When it comes to SEO, there are several different types, and the strategy varies for each one. To help clarify the differences, I will break them down and include tips on how to leverage each one as part of a digital marketing strategy.
Four SEO Approaches You Need
Local SEO
A local-focused SEO strategy increases the visibility for brick-and-mortar businesses when consumers within the business’s radius search on a mobile device or perform a desktop search for products and services in a particular geographic area.
Local searches will include keywords and phrases that relate to businesses within their neighborhood, city, community, or anything else that relates to a specific location and its surrounding area.
Local SEO strategies go beyond just your website and include things such as:
- Participating in chamber and community events (and sharing about those events on your blog and social media)
- Creating local profiles on Google My Business, Yahoo! Local, and Bing Places for Business
- Registering on top directory sites and submitting to data aggregators
Barnacle SEO
Barnacle SEO works similarly to the marine creature, which attaches itself to a much larger solid surface and feeds on particles that float by in the water. A business with a lower search ranking can attach itself to a much larger site with a much higher search ranking and benefit from the search results they are getting. When someone searches for the larger site, the smaller site, which has been connected to it, can now be found within the larger site.
For instance, a Dallas-based plumbing business might focus on increasing their number of positive reviews on Yelp. When someone searches for Yelp and plumbers in Dallas, the business will be able to "feed" off Yelp consumers in search results.
Here is where to start:
- Identify sites that offer the most by conducting searches using top keywords, phrases, or categories where the business competes.
- Review the sites and directories that are usually on the top of those search results to help you determine where to focus your efforts.
- When looking for sites to include in your barnacle SEO strategy, get creative and think outside the box to get the best results.
National SEO
National SEO is the opposite of local SEO and applies to businesses that are not bound by a physical location but can service anyone in the nation. For example, Amazon, which has a national SEO strategy instead of local. They do not have a physical location to drive traffic to; instead, they sell products and services that anyone, anywhere, can purchase or use.
A national SEO strategy focuses on feeding search engines information so consumers will find the business regardless of their location.
To do this:
- Remove or simply do not include any references to a specific location.
- The focus would be “digital marketing services” instead of “digital marketing services Plano,” for example.
- Look at other websites that come up in a national search and study the elements they have on their website.
Remember, unless you can compete with big brands like Coke and Pepsi, getting your business found with only a national focus can be challenging.
Technical SEO
Every business needs to include technical SEO as part of their overall SEO strategy. Technical SEO involves the backend of a website, and, if the backend is unfamiliar to you, then this is an area where you want to hire someone to help. Technical SEO is not something you can ignore.
Technical elements:
- Website page load time, page optimization, and mobile friendliness
- Optimized page titles and URL, title tags, and image titles & descriptions
- Monitor the site for 301, 302, and 404 errors
This is just a short list of the technical components—there are many more.
The most important thing to remember is that whatever type of SEO methods are being used, they all must support the overall SEO strategy and digital marketing strategy for the business to rank higher in search results than the competition.
As you can see, SEO is a lot more than just putting keywords on a website. What types of SEO strategies have you been using? Let’s discuss them and the results you have been getting.
Image Credits
- Featured Image: PureSolution/Shutterstock.com
- In-post photo: Bloomua/Shutterstock.com
