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Author: Annie

Published on 7th July 2026

Local vs International SEO

Whether you’re a business owner planning growth, a marketing manager responsible for lead generation, or part of an internal SEO team managing multiple priorities, understanding the difference between local vs international SEO is critical.

Your organisation may not lack SEO knowledge, however teams can struggle because local and international search require different strategies, tools, reporting frameworks, and resource commitments.

Choosing the right approach can mean the difference between sustainable growth and wasted budget, time and effort.

Need an external perspective on your SEO strategy? Talk to us.

Jump to

What is local SEO
How does local SEO work
Google Business profile and local SEO
Does your Google Business Profile help with being found in AI search results?
What is International SEO
International SEO vs Local SEO: Key Differences
Signs Your Business Has Outgrown a DIY SEO Approach
How to improve local SEO
How to do international SEO successfully
How to Choose the Right International SEO Site Structure
How to measure International SEO success
The Hidden Challenge for In-House Digital Marketing Teams

What Is Local SEO?

Before comparing local vs international SEO, it’s important to understand each discipline individually.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the process of improving your visibility in location-based search results. It helps businesses appear when people search for products or services in a specific geographic area.

For example:

“SEO agency in Worthing”
“Sauna supplier near me”
“Forklift instructor in Shoreham”

Local SEO focuses on helping businesses appear in:

Google Maps results
Google’s Local Pack
Location-based organic searches
Voice search results
Mobile searches with local intent

For many SMEs, local SEO is one of the highest ROI marketing channels available because it targets people actively searching for nearby solutions.

Example of a local SEO results on Google search for ‘cake baker Worthing’

IMPORTANT NOTE

Many people assume local searches only happen when someone includes a town or city name in their search term, but that’s no longer the case. When users have location services enabled on their device, Google can use their geographic location to personalise search results automatically. This means a search for “accountant”, “surf shop”, or “marketing agency” may return businesses nearby without the user ever specifying a location. As search engines become increasingly focused on delivering relevant local results, businesses with strong local SEO are more likely to appear when potential customers are actively looking for their services in the area.

Why Is Local SEO Important?

If customers can only buy from you within a specific region, local visibility directly impacts revenue.

Benefits of local SEO include:

Increased visibility in your service area, improving the quality of leads.
Higher trust through effort put into getting reviews and ratings
Better conversion rates than broad traffic (quality over quantity)
Stronger presence in Google Maps.

For many businesses, local SEO delivers some of the quickest and most measurable marketing results.

How Does Local SEO Work?

Google evaluates several factors when deciding which businesses to show in local search results.What Affects Local SEO?

The most influential ranking factors include:

Google Business Profile optimisation
Consistent business information across the web
Customer reviews and ratings (This is vital for your performance on Googles listings)
Location relevance
Local backlinks>
Website quality and user experience
Content with local relevance

Google’s goal is simple: show the most relevant and trustworthy business for a user’s location and search query.

Google Business Profile SEO: The Foundation of Local Visibility

A well optimised Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) remains one of the most powerful local SEO assets available.Does Google Business Profile Help SEO?

Absolutely.

Your profile influences visibility across:

Google Maps searches
Discovery searches
Branded searches
Voice searches

Businesses should:

Use accurate business information
Select the correct categories
Upload high-quality photos
Publish regular updates
Respond to all reviews
Keep opening hours current

How to Do SEO for Google Business Profile

Some simple improvements include:

Completing every profile field
Adding services and products
Including local keywords naturally
Encouraging customer reviews
Posting updates consistently, such product updates or offers and blog posts

For businesses serving local markets, Google Business Profile SEO is often the first place to start.

More information on completing a Google Business profile for SEO here

Does Your Google Business Profile Help with AI Search Results?

Yes. Positive reviews and strong ratings are widely recognised as indicators of trustworthiness, and AI-powered search tools including ChatGPT- as well as Google Gemini and AI overviews – heavily rely on Google Business Profile when generating local results.. It’s important to maintain an active, highly rated Google Business Profile as part of a local SEO strategy.

