International SEO vs Local SEO: what’s the difference?

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You’ll need SEO so that others can discover you — but the SEO you’ll need will depend upon where your customers are. You’ll need local SEO if you’re trying to capture customers in your hometown or the town down the street. If you’re trying to capture customers abroad, you’ll need international SEO.

Though both share the same aim — to rank with the search engines — they accomplish it differently, marketing to a different market, and require a different strategy. Once you know the difference, you’ll be better at conserving time and money.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is getting your site known to customers in a local geographical area. It is a suitable procedure for:

Small local businesses
Restaurants, cafes, shops
Local companies such as electricians, gyms, or plumbers

Local SEO is great when your business needs ranking for “near me” searches, map listings, and other local searches.

Key advantages of Local SEO

Google Business Profile Optimisation

Fill out the profile with authentic business information, images, and business

operating hours.

Local Keywords

Apply geographic terms like “best coffee shop in Boston” in titles and body content.

Local Citations

Be cited by web directories from time to time.

Customer Reviews

Get happy customers to review on Google, Yelp, or TripAdvisor as a way of ranking higher and authoritative.

Localised Content

Create landing pages for blog posts about local news, advice, or events your visitors are looking for.

What is International SEO?

International SEO is search engine optimising your site for more than one country or more than one language. That’s useful for:

Foreign-selling e-commerce websites
Companies expanding globally
Multi-language websites with companies

International SEO is more complex than local SEO since you have to deal with different languages, cultural requirements, and search engine algorithms.

Some of the most essential characteristics of International SEO are:

Hreflang Tags

Inform search engines of the language and region for which each page has been optimised.

Country

Specific Domains or Subdirectories (example.co.uk for the UK, example.fr for France)

Localized Keywords

Do keyword research for each market because even keywords vary in countries with shared languages.

Cultural Adaptation

Localise imagery, promotions, and content based on local sensitivities.

Multiple Search Engines

Although Google is the dominant search engine globally, there are some exceptions in a few countries, i.e., China with Baidu or Russia with Yandex.

Significant International SEO vs. Local SEO Differences

Feature

Local SEO

International SEO

Target Audience

Customers in a specific location

Customers in multiple countries or languages

Keywords

Location-based keywords

Country and language-specific keywords

Content

Local events, offers, and news

Global messaging with localised versions

Optimization Focus

Google Business Profile, local citations

Hreflang tags, country-specific domains

Competition

Other local businesses

Global competitors in multiple markets

Search Engines

Mainly Google and local listings

Google + local market search engines

Which Strategy Do You Need to Implement?

Use Local SEO if:

All of your customers are in one geographic area.
You have a physical store and a local business or service.
You want to rank high on the map and “near me” searches.

International SEO if:

You conduct business selling your products in more than one country.
You maintain a multilingual international site.
You desire to develop your brand globally.

Use both if:

You are local but operate an e-store or a business that will be beneficial to global readers. A case in point is a local bakery that sells locally but exports internationally.