There are still many people who confuse Local Seo with the Localization service, and not only among those who come to us for our services and consultancy.
So we wrote this text to make it clear!
Local SEO, as the name implies, is a SEO specialization.
It is nothing more than a niche SEO activity aimed at making those queries (searches) that are predominantly local in the top positions of the SERP of search engines prevail, as in the example below.
Here are some examples:
- bespoke tailoring in Rome;
- pizzeria near me;
- typical Genoese cuisine restaurant.
Some clarifications:
in the second example, the search will be carried out at 99.99% from mobile, so the search engine, detecting the position of the mobile phone (if the geo-localization is operational …)
will search for all the pizzerias within a radius of X miles from the location from which the search comes, regardless of whether you are in Rome, Milan or Naples.
In the third case, the geolocation could be ignored as the location is already explicit in the query, but in any case searches will be carried out near the source from which the request comes (also in this case from mobile at 99.99%).
Localization, on the other hand, is a particular specialization of translation.
In fact, the translation produces a text that has the same meaning as that written in another language.
Example: the translation from Italian to German.
But for web pages, this is not enough.
In fact, the search engines give more relevance (and therefore reward with a more prominent position and visibility) those pages of the sites that are more usable by the searcher.
In fact, how many of you have been uncomfortable reading a page of text that talks about “refueling 30 litres of gasoline so you can cover the remaining 110 KMs without problems”?
Localization intervenes by adapting the text, changing it if necessary, precisely so that it is more consistent with the language, but also with the culture and customs of those who will read the text.
So the text above, after localization, will read:
“Petrol supply for about 8 gallons sufficient to cover the remaining 68 miles”.
If you are objecting to our extreme fussiness, think about having to buy on an e-commerce with American sizes, Anglo-Saxon weights, etc. etc. if you are in a country with metric system, or vice versa!
The experience would be frustrating and would require at least a calculator at hand!
What characterizes Local SEO?
Local Seo is distinguished from “broader” SEO by the following operations that the good SEO professional carries out:
– Creation of a Google Maps page (formerly Google My Business)
– Optimization and care of the same (updates, especially!)
– Optimization of the site for mobile (to allow the geolocation of and from the mobile phone)
– Contents that bring out the elements of the locality such as: address and telephone number with area code
– map and routes to reach the business from the main access gates of the city
– schema.org that reiterates local references
– obtaining, but also publishing, from and of local links.
Obviously, almost everyone can do this activity; we always recommend contacting the experts in the sector, maybe us :)!
What characterizes Localization?
Localization is usually always done by the person carrying out the translation, if requested.
Clearly, a client’s support may be necessary in the case of a particularly technical and specific sector: think of the nautical sector and its terminology.
Hoping to have hit the target, we also remain at your disposal for all other clarifications in the digital marketing field via: the form or emails.
Note: we suggest also to read Local SEO Tricks