What is the difference between SEO, Local SEO, Digital Marketing, and Internet Marketing?

by | Nov 21, 2022 | Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

In the digital marketing realm, there are numerous subcategories such as PPC, SEO, Content Marketing, and more. Each sub-field usually has its own terminology and set of best practices which can make it difficult for companies to understand exactly what they require.

When searching for digital services, it’s essential to comprehend their scope and value within your company’s marketing plan. This blog explains the distinctions between SEO, Local SEO, Digital Marketing, and Internet Marketing.

SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website in organic search results on a SERP (search engine result page). SEO is a marketing strategy to grow your online business.

SEO is a key differentiator among various brands and marketing channels. The rise of e-commerce created a huge demand for SEO services.

SEO is the lifeblood of any business that wants to make money online. SEO has evolved over the years and now it’s not just about optimizing your content for keywords, it’s about providing value to your audience, building trust, and being seen as an authority in your niche.

With the increasing competition in the digital marketing space, a highly optimized website is the only way to reach out to your target audience and make a mark in the market. A well-optimized website can help you gain higher search engine rankings and drive a significant amount of traffic to your website.

Local SEO

Local SEO is the process of optimizing a website to rank higher in local search results. It’s an important part of a digital marketing strategy and helps drive foot traffic to physical stores.

A good local SEO strategy can improve your overall organic traffic by as much as 50%. Local SEO is more complicated than traditional SEO since it requires a thorough understanding of how each search engine works. This includes how different algorithms work, how individual businesses are indexed, and how to effectively optimize a website for the local search engine results pages.

The basic objective of local SEO is to be found by your target audience when they conduct a search on a specific location-based search engine. To achieve this, you need to make sure that your website is properly optimized for Google My Business, Yelp, Bing Places, and other local search engines.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing or online marketing is a wide concept. It involves promoting goods or services through various channels via the internet.

The channels used for digital marketing include social media, email marketing, paid advertising (via Google Adwords or other networks), content marketing, etc. Therefore, digital marketing is a common umbrella term that encompasses all marketing activities that use online technologies to promote a company’s services or products.

It is a wide term that can be broken down into different sub-fields, such as SEO, PPC, and marketing analytics, etc.

Internet Marketing

Internet Marketing (also known as online marketing) is a form of digital marketing that involves using internet-connected services and networks to create, manage, and execute marketing campaigns.

It is all about utilizing digital channels like social media, blogs, email marketing, content marketing, and paid advertisements to promote a product, service, or website. Internet marketing is a wide concept that can be broken down into different sub-fields, such as SEO, PPC, and marketing analytics.

It is a common term that encompasses all marketing activities that use the internet or other digital networks to facilitate transactions, interactions, and visibility for a company or product.

Summary

These terms are often used interchangeably, but there are some subtle differences between SEO, Local SEO, Digital Marketing, and Internet Marketing.

SEO refers to the process of optimizing a website for search engines to drive more organic traffic. It is the lifeblood for any business that wants to make money online. Local SEO is the process of optimizing a website for local search engine results.

Digital marketing is a wide concept that encompasses all marketing activities that use the internet.

Internet marketing is the use of digital marketing techniques to promote products or services. The rise of e-commerce has created a huge demand for SEO and digital marketing experts.

Eric Caldwell

Eric Caldwell is the owner and CEO of WebJIVE, a leading digital marketing agency based in Little Rock, Arkansas. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Eric has become a seasoned expert in web design, SEO, and other digital marketing services.