If you’re aiming to grow your business across the country, you need a strategy that reaches beyond your local zip code. You’ll learn how to rank nationally and harness the power of the internet to become a household name.
Figuring out how to achieve national SEO ranking is about playing the long game. It’s about crafting a digital presence so strong that people from coast to coast not only recognize your brand but also trust it enough to do business with you. If you don’t have time to figure it out yourself you can always hire a national SEO company that can take you to the next level for your business.
Understanding National SEO
Think about those times you’ve searched for something online, maybe a new pair of running shoes or a recipe for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Chances are, you weren’t looking for a store in your neighborhood or a baker down the street. You were searching for the best, regardless of location.
This is where national SEO comes in. National SEO, or national search engine optimization, is all about optimizing your online presence. This helps your website show up high in search results when people across the country search for what you offer. According to Forbes, national SEO is all about helping companies that want to reach customers all across the country.
It’s the difference between being the go-to bakery in your town and being a nationally recognized brand people crave.
National SEO vs. Local SEO
Although national SEO shares similarities with local SEO, there are distinct differences. With local SEO, the goal is to attract customers within a specific geographic area, like your city or region. You’d probably focus on phrases like “best pizza in Chicago.”
If you own a yoga studio in Atlanta, your keywords would probably revolve around “yoga instructors in Atlanta.” Businesses practicing local SEO will benefit by utilizing resources like Google My Business to increase their online visibility locally. A comprehensive guide to SEO strategy is helpful in seeing what SEO strategies work.
But national SEO takes a wider approach. Instead of narrowing down your audience, you’re aiming for the entire country. Businesses with products they ship, for example, benefit more from having brand awareness. A local campaign would limit the sales of their product. Think broader, non-location-based terms like “best CRM for small businesses” or “custom handmade jewelry.” The key difference lies in tailoring your website content and keywords to resonate with a much wider audience.
Crafting a National SEO Strategy
Just like any ambitious venture, you need a solid plan. National SEO isn’t a magic trick—it takes strategy, effort, and a commitment to quality to achieve lasting success. Figuring out how to dominate national SEO rankings is an achievable goal for any motivated entrepreneur or business.
These guidelines lay the groundwork for getting your site in front of customers ready to buy your product:
Keyword Research: Speaking Your Customer’s Language
First things first, you need to figure out what your potential customers are actually searching for online. This means diving deep into keyword research. Keywords are the phrases people type into search engines like Google when they’re looking for information, products, or services.
Understanding which keywords have high search volume can help you decide what kind of SEO content to create. Researching both keywords with broad appeal and those that are more specific (also known as long-tail keywords) is critical in planning your national SEO strategy.
Imagine you’re a company that makes organic skincare products. “Organic skincare” is a broad keyword with a lot of competition. However, a phrase like “best organic facial serum for dry, sensitive skin” is more targeted. Users searching that are likely further along in their customer journey and ready to purchase. Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to find relevant keywords for your niche.
High-Quality Content: More than Just Keywords
Having the right keywords sprinkled throughout your content is crucial. Just as important is content that is well-written, relevant, and provides a positive user experience. The algorithms Google uses to rank websites look at various elements of your site. The best kind of content incorporates valuable keywords and offers relevant and useful information to the reader.
You also want your content to showcase your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness—often called “E-A-T” in SEO speak. It’s more than just stuffing keywords on a page. It’s about giving your audience valuable information, insights, and resources.
That might be crafting an in-depth guide to brewing the perfect cup of coffee, if you’re a coffee company. Or, writing a blog post on how to choose the best running shoe for marathon training if you’re an athletic brand. Remember that 70% of Americans shop for products online and are likely reading about those products first, before purchase. So quality content makes all the difference. Think of creating different content like tutorials or FAQs about your products. Also, think about the way you format your website and make sure to design it so it loads quickly.
Backlink Strategy: Building Your Digital Reputation
The more quality backlinks your content earns, the more trustworthy Google and other search engines see your site. This gives it greater authority. To rank nationally, you’re going to want quality content and a winning backlink strategy. Generating quality backlinks is one of the more important national SEO strategies.
Link building is the way websites get other websites to link to them. Think of a backlink as a vote of confidence. Imagine a prominent blogger in the gardening world mentions your landscaping services company on their site, complete with a link to your homepage. That’s a powerful signal to Google that you’re worth checking out, and it increases your visibility to gardening enthusiasts around the country.
The better backlinks you have, the more of a chance you have of earning one of the coveted 10 spots on Google’s first page for relevant keywords. Collaborate with other brands in your industry by offering guest blog posts. Another method is by creating informative, shareable content on your website and sharing that content on other online channels.
Do research and analyze competitor backlinks to better understand what you are up against. Tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs are beneficial in finding out more information.
User Experience: Mobile Matters and Site Speed is Key
If your website isn’t working seamlessly on mobile devices, you’re missing a major opportunity. More people browse on mobile devices today than ever before. It’s essential that you focus on usability so people visiting your site have a good experience. Site speed is one of the more underrated national SEO ranking factors.
Statista.com research confirms this. They are reporting that nearly half of website visits around the world are done on mobile phones. Your site needs to look just as beautiful on a smaller screen and offer effortless navigation. Not to mention load quickly. Page load times matter in national SEO for a very important reason. Nobody wants to wait around for a slow-loading site.
Did you know if your page takes three seconds to load instead of one, a third of your visitors might abandon the site? It jumps up to over 100% if it takes 10 seconds to load according to Think with Google. These visitors, having been lost before they could convert, can result in businesses losing significant potential profit.
Data and Analytics
Understanding data will give your national SEO strategy a significant boost. For instance, online mentions from reputable websites will bolster SEO performance and drive traffic to your site. Monitoring web traffic is essential because it tells you where your audience is coming from and where you might be able to improve.
Consider Google’s free service, Google Search Console, as a way to boost performance on your company’s website. Having a strong social media presence is another great way to improve SEO performance by creating content that reflects what your target audience wants.
Google Analytics offers tools that are free to businesses to help them analyze their data. Learning how to rank nationally is only effective if you’re collecting and reviewing that data so you can improve the results. Premium services are available to users that can help provide an advantage over their competition, like keyword research and rank tracking. Consider this your guide to national SEO success.
| Tool | Function |
|---|---|
| SEMRush | Offers a wide array of SEO tools to conduct thorough analysis and keyword research |
| Moz | Provides insightful website audits and helps monitor backlinks |
| WordStream | Great tool to start free keyword research |
| UberSuggest | Offers various free keyword research services |
| Keyword Surfer | Budget friendly free tool that performs limited keyword research |
Don’t get intimidated—you don’t need a PhD in analytics to leverage data. But make it a priority to explore the many resources out there to get insights into how your SEO is doing, because it holds valuable clues for optimizing your national campaign and will lead to organic traffic.
Knowing how to rank nationally is a journey, and remember, just like Rome, successful SEO campaigns aren’t built in a day. With a combination of carefully planned content, consistent link-building, a site built to work perfectly on any device, and a dedication to creating a smooth and informative user experience— you can propel your brand to the top. Your vision deserves to be seen and valued nationwide. Don’t forget you can hire a digital marketing agency like SEO Locale to spend the time to help you rank for national SEO.
