Do you want to know how to make your blog or website more visible? SEO is just a part of the answer. You need to understand SEO and GEO in order to improve your site to gain and maintain lots of visitors. So what is the difference between SEO and GEO? And how will GEO help me to rank my blog where it will attract more visitors? Let’s find out…
What is SEO?
What’s that? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, and refers to strategies and techniques utilised to improve your web page or blog’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). In other words, SEO makes your site or blog more favourable to search engines, which can often result in your site or blog appearing higher in search results (and driving more users to your site).
Key Elements of SEO:
Keyword Research: Identifying relevant keywords that your target audience is searching for.
On Page SEO: optimising the content of specific pages on your site, such as the use of keywords in titles, headings and text.
Off-Page SEO: Building backlinks from other reputable sites to improve your site’s authority.
Technical SEO: Making sure your website’s technical factors – such as site speed and mobile-friendliness – are in order.
Content Quality: Creating valuable and engaging content that meets the needs of your audience.
What is GEO?
GEO, short for Geographic Optimisation, is when you produce content optimised for your site/business to rank for people in a particular geographic location. This is typically appropriate for local businesses or blogs whose content is relevant to a geographic region.
Key Elements of GEO:
Local Keywords: Incorporating location-specific keywords that reflect the geographic area you are targeting.
The local business online series: Creating and enhancing a Google My Business listing.
Local Citations: The completion of your local Google+ and Bing Places pages, as well as getting your business citations on local citation sources.
Localised Content: Producing content in the local language, including any local news, events or information.
Geo-Targeting: Using geo-targeted ads and promotions to reach users in specific locations.
How to Implement GEO to Rank a Blog
GEO strategies will help you get a better local rating, as well as bring some light regional traffic to your blog. Here’s how to use geo to help your blog’s rankings:
1. Conduct Local Keyword Research
Next, think about important keywords for your geographic target. So, if your blog is about ‘best coffee shops in Seattle’, then add in keywords such as ‘Seattle coffee shops’ or ‘best coffee in Seattle’. We can find keywords in tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or SEMrush.
2. Optimize On-Page Elements
Location keywords as title tags and meta descriptions:Using location keywords to describe the content on your page send a clear signal to crawling services of what your content is about. For instance, if you are presenting information about a bakery in Berkhamsted, type shop for bread in Berkhamsted into your title tags and meta descriptions.
Headers: When heading tags, like H1, H2, etc) include a keyword that the page is relevant to your local area.
Copy: Write blog posts on topics of local interest, including geographical terms into the text in a natural manner.
3. Create Localized Content
Develop content that resonates with your local audience. This could include:
Local Events: Write about upcoming events or recent happenings in the area.
Local Guides: Create guides or lists of local attractions, restaurants, or services.
Community Spotlights: Feature local businesses, interviews with local figures, or stories about your community.
4. Optimize for Google My Business
If you have a location for your blog, set up a Google My Business profile for it too. Although this is meant for businesses, having one increases your local visibility so make sure all your details are accurate (location, local phone number, etc).
5. Build Local Citations
List your blog with local online directories and citation sites. Make sure it matches up in your name, address and phone number (NAP) across the listings. This tells search engines who you are and where you are.
6. Utilize Local Backlinks
Find backlinks from local websites, blogs and businesses. You could post something on a local blog, or get featured on news sites. These local backlinks will make your blog’s appearance more authoritative, as well as associated with geographic search.
7. Implement Geo-Targeted Ads
This way, you can target only those who are within a few miles of one of your cafés using geo-targeted advertising on various platforms, such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads.
Conclusion
Even though SEO and GEO are totally different things, they are complementary and equally important to the successful promotion of your blog, as they are partly synergetic. SEO takes care of general search engine optimization, whereas GEO greatly improves local relevance of your blog. That’s why you should use the GEO strategies while working on your blog’s SEO to promote your blog locally and better communicate to the readers in your area.
FAQs
1. What is the difference between local keyword research and general keyword research?
In local keyword research, you search for terms and phrases that are relevant to a specific area, while in general keyword research you are searching for non-geo-specific terms.
2. Can GEO optimisation help a national blog?
Yes, if your blog has a regional focus, or if you’re trying to target people within a country so they can discover their local locations.
3. When should I update my local content?
Be as consistent as you can with your local content – this builds trust with search engine bots. Under usual circumstances, you should refresh local content at least every few months, or more often than that if there are significant changes to your community.
4. Are there any specific tools that can be used for local SEO?
Yes, indeed, tools such as Moz Local, BrightLocal and Yext provide local citation and online footprint creation as well as measuring local-focused keyword performance to name some.
5. How do I know if my GEO optimisation is successful?
By monitoring growth in rankings in local search, organic traffic from the targeted locations, and interaction rates. Analytics and Search Console (through Google) are some of the tools that can be used to measure the metrics.