With local SEO becoming increasingly popular for small-to-medium businesses, a lot of business owners are confused between the two main SEO offerings available to them.
Should you engage a company for a local SEO campaign, or will a “standard” SEO package suffice?
In this article, we break down the difference between local SEO and normal SEO. We’ll outline the best path for your business, depending on your individual digital marketing needs and requirements.
At Australian Web Experts, we believe that every business and website owner should understand this basic SEO information and be equipped with the knowledge to make the best decisions for their businesses marketing.
Understanding The Basics
In order to understand the difference between a local SEO campaign and a standard SEO campaign, you first need to understand the basics of SEO.
From here, business owners need to clearly define their target client market and the objective of their digital marketing campaign.
A simple way to do this is to answer these questions:
“Does your business service clients in a local market or Australia wide?”
“Do you want your business to grow nationally, or do you want your business to grow locally?”
With these two basic questions answered, you are well on your way to understanding the difference between local SEO and normal SEO. And, better yet, you are able to understand exactly what your business needs from an SEO perspective.
Chances are, if you run a local business and want to grow within your local market – your business needs local SEO services.
On the other hand, if you’re planning on growing nationally, your business likely needs a standard SEO campaign that targets keywords in a variety of areas and cities.
Local Search Engine Rankings
Local SEO is all about dominating local search and increasing your organic search results within your local area. Local SEO is ideal for small to medium businesses that provide services (or products) to local customers.
When it comes to normal SEO vs local SEO, this is the main difference. Local SEO targets local search, whereas normal SEO targets specific keywords that are intended for website visitors across multiple regions.
A local SEO strategy is perfect for local businesses who want to target local customers. By using a well formed local SEO strategy, businesses are able to dominate local search results, appear within the local pack and the top of local search results.
Local SEO Focuses On Local Business
Local SEO is all about local business. With a reported 98% of Google users going online to find a business in their local area, it is no secret that local SEO can be a powerful marketing tool for businesses.
It doesn’t make sense for a local mechanic in Brisbane to target website traffic in Sydney, for example, and this is the clear distinction between local SEO and normal SEO.
In this example, a nation wide mechanic chain or franchise may be interested in targeting clients right across Australia, however the local mechanic in Brisbane only wants to serve customers in their local area.
It is in this scenario that the local mechanic would choose to engage a provider for a local SEO campaign, whereas the nation wide franchise may opt for a standard SEO campaign or package.
The Pillars of Local SEO
The pillars of local SEO and traditional SEO are somewhat the same, however there are some key differences between the two.
One of the major differences between local SEO and traditional SEO is the focus on elements such as Google My Business and local pack appearances.
While things such as link building, landing page creation, on-page and off-page factors are largely the same between standard SEO and local SEO, there are some integral local SEO ranking factors that contribute to growth in the local search engine results.
Targeting local searches and increasing a businesses local search presence has a number of different intricacies that will dictate the overall success of your local SEO campaign.
Normal SEO Isn’t As Niche As Local
The thing about standard/ normal/ traditional SEO is that traditional SEO campaigns aren’t as niche as local SEO.
Traditional SEO campaigns are ideal for brands and businesses who want to appear in Google search for a large variety of keywords across numerous different geographical regions (this could be different regions, cities or even countries).
Just because normal SEO isn’t as niche as local, doesn’t mean it isn’t as effective. It simply comes down to the individual business and business model.
For a local company, servicing local customers, it doesn’t make sense to allocate budget to target keywords outside of the local search results.
Whereas, for a larger business, selling products and/or services right across the country, it can make a whole lot of sense to rank organically in search results across multiple geographical regions.
Organic SEO & Ranking Increases Are The Goal
It doesn’t matter if you are a business owner servicing local clients, or a business servicing clients across Australia, organic SEO and increasing organic search results are the goal behind SEO.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is simply the process of ensuring your website appears for your targeted keyword in search engines. By appearing properly within search engines, businesses are able to connect with their ideal clients and customers.
The common goal between both local SEO and traditional SEO is increased website traffic, customers and conversions. Deciding between these two SEO types is as simple as defining who your target audience is.
Is Local SEO Cheaper Than Normal SEO?
Local SEO isn’t necessarily cheaper than traditional SEO.
When it comes to the costs of SEO, the major factor will be the amount of keywords you are trying to optimise your website for, and your website’s current position within the Google algorithm.
While there’s no doubt a national company wanting to rank in every city of Australia will be paying more for SEO than a local company targeting local search intent, the cost will usually come down to the level of keywords within your campaign.
Identify The Path For Your Business
Deciding between a local SEO campaign and a traditional SEO campaign is an important decision to make when looking to increase your online presence.
As we always say at Australian Web Experts – “identify your ideal clients first, then go from there”.
If your ideal client is within your local region, choose local SEO. If your ideal client is anywhere in Australia, opt for a traditional SEO campaign.
Australian Web Experts Specialise In Both Pathways
It doesn’t matter if you’re a local business wanting to increase your local organic search presence, or a national business wanting to dominate search results nationwide – Australian Web Experts can help.
Our local and national SEO teams have extensive experience taking businesses organic search to the next level; no matter the size of your business.
We highly recommend reaching out to our team if you are interested in increasing your organic search presence.
