Imagine two people using Google.
because they want to compare tools for their team.
The second shows national results: buying guides, review sites, and software companies selling across the country.
A tale of two SEO strategies.
One is local SEO. One is national SEO.
1. What local SEO actually is
Local SEO helps you show up when people near you search for what you offer.
It matters when distance, travel time, or postcode decides who becomes a customer.
Real examples you can picture
Someone searches plumber Leeds.
They want someone close, fast, and available.
Someone searches barbershop Birmingham. If you don’t show in the map pack, your chairs stay empty.
You get the idea.
In all of these searches, being “the best in the UK” does not matter if the person nearby never sees you.
How Google handles local searches
For local intent, Google usually shows:
- The local map pack with a few nearby businesses
- Google Business Profiles with ratings, photos, and opening hours
- Local landing pages from sites in that area
Google leans on proximity and trust.
If you are close, relevant, and well-reviewed, you stand a good chance of showing up.
What actually moves the needle in local SEO
- Claim and optimise your Google Business Profile
- Use the same name, address, and phone number everywhere
- Get reviews regularly and reply to them
- Create pages for each service and each key location
- Get listed on local directories and relevant local sites
- Make your site fast and easy to use on mobile
Most local businesses skip at least half of this.
That gap is where you can win quickly.
2. What national SEO actually is
National SEO helps you reach people across a whole country.
Your address matters less. Your expertise, content, and reputation matter more.
Real examples you can picture
You sell hydroponic lights nationwide. Someone in Glasgow searches grow lights UK.
You provide a CRM software. A buyer searches crm software.
You provide enterprise SEO services. A marketing manager searches
seo agencies uk.
These people do not care how close you are.
They care whether you look like the right choice.
How Google handles national searches
For broad national searches, Google tends to show:
- Comparison guides and “best of” lists
- In-depth blog posts and landing pages
- Category and product pages from big sites
- Industry publications and review sites
Here, Google leans on depth and authority.
You rank because your content is strong and trusted sites link to you.
What moves the needle in national SEO
- Solid technical foundations: fast, crawlable, mobile-friendly
- Deep topic coverage, not random one-off posts
- Backlinks from relevant, reputable sites
- Pages that clearly match what the searcher wants to do
For national SEO, you are not just competing with your street.
You are competing with everyone who sells something similar across the country.
3. How intent, money, and timing differ
Local SEO: urgent, high-intent buyers
Someone searching dentist near me wants to book.
Same with emergency plumber near me.
They need help now, not in three months.
That urgency means local SEO wins can turn into revenue fast.
A higher position in the map pack can mean more calls this week.
National SEO: longer journeys, bigger upside
Someone searching best email marketing software is on a longer path.
They compare tools, read reviews, maybe run trials, talk to their team, and only then decide.
You need to show up at several points in that journey: early research, mid-comparison, and final decision.
It takes longer to pay off.
But one strong national ranking can bring thousands of visits a month.
4. When you need local vs national SEO
Signs you should focus on local SEO
- Your customers visit you or you visit them
- Travel time or distance matters
- People often add a city name or “near me” when they search
- You care more about calls and bookings than page views
Signs you should focus on national SEO
- You sell online to people across the country
- Your service works remotely
- Buyers care more about expertise than proximity
- You want to rank for broad category terms
When you need both at once
Imagine you run an accounting firm in Bristol. Locally, you want people searching accountant near me to find you.
Nationally, you want ecommerce brands searching
accountant for ecommerce to find you too.
Or imagine an SEO agency with one national page targeting seo agencies uk, plus local pages like
seo agency Manchester and seo agency Birmingham.
In both cases, you run local and national SEO as separate but connected efforts.
5. What to do next for local SEO
If local SEO is your main game, here is a simple plan you can follow.
Step 1: Optimise your Google Business Profile
Add photos, opening hours, services, a short description, and the right categories.
Make sure your phone number and address are correct.
Step 2: Standardise your details
Use the same business name, address, and phone on your website, directories, and social profiles.
Small mismatches make things messy for Google.
Step 3: Create service + location pages
Build focused pages like boiler repair Leeds
and emergency plumbing Leeds if those are important offers.
Step 4: Collect and reply to reviews
Ask happy customers to review you.
Reply to every review. It shows you are active and you care.
Step 5: Build local links and mentions
Join local business groups, sponsor small events, and get listed on local sites.
These small mentions help anchor you to your area in Google’s eyes.
Step 6: Measure the right things
Track calls, direction requests, messages, and bookings from local visitors.
These tell you whether your local SEO is actually working.
6. What to do next for national SEO
If you are going after the whole country, you need more structure and more patience.
Step 1: Fix technical issues
Make your site easy for Google to crawl.
Keep pages fast and mobile-friendly.
Clean up broken links and messy URL structures.
Step 2: Map your topics and intent
List what you sell.
For each offer, list the questions people ask before they buy.
Those become your core topics and supporting articles.
Step 3: Build content clusters, not isolated posts
If you want to rank for
seo agencies uk,
do not write one page and hope for the best.
Build a main page, then support it with content on pricing, process, case studies, and industries you serve.
Link them together in a clear way.
Step 4: Earn relevant backlinks
Get mentioned on industry blogs, podcasts, and partner sites.
Do digital PR where it makes sense.
One good link is worth more than dozens of random ones.
Step 5: Match content to real offers
Every important page should lead somewhere: book a call, start a trial, request a quote.
Ranking without a next step is wasted effort.
Step 6: Measure over months, not days
Watch non-brand organic traffic, key rankings, and leads from organic.
National SEO is a slow build, so judge it on quarters, not weekends.
7. Common mistakes that waste time
Trying to rank nationally with one generic page
A single “UK services” page will not make you visible across the country.
National rankings usually come from a network of strong, connected pages.
Relying only on a Google Business Profile for a national offer
If you sell software or remote services, a Google Business Profile might help a bit locally.
It will not drive serious national growth by itself.
Mixing local and national intent on the same page
When you try to rank one page for accountant near me
and a broad term like accountant for ecommerce, you send mixed signals.
Split them. Give each page one clear job.
Publishing content with no real search intent behind it
Writing random posts because “content is king” keeps you busy and invisible.
Always tie a page to a search someone actually makes and a next step you actually want.
8. Final takeaways
- Local SEO wins when people need someone nearby
- National SEO wins when location does not matter
- Local SEO runs on proximity, consistency, and reviews
- National SEO runs on depth, structure, and authority
- You can run both, but treat them as two linked strategies, not one blurred effort
Once you know which game you are playing, your decisions get easier.