What Is International SEO?

If local SEO helps you dominate a specific area, international SEO helps you reach customers across multiple countries and languages.

International SEO is the process of optimising a website so search engines can identify which countries and languages your content is intended for.

The goal is to ensure users in different markets see the most relevant version of your website.

Examples include creating separate UK and US English versions with localised terminology (such as “petrol” versus “gasoline”) and cultural nuances, developing content in languages such as French, German, and Spanish, and adapting product pages, pricing, and currencies to suit individual markets.

Why Is International SEO Important?

For businesses selling internationally, growth opportunities often lie outside their home market.

International SEO helps:

Increase global visibility
Generate overseas leads and sales
Improve user experience for international audiences
Build trust through localised content. Google will prefer content with localised words.
Support international expansion strategies

Research consistently shows that users prefer consuming content in their native language, even in countries where English proficiency is high.

International SEO vs Local SEO: Key Differences

While both strategies aim to increase visibility, they can help resolve very different business challenges.

Local SEO	International SEO
Targets a specific geographic area	Targets multiple countries or regions
Focuses on Google Maps and local results,	Focuses on language and country targeting
Relies heavily on Google Business Profile,	Relies on technical site structure
Emphasises local reviews and citations,	Emphasises localisation and market relevance
Best for regional service providers,	Best for ecommerce and international brands

What Is the Difference Between SEO and Local SEO?

Traditional SEO focuses on improving visibility regardless of location. Local SEO adds geographic relevance.

For example:

A national industrial equipment supplier may target:

Industrial pumps
Conveyor systems
Material handling equipment

A local engineering company may target:

Precision engineering in Lancashire
CNC machining near me

Local SEO introduces geographic signals that help search engines understand where your business operates and which areas you serve. This allows Google to connect local businesses with nearby customers actively searching for their products or services.

Signs Your Business Has Outgrown a DIY SEO Approach

Whether you’re focused on local growth or international expansion, there are certain indicators that additional expertise may be valuable.

You may benefit from specialist support if:

Organic growth has plateaued
You’re entering a new country or region
Multiple locations need managing
International traffic isn’t converting
Hreflang issues keep appearing in audits (see next section for more information)
Reporting doesn’t clearly show performance by market
Internal resources are stretched

This doesn’t mean replacing your marketing team. In many cases, specialist SEO partners work alongside internal teams to provide additional expertise, technical support, and strategic guidance where needed.

How to Improve Local SEO

If your customers are concentrated in a specific area, focus on:

Optimising your Google Business Profile
Building local citations with other websites
Generating customer reviews (prioritise this on your Google business profile) for example sending aftersales emails with a direct link to leave feedback
Creating local landing pages on your website.
Publishing local content
Earning backlinks from regional websites
Local PR to your target area.

Local Landing Page example:

See the full local landing page here

How Local SEO Increases Profits

Local SEO often delivers strong profitability because it targets users with high purchase intent.

Someone searching for:

“emergency electrician near me”

is typically much closer to making a buying decision than someone conducting general research.

This leads to:

Higher conversion rates
Lower acquisition costs
Better marketing efficiency

How to Do International SEO Successfully

One of the biggest misconceptions is that international SEO simply means translating content. It doesn’t. The most successful international websites localise their entire customer experience.

How to Implement International SEO

Successful international SEO typically includes:

Country and language targeting
Local keyword research
Region-specific content
International link building
Technical SEO configuration
Localised user experiences

Website Optimisation for International Trade

Businesses expanding internationally should also consider:

Local currencies
Regional regulations
Cultural differences
Payment methods
Local search behaviour

These factors often influence rankings and conversions just as much as technical SEO.

International Website Optimisation: Common Mistakes

Many businesses spend significant budgets on international expansion before realising their SEO foundations aren’t ready.

