What Is the Difference Between Local and Organic SEO?

What Is the Difference Between Local and Organic SEO?

The main difference between local SEO and traditional (or organic) SEO is that local SEO focuses on increasing the online visibility of the Google Business Profile in the local map pack for potential customers who are searching with local queries, such as “restaurant in [city].” On the other hand, traditional (or organic) SEO aims to generate non-location-specific website traffic.

Local SEO and traditional SEO have different approaches and ranking factors. They focus on different search intents and target audiences while leveraging unique tools and techniques.

In the following sections, we will closely examine what sets these two SEO types apart and which type is the right choice for your business.

No time for reading? No problem, just listen to our smart summary on the go!

What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO aims to increase a business's online visibility for local search queries such as “restaurant near me” or “restaurant [city].” The main focus is the Google Business Profile (GBP), which appears in the local map pack (the small Google Maps section with GBPs listed below).

Learn how to optimize for local SEO purpose with our complete local SEO guide!

Geographic Focus

Local SEO is limited to a specific area, such as a neighborhood or city. If you have a restaurant in Amsterdam, you want to reach people online who can actually visit your location. It wouldn’t make sense to be visible to users in America if your restaurant is in the Netherlands.

Target Audience

Local SEO targets customers who are either nearby and looking for a place or service. These customers may want to visit locations (such as restaurants, nail salons, hairdressers, shops, doctors, etc.) or find a service provider that travels to their area (such as plumbers, electricians, wedding photographers, etc.).

Search Intent

The search intent of local SEO is, as you probably guessed, local. It includes search queries with terms like “near me” or “[city].” Furthermore, local searches are often commercial, transactional, or navigational in nature. Customers are actively looking for solutions and tend to convert quickly. 76% of people who conduct a local search on their smartphone visit a physical place within 24 hours and 28% of those searches result in a purchase.

Key Ranking Factors

The key ranking factors for local SEO are:

• Proximity to the searcher
• Local Keywords
• NAP consistency
• GBP optimization
• Review velocity
• Review responses
• Citations and local backlinks
• Google Posts
• On-page local SEO (such as local pages)
• Mobile Friendliness (part of on-page SEO)
• Behavioral signals
• Social Signals and Engagement

Tools and Techniques

• Google Business Profile Optimization: Complete your profile fully and ensure it is verified to appear in local search results. Consistency is key: all your details should match what you display on your website and in other business directories. Add high-quality images, select relevant business categories, and include attributes. Be sure to link your website, set up a booking link, and insert links to your social media channels. Finally, consider pre-filling some Q&A sections based on questions frequently asked by past customers.

Learn more about how to optimize your Google Business Profile with our useful checklist!

• Review Management: Maintaining a steady flow of customer reviews is essential. Encourage on-site reviews using QR codes on signs, receipts, or exits, and follow up online with emails. Motivate your staff to ask customers for reviews regularly. While offering compensation to customers for reviews isn’t allowed, consider providing additional incentives for staff who generate reviews. When a review is submitted, aim to respond within one day (or even within one hour) to show Google your commitment to customer engagement. Learn more about our Review Management tool, which can help you effortlessly generate new reviews and automate your responses.
• Google Posts: Schedule a Google Post daily to keep fresh content filled with relevant local keywords and updates visible to potential clients. Google Posts signal to Google that your business is active and engaged online. Customers will see an image with a caption and a call to action (e.g., “book now” or “learn more”) that links to a designated webpage or form. Additionally, you’ll keep a rotation of high-quality images on your GBP, allowing you to maintain control over your profile’s overall aesthetic.
• Business Directories: Get listed in as many relevant business directories as possible (such as Yellow Pages, Yelp, Tripadvisor, or The Fork). Collecting citations is a vital part of local SEO and can increase your online visibility. Ensure your business details are always consistent (NAP Consistency). If you use a listing management tool like the one included with your Obenan subscription, you’ll be able to automatically claim relevant listings and synchronize your business details to maintain NAP consistency at all times. A listing management tool saves time by eliminating the need to manually check and update each listing monthly.
• GBP Insights: Assess impressions, interactions, calls, website clicks, keyword performance, bookings, and industry-specific metrics (e.g., menu performance for restaurants) using GBP insights. Regularly monitor these insights, and if results are not as expected, adjust and optimize your profile accordingly.
• Keyword Research Tool: Use a free or paid tool to find relevant localized keywords. For local SEO, focus on high search volume terms. While keyword difficulty should be considered, you can still rank for more competitive keywords by following all optimization steps. Ensure you use appropriate local terms, such as “near me,” “[city],” “close by,” “near my location,” etc. Identify keywords with the potential to drive the most traffic to your GBP.

