There are two types of search engine optimization. The first one is global SEO and the second is the local SEO. As the business owner, you should know what their difference before choosing the appropriate online marketing strategy.
What is “Global SEO”?
Global SEO also called international SEO, means targeting various customers internationally via the many global search engines. Depending on which countries you’re targeting, you may need to create the official website copy in multiple languages and take into account regional dialects and colloquialisms when performing keyword research.
Obviously, The Global SEO has to face the fierce challenge as the competition for the targeted keyphrases involves all websites in the world that are targeting those same keyphrases. While it may feel like a dream to be able to sell your products in the whole world, you may set yourself up for the failure on the local basis if you only go for the global market. Therefore, you need to carefully decide your strategy before opting for the international SEO.
What is “Local SEO?”
Local SEO is a campaign for search engine optimization that modifies the targeted search phrases by including a specific region in them. Along with the specific locations that Google lets you display your localized business in an area and the review/citation websites that enable your customers to review your business, the local SEO strategy allows your big or small business to be shown in searches for specific phrases by people that are physically located in a region where you provide service. Localized SEO is best for businesses that have the physical stores in specific locations and they only provide the goods and services in those locations only and are not trying to be seen by a global audience.
In Short, if we ask you a question that is “Are you able to provide your products or services to a person who is living in another city?” And if you answer “YES” then the global SEO strategy might be good for you. But if you don’t have the budget to be able to compete with all websites that are providing the same services or goods then it is better if you stick with the local SEO strategy and start to capture the market of your area.
Global SEO vs. Local SEO
There is a big difference between the Global SEO and the Local SEO. And if your campaign employs a wrong strategy, it can leave you with disastrous effects. In Global SEO, the targeting of Keyphrases and the traffic within a global environment is done. This means that you are attempting to attract the potential customers towards your website from all around the world. This strategy has very obvious benefits including the huge potential sales if you can provide the product or service to people who are not located in an area from where they can physically travel to your store. But you will also be facing global competition with this type of SEO. This is because when you are attempting to compete in the areas that are outside of the specific area where you are located, you will be competing with every other website in the world that is trying to capture that area.
But if we talk about the Local SEO, then the competition level for the products that you are selling on the website outside of your local area will not be as same as the inside. This means that if you own a physical store with that has a specific location in the city; you can use the localized portions of the algorithm of Google to display the website of your big or small business to the customers located within that region. So if you are also selling some products online, those people within that region will be able to see you and buy from you.
If you are targeting potential customers that exist outside of the physical region of your shop, the localization effort or local SEO will not help you get ranked globally. And as a matter of fact, that are some instances where if too much localization is done, your global rankings can be harmed as Google can perceive you as only servicing in that specific market.
The Global SEO puts focus on the large-scale generic keywords to be able to get the traffic to a website. The local SEO focuses on the localized keywords that are modified with the local environment generally a city to get the specific and relevant traffic from that area to the website. For instance, indexing for a word “plumber services” is great. However, it probably may not bring much traffic towards your website. This is because the searches for “Brisbane plumber services” are returning the local results that people can use to decide where they should be spending their money. While the global indexing might display a lot of traffic, it probably may not result in sales as people will not be willing to drive from one state to another to just because your website appeared in that list.
Local SEO uses the locally modified keywords and search phrases as well as the local results that are listed in the major engines specialized the “local” sections. Google Maps/Places is one example of the concept. If you are not listed in the section of places, you will not be found locally. A good SEO agency manages the local SEO services for a big and small business that draw customers from the specific geographic location. A good example can be found in the example of trying to get rankings from “SEO company” vs. “Brisbane SEO company” trying to get the rankings outside of the local area will open up the competitive space that will be enormous vs the one that will only involve companies that are serving in Brisbane or are located there physically in Brisbane. Even though it would be wonderful to rank for broader terms and be discovered globally, there are so many competitors that it will be better for the company to attempt something that is more achievable in order to get more business. And for this reason, many SEO agencies concentrate on increasing the rankings for the local area. This will give them the high probability of success for the work time that is available.
Final Words:
Now that you know the difference between both strategies, if you do not want to compete with a lot of big or small businesses in the whole world, you can go for the local SEO. It will help your big or small business to capture the area where your business is located.
