Geo targeting, or location based content, means customizing your site experience for visitors based on where they are. This makes your location based website feel smarter and more relevant.
Why is this approach essential today?
- By delivering location based content, you build trust—visitors see offers in their currency, with applicable shipping, and even local store info.
- Tailored messaging grabs attention quickly, boosting engagement and conversions.
- In many regions, showing location‑specific content isn't just smart—it’s required.
- As your global reach increases, automation tools ensure accurate, scalable, location aware experiences without losing your brand voice.
Changing website content based on a visitor's geo location (country, state or city) is known as geo targeting, and the primary purpose of doing this is to show location based content that is relevant to the visitor's location. This approach turns your site into a true location based website that feels more personal and engaging.
Example scenario
Let’s assume that you’re an electronics retailer who generates a good bulk of revenue through an eCommerce store. If you serve clients from across the world (not just in the US), which would be the most effective strategy?
A) Having a single, static website that serves the same content to all users, or
B) Having a dynamic, location based website that displays different prices, currencies, and shipping policies based on where your users are located?
If you answered B, you’re on the right track!
Why change website content based on visitor location?
Showing location based content to a visitor has multiple advantages:
- Increases trust because visitors see your business is near them or delivers to their area
- Captures attention quickly, reducing bounce rates and increasing conversions
- May be legally required in some countries or states for compliance purposes
If you're updating content for different locations, using an AI writing or sentence enhancement tool can help you restate information for each location while maintaining clarity and consistency across different versions of your site.
How to change website content based on visitor location
There are two main ways to approach location based content targeting, depending on how much content needs to change.
Small amount of content
If you only need to change small elements such as a phone number, address, or short text, you can dynamically change content on the same page using our Geo Content service.
Large amount of content
If you need to change larger amounts of content such as product listings, currencies, full page text, or navigation, the better approach is to create unique, location-specific pages or even separate websites targeted to each location. You can then use our Geo Redirect service to route traffic to the correct page or website based on their location.
Geo Content
Geo Content lets you dynamically modify pieces of content within a page based on a visitor's location.
Advantages
- Easy to manage when only a small amount of content changes
- Less work required since duplicate pages are not needed
Disadvantages
- Requires some HTML and CSS knowledge
- May be hard to implement if your CMS does not allow HTML edits
- Not SEO-friendly since crawlers may not detect dynamic changes
- May not support complex dynamically generated content such as product grids
Quick start guides
Geo Redirect
Geo Redirect lets you route visitors to a location based website or specific page based on their location. We strongly recommend using location-specific pages or websites, as this is a better long-term approach for both trust and SEO.
Advantages
- No coding required
- Ideal for SEO since each location has its own dedicated page
- Works with all websites and CMS platforms
Disadvantages
- Requires maintenance of multiple pages or websites
Quick start guides
E-commerce location based content targeting
For eCommerce stores that need to show products, prices, and content based on a visitor's country, the best approach is to create separate store versions and route traffic to the correct store with geo redirects.
Check out our guide for Multi-Country E-commerce Stores.
Use cases for location based content
1. Streamline information
Many eCommerce store owners try to build a single site that caters to all target segments. This often results in a cluttered, confusing experience. By using location based content, you can simplify messaging for each audience, making it easier for visitors to make a purchase decision.
2. Make checkout easier
Display prices in the visitor’s local currency and offer familiar payment options to reduce friction and increase conversion rates.
3. Show targeted offers
Promotions should match local holidays and events. For example, swap a Fourth of July sale for Boxing Day deals for Australian visitors. This makes your offers feel more relevant and strengthens trust in your location based website.
Conclusion
That’s all there is to it. Once set up, your website will display location based content based on a visitor’s IP address. This is a powerful way to boost engagement, improve conversions, and create a location based website experience that truly connects with your audience.
Geo Targetly is a simple, plug-and-play tool that lets you redirect visitors and change website content based on visitor location. Start serving geo-targeted content today with a free trial.
Copywriter
