Every business with a website wants to rank on the first page of Google. This is because over 53% of all internet users will click on the first item on the search engine results page. After this, the percentage of people that click on the next result drops considerably, until by the end of the first page the percentage is almost nothing.
To rank higher in the organic search results, companies with websites will use search engine optimisation (SEO). For lots of businesses, local SEO services are vital also.
But exactly what is local SEO and what sets it aside from organic SEO?
Let’s take a look at the major differences between organic SEO and local SEO.
What Is Organic SEO?
If you want to improve the ranking position of your website in the search engine results pages (SERP), you’ll need to employ organic SEO tactics. Organic SEO is all about increasing the visibility of your website within a search so that you have a better chance of being found and generating organic traffic.
Organic traffic comes from clicks on unpaid links on search engines such as Bing or Google.
There are several key facets to SEO, however, you can boil these down to the following:
- On-page SEO relating to the content that you produce for your site
- Off-page SEO relating to how you promote your content away from your site
- Technical SEO relating to anything you do to the backend of your site to improve the ranking
Organic SEO tactics are diverse. They could include the way that you use keywords to generate traffic or the way that you use backlinks. It could also be about the way that you optimise your website for ease of use or to work with mobile devices.
What Is Local SEO?
Now that you’ve learnt all about organic SEO, we can take a look at local SEO. Local SEO is where you help your site and your company appear in local online searches.
The major difference between local SEO and organic SEO is that as opposed to ranking at the top of the SERP, you’re attempting to rank on Google Maps, or Google’s Local Pack. Local Pack is the small map section that comes up at the top of any local searches.
To start using Google’s local pack, you’ll need to set up a Google My Business account and create a listing. In addition to this, you should also set up accounts with as many listings sites as possible to help your site and business with local rankings.
In addition to doing this, you should also try to rank for relevant local keywords. For instance, if you run an electrician’s business, you may want to rank for keywords such as ‘electrician in [city name]’
Organic vs. Local SEO
If you have a website with a local interest, you need to make use of organic SEO strategies as well as local SEO strategies.
Using organic SEO will be more of a challenge as you could be up against thousands, or even tens of thousands of different businesses and websites all over the world.
On the other hand, with local SEO, you’ll be up against a much smaller pool of similar local businesses. These will no doubt be your direct competitors.
What Type Of Business Benefits From Local SEO?
Local SEO lends itself particularly well to certain types of business. Some examples of the type of business that benefits from local SEO include:
- Car dealers and repair shops
- Financial services such as banks and financial advisors
- Food services such as catering and restaurants
- Healthcare providers such as dentists, doctors, hospitals and care homes
- Hospitality businesses such as hotels, tourist destinations, and casinos
- Real estate agents
- Retail stores that have a physical location
- Service industry businesses such as builders, electricians, and plumbers
Local SEO should be seen as an extension of organic SEO. Organic SEO will drive traffic to your website, while local SEO will drive traffic through your doors.
How Do Local SEO and Organic SEO Work Together?
Whenever a local business claims a listing on a directory site such as Yelp or Google My Business, these listings create links that go back to the company’s website. This will help Google rank your business in a higher position in the organic searches as well as in local searches.
These listings will also include the business’s name, address, and phone number. Whenever you include these citations on your website, it’ll help the directory rank your business even higher in a local search. It does this by confirming that the information that you’ve provided is true.
Now, search engines love it when new content gets uploaded to a site. This shows that your website is up-to-date and it’s still relevant. By creating content with a local angle, you’ll not only be helping build your local ranking via citations, you’ll raise your organic rankings too.
You can take this a step further by sharing your new content to Google Posts too.
Because a high proportion of impressions on listings will come from unbranded keywords, it’s vital your business does everything possible to optimise for relevant keywords on both your website and on any local business listings.
Using Local SEO With Organic SEO
SEO should help search engines push your business up the rankings for relevant searches, making you more visible to your customers. Local SEO is the perfect partner for this and if you run a local business, you should be optimising for both.
For assistance with your search engine optimisation, get in touch today.