When you begin to be involved with the SEO world, there are many things that you need to learn and know. Also, you should be updated about everything and check all the information all the time. Changes happen very often, and for a successful business, you need to be aware of them. There are a few differences between local and national citations for SEO and you should know them. But to be able to understand them and to get to the part where you are building citations, you need to know what local and national citations are on their own. And don’t panic if you are new to this world because we are about to help you out. It might be confusing and overwhelming at first. But you will understand it very quickly and you will be able to do better things once you know the difference.
Before understanding the difference between local and national citations for SEO
Let’s start with some basic information first, so all the beginners can catch up with the theme easier. All local search engine optimizations have citations. And citations are basically any time that your business’s name, phone number, and address are mentioned somewhere online, on other websites than your own. There are more types of citations and there is a big difference between all of them. You can have local, national, and international locations. The name now probably makes it more understandable now, but you should still learn and explore more details about it.
When people start working with SEO and all these things, one of the main questions they have is which citation is the best for the business. Or better said, from which citation they can benefit the most? Well, it really depends on the location and the business itself, but let’s say that the most common answer to this question is from local SEO citations. It provides an affordable way of generating leads for sure. Almost all those businesses that are crafts related have huge benefits from local SEO and it is not a surprising result at all. Also, those are all physical stores and people have huge profits with them.
Now you must wonder what a local SEO citation is
So far you are aware that there are different types of SEO citations, and what is their main function? When it comes to local SEO, is a type of search engine optimization that is focusing on location-specific SERPs. They are visible when someone types a location-specific search term on Google or some other similar platforms. Google itself can recognize that search as a local and can transfer you to that citation. You probably noticed a feature when you are in a new place, and you search for a specific kind of store, but you add the phrase “near me”. Well at that moment, you are using local SEO citations. Of course, there are other phrases that you can use to do this. But this one is the most common one.
What makes this citation specific is that it places a lot of focus on geo-targeting. It is not about industry relevance, even though this still is one of the important local SEO factors. Things that are covered by this citation are technical SEO, citation building, and content optimization. Without a doubt, this is the easiest kind or type of SEO and there is no argument for that one. The competition is quite lower. It doesn’t take that much time when you are comparing it with other types of citations. Also, make sure to learn more about citation cleanup, because you might need it as well at some moment.
And what about national citations?
When you think about what SEO without any added names is, just a normal one, that would be the explanation of a national search engine optimization. If you want to do national SEO, basically all you are doing is competing for high-traffic search terms with a lot of other businesses that are your competitors. So, getting positive results with national SEO is much more difficult and challenging. It definitely takes longer to see results and any changes. And you should also be aware of the fact that it is much more expensive than local SEO.
Knowing these things is important for a very good reason
If you learn more about SEO and you fully understand the differences between different types of SEO, you will be in a much better position to run your business and judge investments that are required in addition to getting a website to perform optimally. The targeted area has a huge impact on the SEO citations you would benefit from. It also affects the time people need to get to your results. You can expect amazing results for the website and your business in the long run when you are up to date with everything. And professionals such as AZ Citations can help out with informing more and ranking better.
And now it is easier to understand the differences between local and national citations for SEO
Now that you know everything there is to know about these two types of SEO, let’s see what it is that makes them so different. As you know by now, from the name and when you understand them separately you can pretty much get the idea on your own what the differences are.
The main and biggest difference between local and national SEO citations is that the local one is focused on local SERPs. What they do there is not expensive. And they are generating leads for local businesses because they are able only to serve a limited geographical area or those places that are nearby. When it comes to national SEO, there are national sites such as eCommerce ones, or even blogs. They don’t benefit from local SEO because there is no specific location for these businesses. It is for the entire state, or country even. They can only benefit from local SEO citations if they make a real physical store besides the online one.
Learn more to improve your SEO
No matter if this is a new business or if it has been on the market forever. You need to understand the differences between local and national citations for SEO if you want to do things properly. The more you learn, the better outcome it will have on your entire business.
