Have you launched your business, and you’re looking for ways to establish yourself as an authority in your industry? Creating a well-designed site and beautifully branded accounts on social media is not enough. You will also need to optimize your website for search engines.
The two most common types of search engine optimizations include Organic SEO and Local SEO. Most businesses don’t know how to differentiate between the two. Therefore, it’s essential to understand the difference to create an effective marketing strategy. Read on below to understand the difference between organic SEO and local SEO.
What Is Organic Search Engine Optimization?
Search engine optimization is a digital marketing strategy to boost your business website’s visibility. The main goal of SEO is to optimize your website to rank high on search engine result pages.
Creating the right digital marketing strategy will help you increase your website’s traffic. When your targeted audience search for content related to your industry on search engines, they will click on your site for information or the services and products they need.
Instead of getting information through paid adverts, your targeted audience will have found your audience through a completely organic process. Organic SEO allows your target audience to find you because they need the information posted on your website. They could also be looking to purchase your products and services.
For this reason, the greatest organic SEO strategy includes using industry-related keywords to target the right customers.
Using the wrong keywords will increase your website’s bounce-back rate, reducing your ranking on search engine result pages. That’s because your site visitors will realize that your website doesn’t have the content they’re looking for; thus, they will leave almost immediately.
Below are tips to help you boost your website’s organic SEO:
- Post descriptive texts for your image content
- Organize your site’s layout and structure
- Use backlinks to establish your site’s authority
- Use industry-related keywords in your metadata, headers and all over your blog posts
- Create and post entertaining and informative content regularly
Developing the right organic SEO strategy will require patience and a lot of time. However, once you find a plan that works for your business, you will start seeing the results in the form of increased traffic to your site. Using the above tips will help you get the best long-term results.
What Is Local Search Engine Optimization?
One of the biggest questions marketers ask is what the difference between local and organic SEO is. Local SEO is a branch of organic SEO. But instead of using generic keywords that help your website rank on general search engine result pages across the world, your primary focus will be your local area.
Local SEO optimizes your site to rank higher on searches originating from your preset geographic location. If your business focuses on offering products and services in your local area, local SEO will significantly benefit you.
According to statistics, there has been a 900% increase in “near me” Google searches in the past two years. Thus, optimizing your website for local SEO will help you attract the right clients.
Some companies that may benefit from local SEO include:
- Financial service contractors
- Retail stores
- Food services
- Real estate agents
- Service-based businesses such as plumbers, musicians and photographers
- Healthcare providers
Your target customer won’t be everyone living in the U.S. looking for specific keywords in your industry. Therefore, you will want to sell your services to the people who live in your business’s local area. Using Goole local SEO will help you target the right consumers, increasing your sales.
Local SEO makes it easier for local businesses to rank for keywords in their specified industries. That’s because your local business will be competing for a spot with a smaller pool of companies than in organic SEO. Google algorithm can also assist, as it knows where your business is located and where someone is searching from.
Local Search Engine Optimization Tips to Increase Website Traffic
When creating your digital marketing plan, it’s essential to consider including local SEO in the plan. But how can you optimize your small business for local SEO? It’s quite easy to get started.
Start by creating your business profile on Google My Business and provide all the necessary information when filling the form. Remember also to provide URL links to your social media pages and your business website. You can also include an image of your logo to customize your profile.
If your business provides local people with a specific service, ensure you regularly post images and photos of the service you offer to increase attention and build an audience. You will also need to provide the correct and up-to-date contact information of your business, your physical address, and your business’s accurate operational hours during the weekdays and weekends. Providing your business’s physical location will help customers better find your business.
After signing up for Google My Business, remember to also create profiles in other directories such as:
- Bing Places
- Yelp
- Yahoo
- Yellow Pages
- Chamber of Commerce
- Foursquare
After signing up for your preferred directories, start polishing your site with industry-related keywords that most local people use when searching for services in your category. These keywords may include long-tail phrases that may contain the name of your town or city.
For example, if you run an HVAC service company in Tampa, including the name “Tampa” in your keywords will make it easier for clients in Tampa to find you.
Optimizing your business website for SEO requires patience, hard work and a lot of time. However, when done correctly, local SEO has long-term results. You can also work with an SEO service company in your local area.
The right SEO service company will help you create a long-term organic and local SEO strategy for maximum brand exposure. For example, if you live in Tampa, check out these SEO services Tampa has to offer.
Final Thoughts:
If you’re a small business owner running a local service-based company, you should consider optimizing your website for local SEO. This will help you create a solid digital presence and establish your business as an authority in your local area.
However, the first step to succeeding is understanding the difference between local and organic SEO. This will come in handy when you’re creating a long-term SEO marketing strategy for your business.
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