search engine results. With national SEO, people are searching for a specific product or service provider. Advanced technical SEO is required to ensure better performance across the different targeted regions. Core strategies include:

  • Competitors: You are competing on a national scale with all businesses in your industry or market segment. You want to make sure you stand out from the competition and rank higher in search results. 
  • Keywords: Your keywords will be more generalized terms but could be targeted using specific keywords relevant to your industry or market segment.
  • Content: Your content needs to be high quality, original, and unique to ensure Google and other search engine algorithms view it as organic. You can have “how-to” guides, informative blog articles about specific topics related to your industry, national news related to your industry, or frequently asked questions about your products or services. 
  • Google My Business (GMB): Your GMB profile will be more generalized, especially when you have numerous locations across the country or are operating an online-only e-commerce site. However, you should still complete your profile with relevant information about your business and allow customers to leave reviews. 
  • Link building: You also need to build links with national SEO strategies. Your links should be to reputable sources, resources, research studies, and websites. You could also create links for collaborations with other businesses and link to their products or services while they link to yours on their website content. 

Benefits of Each Approach

Each marketing approach has its own benefits. Reviewing these benefits can determine whether a local SEO or national SEO approach is better for your business or if you should potentially combine them. 

Local SEO

Since local SEO focuses on marketing your business in your local area, the benefits of local SEO will also be locally based and include the following:

  • Targeted audience: You are able to target your specific audience more easily with local strategies, whether it be seniors, young adults, or recently married couples. People search for nearby businesses or services, so with local SEO optimization, your business will be ranked in the top search results, giving you more exposure. 
  • Conversion rates: Usually, people conducting local searches are ready to buy and are just looking for a business to buy from. So, having top rankings can lead to higher conversion rates and more sales for your business.
  • Less competition: Depending on your industry or market segment, local businesses typically have less competition. So, implementing a solid local SEO strategy makes it easier to outpace your competitors. 
  • Improved visibility: GMB profiles make your business more visible. Even if you are working on building your website and online presence, your very first priority should be to complete your GMB profile. Local search results will still show businesses, even if they do not have a website currently built and active. 
  • Easier to build trust and reputation: Since you are dealing with a smaller number of potential customers compared to a national business, it is easier to build trust with your customers. You can also develop a positive reputation in your local area by being active in your community. 

National SEO

Some of the benefits of national SEO strategies include:

  • Wider reach: You can access a much wider audience of potential customers in your desired market segment or industry nationwide or in the specific regions you target. 
  • Potential for more leads: Since you have a wider reach, you could attract more leads compared to local SEO from all across the country.
  • Potential to become a market leader: National SEO makes it possible to become a market leader in your industry or specific market segment.
  • Broader brand awareness and loyalty: You have the opportunity to build a strong brand image with increased brand awareness and brand loyalty nationally. 

Combining Local and National Strategies

Some businesses can benefit from combining both local and national SEO strategies. For example, a local retail store could use local SEO to attract local customers. They could also use a national strategy to reach customers nationwide if they accept online or phone orders and ship nationwide. 

Conversely, a national business with physical locations in various states could benefit from a combined strategy to target those specific locations to attract local customers. Since there is an overlap between the two strategies, it is not difficult to incorporate both when they can be beneficial for your business.

For instance, increasing the number of inbound links from external sources boosts your rankings for both local and national SEO. Additionally, when you optimize content to ensure it is mobile-friendly, you can increase your local and national rankings in search results. These are a few examples of where ranking factors overlap, and there are plenty more. 

Future Trends

The future trends in local and national SEO are constantly changing as technologies continue to advance and improve. Some key trends to be aware of and tips to maintain your rankings include:

  • Refresh and update your content: Search engines’ algorithms look for refreshed and new content. It is vital to ensure your existing content is refreshed periodically and you add new content to your website to maintain your rankings.
  • Implement some video SEO into your SEO strategy: Videos are a vital component of a well-rounded SEO strategy. People prefer watching videos compared to reading online text content. Videos can be informative and educational or provide details about specific products or services.
  • Optimize content for AEO: AEO (answer engine optimization) is becoming more common as people rely more on chatbots and AI-generated search results. Your content should be optimized to answer specific questions people could ask about your products or services. 
  • Google Search Generative Experience (SGE): Google SGE is the AI-generated search results Google provides from search queries. It gets priority over search engine rankings. SGE offers answers to specific queries when relevant content is available. SGE includes links to the resources and websites from which it generates content, so optimizing content to work with SGE is essential.
  • Include topical authority content: Being an authority or expert on specific topics can give your rankings priority. Some of your online content should reflect your expertise, as it also increases your trustworthiness. For example, you are a plumbing company. Your topical authority content could be on topics such as “Signs you need a new water heater” or “How to fix a leaking faucet.”
  • Zero-click search results: There continues to be an increase in zero-click search results, which means people are not going to click through to a website on search results. The best way to be seen in zero-click search results is to optimize your GMB profile to include locations, phone numbers, business hours, and other important information about your business. 
  • Stay current on ranking factors: Search engines update and change which factors they prioritize when ranking search results. Adjust your content, as needed, to match the current ranking factors.
  • Perform regular site audits: Site audits allow you to see how well your pages perform, the number of visits, and other important details. By running audits regularly, you can find discrepancies where page performance declines. You can then update the page with new content or change keywords to improve performance. 
  • Ensure content remains focused on the users’ experiences: While there are multiple things you can do to improve your rankings in search results, it is equally important to make sure users find benefit in your content and have a positive experience. Positive user experiences translate to people staying on your pages longer, purchasing your products or services, and helping you achieve and maintain high search engine result rankings. 

Get Professional Help With Local and National SEO Strategies

Whether you want to improve your local or national SEO strategies or combine both, having professional help can make achieving the desired results much easier. 

At Levy Online, we are a full-service online marketing agency. We can personalize an SEO strategy to fit your specific needs, improve your search engine rankings, and grow your business. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation and free website audit. 

Schedule your free consultation now.

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