Before we dive into the differences, let's define these two approaches:

LOCAL SEO: This SEO strategy focuses optimizes your online presence to attract targeted customers in a specific city, state, or geographic area. This type of strategy is particularly beneficial for small businesses with one or several regional physical locations or for companies and organizations serving local communities.

NATIONAL SEO: This more complex approach aims to improve visibility across an entire country, targeting a broader audience without the same geographical constraints.

Every business should have a nuanced understanding of their key demographics and how to communicate to its different target audiences. With these ideas in mind, your SEO plan should be honed in on its target audience based on location and then on secondary factors like age, income level, and need.

Local SEO for small businesses targets customers in a specific city, region, or state. It's ideal for client-oriented nonprofit or service organizations and businesses in a variety of categories like home decor, food service, medical, or local retail. On the other hand, national SEO aims to reach customers across the entire country. This style of campaign is suitable for e-commerce stores or nationwide retailers and service providers.

Making sure that your business can be seen by its target audience requires specific study of your target audience, keyword utilization, and customer intent. Local SEO focuses on a variety of competitive keywords, specific long keywords, and location-based keywords (e.g., "best pizza in Lexington") and "near me" location-based searches. National SEO targets broader, non-location-specific keywords (e.g., "best online pizza delivery").

Making sure your business can be easily indexed by the top search engines and seen by customers is very important—and having a well-thought-out web presence starts with making sure the leading search providers know your business.

Creating a Google Business Profile is one way to ensure Google has a fuller understanding of your business. Locally, this means optimizing Google Business Profile listings, critical for appearing both in local search results and Google Maps. Local SEO emphasizes building citations and listings in the SERPS and in local directories to improve local search visibility.

While still important for national SEO, Google Business Profiles play a less significant role in national SEO strategies. Instead, a robust backlinking plan helps to ensure a better Domain Authority, meaning that more and more people see your site as a credible source.

You can’t have a solid SEO plan—locally or nationally—without a plan for your brand voice with which you use to develop your content and hone in on its quality.

For small local businesses, this means that your business should regularly publish content tailored to local audiences, including location-specific pages and blog posts about local news, product updates, and informative pieces that engage with local needs, like blogs about how locals would use your items.

National SEO content plans are broader. A full national plan develops different types of content—including pieces that appeals to a nationwide audience or segmented content that focuses on trends or general topics important to different key demographics.

Despite their differences, local and national SEO share some common elements:

• Both local SEO and national SEO require high-quality, relevant content.
• On-page SEO optimization techniques are crucial for both approaches.
• User experience on-site that drives conversion is a feature both styles of business should consider.
• Website performance on desktops and on mobile platforms is an important factor in both local and national SEO strategies.

When deciding between local SEO vs. national SEO, consider your business type, target audience, and the geographic reach of your products or services. When it comes to the level of local or national competition for your industry or business, this can help you determine your use of available resources and budget.

For many small to medium-sized businesses, a local SEO strategy often provides the best return on investment, helping you compete effectively in your specific market without the need for a large-scale national campaign.

Understanding the differences between local SEO and national SEO is crucial for developing an effective digital marketing strategy. At Creekmore Marketing, we offer tailored national and local SEO packages designed to help businesses improve their online visibility and attract more customers.

From logo design and AI-powered interactions management services to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, let us show you how our team of experts can help you achieve your digital marketing goals.

Whether you need local SEO for your small business or a comprehensive national SEO strategy, contact us online or give us a call at (859) 309-5987 for your free consultation with a member of our Business Development team.