Do you want your business to have a global reach?
Then you’re going to want to learn about global SEO. It’s no secret that traffic from organic search leads to higher conversion rates and higher quality traffic than other sources.
That’s because people are visiting your site with a specific intent. They’re going to stick around longer. To get this traffic, though, you have to get your site towards the top of search results.
There’s a difference between global SEO and local SEO. Read more to discover what the key differences are and how you can use backlinks to improve your search rankings.
Global SEO vs. Local SEO
You may have heard that local SEO is a great way to focus your SEO efforts. What if you’re not a local business? That’s why you need to know the difference between global and local SEO.
Local SEO is about the search results that rely on your physical proximity in relation to the person who’s searching. One of the most notable examples is when someone does a ‘near me’ search.
Near me searches are becoming a very common way for people to find services and products near them. People will search for ‘bike shops near me,’ ‘restaurants near me,’ or ‘landscapers near me.’ Search engines will then display the top search results according to the location of the person, along with the many other SEO factors that determine search results.
For brick and mortar locations or service providers that work in a certain area, it makes sense to focus on local SEO.
What if your business can do business anywhere? E-commerce stores, coaches, people who sell courses or online memberships don’t have to rely on a local audience for business.
That’s when you focus on global SEO. In this case, you’ll focus more on the searches that people use to find your products or services online. You want to focus on the buyer’s journey and user intent, rather than searches for a specific location.
Understanding What Matters in Global SEO
When you realize that your business needs to focus on global SEO, you need to know what will make an impact in your search rankings.
SEO has shifted over the years. It used to be that if you focused on keywords and used certain keywords a lot throughout your web page, it would be placed at the top of search results.
Keywords still matter, but Google is shifting its algorithm to rely more on artificial intelligence to determine the user’s intent and try to match the results to what they’re looking for.
They’re also using AI to differentiate the steps of the buyer’s journey and provide results for each step. Some search terms like ‘where to buy product XYZ online’ is a sign that someone is ready to buy. A search like ‘what is the best product XYZ’ means that someone is still researching the product and isn’t ready to buy at the moment.
Google’s goal is to provide search results that give its users exactly what they’re looking for at that moment.
Why Backlinks Matter in Global SEO
Where do backlinks fit in all of this? As search engines determine what the most relevant search results are, they need a way to differentiate quality sites to make sure they’re providing the best search results possible.
Of course, search engines want to provide high-quality content to its users. It matches the intent of the user with high-quality search results.
How do search engines know what is a high-quality search result?
That’s where social signals like backlinks come into play. With these signals, it’s a sign to Google and other search engines that since other sites are linking to your site, it’s a sign of quality content.
Other things like the length of the content send a signal to search engines that a page is providing quality, in-depth content to help users solve a problem.
That being said, backlinks are still a very critical part of the equation.
How to Get Quality Backlinks
How do you get backlinks to your site to improve global SEO? When it comes to getting backlinks, quantity does not necessarily mean quality.
What that means is that you can’t go around and buy 5000 links for $5. That’s one of the biggest link building mistakes you can make.
That will send a signal to Google, but not a signal that will help you. You can actually get penalized and have your site removed from search results if you try to game the system that way.
You want to focus on high-quality links to your site. You can buy quality links, but they have to be from a reputable source, like Backlinks.com.
There are other strategies that you can put in place to get more backlinks, but it will take work.
One of the top strategies is to use guest posts. With guest posts, you research the sites you want to submit content to, send a request to offer content, and then see if they accept your submission.
Another way to get backlinks to your site is through social media. You want to make sure that all of your profiles are filled out online and you post on a regular basis.
Posting quality content that’s fresh and provides value is likely to get more shares and links to your site organically.
Global SEO for Your Business
No matter what kind of business you have, SEO can make a huge difference in the number of online leads and sales you get every day.
The question that you need to answer is whether or not you need to focus on global SEO or local SEO. Once you know the answer to that question, then you can start the process to get backlinks for your site.
That will be sure to get quality traffic from SEO to your site. Want more killer SEO tips? Check out these 5 backlink strategies that are sure to give your site a boost.
