How does Local SEO affect international SEO goals?

[Natalie Wright]

Hi there!

In the following scenario:
- What if there's a company that is located in a particular spot in Canada and services the entire province
- But they also service anywhere along the west coast of North America and thus would like to rank within Google Organic US

What would be the best option?

Would performing local SEO for the physical address in Canada negatively impact their chances for ranking in the US?

Any and all thoughts and recommendations welcome, thank you for reading!

 

[Kristen]

Hi there!

Would performing local SEO for the physical address in Canada negatively impact their chances for ranking in the US?

Hi Natalie,

This wouldn't negative impact their chances of ranking in the US, they just wouldn't rank here in the US. It's difficult to get local businesses to rank at times for neighboring cities, let alone a different country.

If they want to rank in local here in the US, they need to have a staffed office, just as they would need in Canada. If they are serious about attracting business in a certain location, they might want to consider getting an office and staffing it with a sales rep for the area.

Alternatively, a better bet might be to start with a PPC campaign targeting the various areas you service, determine which location has the best potential and evaluate your options before jumping the gun on a location and setting up an office.

Hope this helps.

Kristen

 

[Natalie Wright]

Incredibly helpful, thank you for the direction.

So in short: they'll be unable to even rank within US Organic listings (forget Local) without a US location?

Thank you again!

 

[Kristen]

So in short: they'll be unable to even rank within US Organic listings (forget Local) without a US location?

I was speaking in terms of local results only, organic listings are a bit more tricky. I know there are Canadian members of this forum who might have some experience with this, but I do know international SEO can be tricky at times. US/Canada, not as much as targeting overseas, but still tricky nonetheless.

I think Miriam's post here might help lend some insight: https://moz.com/community/q/will-local-optimization-effect-international-ranking

Kristen

 

[Natalie Wright]

Hi Kristen,

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of that Moz URL - it does indeed seem like I've stumbled across some tricky ground that has no clear cut answer!

 

[djbaxter]

It's not impossible for a non-US website to rank in the US for non-local listings (i.e., google.com).

It depends on how relevant the content of the site is for US searchers.

Things that help:

1. hosting in the US, and/or
2. a .com domain name

For example, I have .ca sites that rank or have ranked well in google.com, although I always use a US based host.

 

[Natalie Wright]

Thank you for these tips!