International SEO and local SEO sit at opposite ends of the geography spectrum.
International SEO
International SEO involves targeting multiple countries and often multiple languages, using hreflang tags, country-specific domains or subfolders, and localized content strategies.
Local SEO
Local SEO narrows focus to a single city, region, or service radius, relying on Google Business Profile, citations, and location-specific content rather than multi-language infrastructure.
Can You Need Both?
Yes — a business with locations in multiple countries needs international SEO for overall site structure and local SEO for each individual market or storefront.
Key Takeaway
International SEO scales across borders; local SEO wins the neighborhood. Most single-market businesses only need the latter. See our local SEO services for details.