Common mistakes include:

Relying Solely on Machine Translation.

Machine translation can help scale content production, but it rarely delivers long-term SEO success on important commercial pages.

Native-language content generally performs significantly better because it captures local nuance, search intent, and cultural context.

Expanding Too Fast. The most successful international brands often start with a single new market.

They:

Analyse existing international traffic
Validate demand
Build processes
Scale gradually

Ignoring Local Search Behaviour

What works in one country doesn’t always work elsewhere.

Search habits, terminology, buying behaviour, and competitor landscapes vary significantly by region.

International SEO Hreflang Best Practices

When discussing international SEO, hreflang tags often receive a lot of attention.

What Are Hreflang Tags for International SEO?

Hreflang tags help search engines understand which language or regional version of a page should be shown to users. However, hreflang alone won’t guarantee international rankings. Google still prioritises relevance, quality, and localised content.

How to Use Hreflang Tags for International SEO

Best practices include:

Implement hreflang from launch
Ensure reciprocal references exist
Use Googles valid language and region codes
Reference canonical URLs only
Include self-referencing hreflang tags

Businesses operating across multiple regions should regularly audit hreflang implementation to avoid costly errors. The excellent guide from Screaming Frog’s hreflang audit tutorial explains common implementation issues and how to identify them using the Screaming Frog auditing tool. Need some help? Talk to our expert technical website team

How to Choose the Right International SEO Site Structure

Site structure remains one of the most important international SEO decisions.

In many cases, country-specific subfolders provide the best balance between scalability and authority consolidation.

Examples:

example.com/uk/
example.com/fr/
example.com/de/

The right structure depends on your business model, resources, and long-term expansion plans. This is something we advise to discuss with a website developer, as your current website set up will affect how you choose your site structure. If you are looking for advice, we have in-house website developers and technical SEO experts who can do an international SEO audit for you. Contact us here

How to Measure International SEO Success

International growth should always be tied to business outcomes.

Track:

Organic traffic by country
Revenue by region
Conversion rates
Local keyword rankings
International lead generation
Market-specific engagement metrics

The most successful international SEO campaigns rely on clear measurement frameworks from day one. You can create these types of reports in your Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster tools.

IMPORTANT NOTE: While Google remains the primary search engine, some B2B organisations may place more emphasis on Bing if more of their website traffic comes from here. It then becomes more important to monitor and measure outside of the Google products)

The Hidden Challenge for In-House Digital Marketing Teams

Why Internal SEO Teams Often Need Additional Support

Many businesses assume their existing SEO strategy can simply be expanded into new locations or countries.

In practice, local and international SEO introduce entirely different challenges.

For local SEO, internal teams often need to manage:

Multiple Google Business Profiles
Review generation programmes
Location page optimisation
Local citation management
Regional content creation

For international SEO, the complexity increases further:

Market selection and prioritisation
Multilingual keyword research
Hreflang implementation
Localisation workflows
International reporting
Country-specific link acquisition

Even highly capable internal marketing teams can find themselves stretched when managing these requirements alongside day-to-day campaigns.

The most successful organisations often combine internal knowledge with specialist SEO support when entering new markets or scaling internationally.

To Summarise: Local vs International SEO

First thing is first. Understand which SEO strategy best supports your business goals. If you need to build online exposure within certain geographic areas within a country, that’s a local SEO strategy and requires some fundamentals including an active Google Business Profile, generating reviews and location specific landing pages.

If you want to expand into new markets, or already have multiple regional websites, you will likely want to an international SEO strategy as well. This will include ensuring you have the right site structure and localised content, tailored to different languages, cultures and local market nuances.

For many businesses, it may not be a lack of in-house knowledge, but it can be difficult to prioritise what is right for your business, within the day-to-day operations. That’s where an exploratory conversation can help provide a fresh perspective, and ideas can become action.