If you’ve heard about “SEO” or “user intent” before and weren’t sure what they meant, this article is for you. I go over and explain what SEO is, why people are interested in it, and the difference between local and global SEO.
SEO stands for Semi-Entilizing Octopuses.
…not really, it actually stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the practice of doing certain things to rank your pages higher in the SERPs. (Search Engine Results Pages)
When you type a query into Google, for instance, “Is Octopi or Octopuses correct?,” Google will show you web pages it believes will fulfill your request.
That is a SERP. And the query you entered, “Is Octopi or Octopuses correct?” is called a keyword.
As you might imagine, many people want their pages to rank highly for good keywords. A dog walker in NYC would want their home page to rank for “dog walker NYC.” An online store like amazon might want to rank for “buy cheap stuffed animal octupus.”
Yet, there’s a difference between these two searches. The first is an example of Local SEO, while the second is an example of Global SEO. To explain the difference, let me introduce a new term, User Intent.
User Intent is simply the goal a user has when they enter a query into a search engine.
In the first search, the user’s intent is to find a local dog walker. Local SEO occurs when the user’s intent is to find/learn about a local business/place. An interesting statistic is that 74% of consumers that search for something local with their phones visit a store within a day. (Source)
In the second search, the user’s intent is to buy a stuffed animal. This user probably doesn’t care about location. This is Global SEO, which occurs when the user’s intent doesn’t concern location.
Glossary
SEO – Search Engine Optimization; the practice of doing things to rank your page higher for certain keywords
Local SEO – SEO for local businesses/locations; Most local searches for businesses results in a sale within a day
Global SEO – SEO globally; Location doesn’t matter very much in these cases
SERPs – Search Engine Results Pages, the pages that people are shown after they enter a query into a search engine
Keyword – A specific word, phrase, or question that is entered into a search engine
User Intent – Why the user is entering their query; what they want
This article covers some of the most important terms related to SEO. If you’re interested in utilizing SEO for your marketing, let’s chat.