What is a VPN Service?
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) service will establish a secure connection between your device and the internet by encrypting your data and masking your IP address. VPNs will improve your privacy and protect information online, while providing access to geo-restricted content.
In this blog, we will discuss why a VPN might change the game for your SEO process and how you can use it as a chance to get ahead.
How Can You Use VPN for SEO and Why Does It Matter?
To effectively apply VPN for your SEO endeavours, the first step is to select a credible VPN service that has servers in your target markets. Once the VPN service is established, it is crucial to connect to the VPN server for the geography of which you want to perform search results verification or keyword research.
Then, to view the search results in a non-biased perspective, open a browser in incognito mode and do NOT log into any of your accounts.
In doing so, it allows you the user perspective of doing search results verification for accurate ranking assessments or competitor research, as well as local SEO audits as an added benefit.
1. Gain Access to Geo-restricted Search Results
Applying a VPN for SEO can allow you to emulate user experiences from around the globe, regardless of their location, because a VPN enables you to connect to countless servers.
This means you can see search results as if you are in that particular town or country. This is extremely useful when determining where your website is ranking in a particular market that another branch owns or targets, and it helps you engage with how your site performs locally and refine your strategies in real time, and it helps you target those particular keywords accurately.
2. Conduct Thorough Global Keyword Research
A VPN enables you to conduct keyword research as if you’re visiting an alternate country. The broader lens will expose regional keyword patterns, competitive keywords, and different search phrases that otherwise would not be apparent in your country.
By now researching and competing in an international forum, you are therefore exposing keyword opportunities that may exist, and you can plan a more diverse and competitive SEO strategy across markets.
3. Track Competitors’ Local SEO Performance
Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors is essential for your SEO success. VPN allows you to move around a local area and assess your competitors’ rankings and strategies without an IP address restricting your visibility.
This also avoids tipping off your competitors in the unlikely event they see your search history and also mitigates the risk of being blocked for simply investigating.
4. Avoid Personalized and Biased Search Results
Search engines tailor their result pages based on user data such as the user’s location, device, and search history. This provides a variety of SEO data that may be unreliable.
A VPN will hide your IP address and reset the location data in the browser, giving you neutral, unadulterated, and unbiased SERP results.
This enables SEO professionals to assess what actual keyword performance and ranking are, using the same objective and consistent data that they are sharing, rather than data that has been tampered with through personal search history or view.
5. Evaluate Local SEO Campaigns Without Physical Presence
A VPN enables you to position yourself in any place within a city or country, which is very helpful for completing any local SEO audit.
If you own a company that serves customers in multiple areas, that means you can see your rankings, review business profiles, and view map placements, all without having to travel anywhere.
You can also check how your Google My Business (GMB) listings look to consumers, determine your business visibility, and analyse how well your content is tuned to the local market.
A remote testing method is a huge time-saver with the added benefit of being cost-effective, and can provide you with great local SEO information. It is a brilliant option for multi-local campaigns and simply getting into new areas, accurately and seamlessly.
6. Secure Keyword Research and SEO Data
Keyword analysis and SEO tactics are more about covert, competitive intelligence. When performed over unsecure networks, your information is at risk of being hacked or observed.
A VPN adds a layer of encryption to your Internet traffic to protect any SEO-related activities you are engaged in, including keyword analysis, competitive spying, or planning content development.
In this, your proprietary insights are shielded from external threats or competitor monitoring via a layer of encryption. This is particularly important when working from home or in public places to keep your research private and maintain the integrity of SEO results.
7. Avoiding Censorship to Access Blocked Tools
In certain regions of the world, your ability to use SEO tools, websites or platforms that aid substantially in comprehensive keyword research and competitor analysis might be limited by a government authority or ISP.
A VPN, or virtual private network, allows you to bypass these geo-censorships by connecting you through a remote server in a location that does allow access to those tools.
This will allow you to access the tools, even if you find yourself physically located in an area where access is blocked and not available.
You can maintain continuous coverage and flow of quality SEO research from wherever you are in the world, and circumvent the censorship and other filters imposed in association with your location.
This research is particularly important for marketers that work in multiple areas, and/or work in countries where technology and access to the internet is heavily surveilled and restricted.
8. Avoid Account Lockouts When Managing Multiple SEO Accounts
When you manage different accounts for SEO accounts through Google, Bing or social media sites, you may receive account lockouts, or notices of activity, when accessing your accounts from different IP(s) or locations.
These accounts see rapid switching between locations or different IP addresses as security risks. So, using a VPN can provide you with stable, or consistent or transforming IP addresses that present as local or consistent user activity, so you reduce the risk of getting locked out of your account.
Using a VPN can reduce instances of getting locked out of your account or suspended accounts so your campaigns or profiles are not interrupted and can run seamlessly to help save time and access)
A VPN can also reduce your risk of losing access to your accounts due to any interruption to activity in your accounts – SEO and / or digital marketing process.
9. Obtain Real Insights of Local User Experience
Understanding how your website performs in areas across the US and around the world is essential for proper local SEO and ensuring consistency in user engagement performance indicators.
This will also help you identify possible site-related situations (ex.: slow page speed, content relevancy, usability problems) that could defect your rankings and conversions.
Once mobile visitors are identified from your client’s digital displacement potentially using the VPN, you can take corrective actions to adjust the content based upon known local visitor behaviour and performance and visibility of the page in the area.
10. Increase Your Link Building Opportunities Globally
While backlinks are still a method for establishing credibility in SEO; many sources of backlinks operate under geography or regional relevance.
If you employ a VPN you can circumvent that. The ability to approach a local directory, specific niche platform, or local forum will allow you to build relationships, obtain guest spots, or build citation opportunities.
Geography adds nuance to backlinking that allows you to build an overall larger web, and increases authority from other markets.
Strong local backlinks show search engines you are relevant and credible in that location, therefore high value backlinks ultimately improve rankings across the globe.
VPN can help you select research to diversify a backlink source, providing maximum SEO effectiveness for global campaigns.
11. Test Paid Search Campaigns Across Markets
Even though paid search campaigns and SEO are often similar in achieving visibility and conversion goals, you may discover that regional differences have an impact on ad performance.
If you are able to test ad placements and creatives from different locations with landing pages optimized for users in that region, you will likely avoid costly surprises and optimize a campaign based on ‘real’ conditions.
Testing based on geography to optimize paid search campaigns is likely good practice or even a necessity for ensuring your marketing budget is achieving the highest return on investment (ROI) based on culture differences, competitor response and users in the market behave differently than anywhere else.
VPNs provide critical local testing insights to direct and improve the effectiveness of your international paid search campaign efforts.
12. Ensure Consistent Search Ranking Monitoring
Monitoring your search engine ranking consistently is helpful for evaluating your SEO initiatives. Search rankings are often affected by personal search history, device, or location.
Standardized search results will provide you with the best ability to observe ranking data over time, yielding the most meaningful and equitable data as you follow your keyword ranking over time, which can also aid in evaluating the success of a campaign or shifts made.
You will then be able to understand better what is happening in your accounts with enough data to arrive at a timely and informed data-driven recommendation from your review of the data.
Key Takeaways
- Claim correct local SEO data by virtually altering your location with a VPN.
- Leverage VPNs to defeat geo-locations, to globally access your SEO tools.
- Optimize keyword research without a personalized search bias using a VPN.
- Ensure anonymity and secure sensitive SEO data using VPN encryption.
- Enhance SEO results with online search engines across multiple regions for your international SEO strategy.
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