What Is Traditional SEO?

Traditional SEO focuses on ranking your website higher for general search queries and combines both on-page elements (such as content and keyword optimization) and off-page strategies (like link building). While local SEO focuses mainly on the GBP, traditional SEO focuses purely on the business’s website and its content. Foot traffic doesn’t apply and conversions usually happen online.

Geographic Focus

Traditional SEO is not confined to any specific location. It targets general searches, such as product or service-related queries, with the goal of ranking for keywords across a broader market scale or even globally. For software companies, e-commerce businesses, or online service providers, the origin of traffic and sales is less relevant. For instance, if you offer worldwide shipping, it doesn’t matter if customers are from Italy even if your headquarters are in Germany.

Target Audience

Traditional SEO targets a general audience, focusing more on demographics such as age, gender, occupation, and interests rather than exact location. As an e-commerce business, you may target at a country or market level but typically not at the city or neighborhood level.

Search Intent

Traditional SEO encompasses a wider range of search intents, including the informational stage. Due to broader search queries and more general keywords, this approach guides customers from the informational to the transactional stage. Content in traditional SEO doesn’t focus on location-specific insights but is tailored to a broader audience.

Key Ranking Factors

The key ranking factors for traditional SEO are:

• High-quality content (EEAT content)
• Backlinks
• Technical SEO
• User Experience
• On-page SEO
• Keywords
• Domain authority and page authority
• Engagement and behavioral signals
• Structured Data (Schema Markup)
• Core Web Vitals

If you compare these key ranking factors with those of local SEO, it becomes clear that they differ significantly. While there are some minor overlaps, such as in “Engagement and behavioral signals,” local SEO generally emphasizes off-page SEO, whereas traditional SEO focuses heavily on optimizing your website (on-page SEO).

Tools and Techniques

• Keyword Research Tool: Use a free or paid tool to identify the best keywords. For traditional SEO, prioritize high search volume keywords. Assess each keyword's difficulty based on your domain authority; if you have low domain authority, avoid targeting highly competitive keywords, regardless of volume. Instead, aim for niche keywords, such as long-tail and question-based keywords.
• Google Analytics: Track insights on traffic, user behavior, and audience demographics. Review traffic sources and the web pages receiving the most visits. You can also observe user pathways through your site and identify where they bounce. Additionally, monitor conversions and other specific goals, such as form submissions or purchases, to better understand your performance.
• Google Search Console: Monitor impressions, clicks, CTRs, and average position in organic search results. This tool offers insights into how your keywords drive traffic to your site and helps identify pages that may need improved titles or meta descriptions due to low CTRs. You can also check which pages have been indexed by Google and address any issues detected.
• Content Creation: Incorporate the keywords from your research into high-quality content. Unlike local SEO, traditional SEO heavily relies on EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) content. Ensure you have a blog section with valuable and helpful content tailored to your target audience.
• Link Building: Backlinks significantly impact your domain authority and rankings. Focus on building high-quality backlinks through partnerships within your industry, as these links provide better authority than unrelated sources. Avoid paying for bulk links, as this can lead to penalties that are difficult to recover from, causing a severe drop in visibility and rankings. Instead, emphasize guest posting and press releases as your main outreach strategies. Collaborate with industry bloggers and influencers to secure valuable links.

What Type of SEO Is Best?

Depending on your business type, you need to determine which SEO approach is best for you. If you operate a brick-and-mortar business or are a service area provider, you should focus on optimizing for local SEO. On the other hand, if you own an online business that doesn’t rely on local traffic - such as a blog, e-commerce site, or online consultation service - traditional SEO will be more effective, as your business isn’t tied to a specific location.

Here is a quick overview for you to check under which type your business falls:

Examples of Businesses That Need Local SEO (brick-and-mortar, service area providers)

• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Nail Salons
• Hairdressers
• Bars and Clubs
• Stores
• Doctors
• Electricians
• Lawyers
• Plumbers
• (Wedding) Photographers
• Gyms
• Florists
• Wedding Venues
• Tourist Attractions and Museums
• Spas and Wellness Centers
• Auto Repair Shops
• Car Rental Services
• Landscaping Services

Examples of Businesses That Need Traditional SEO

• E-commerce Stores (without a physical storefront)
• Software as a Service (SaaS) Companies
• Online Education Platforms and Courses
• News and Media Websites
• Tech and Electronics Brands
• Financial Services (e.g., investment platforms, credit services)
• Affiliate Marketing and Review Websites
• Travel Booking Websites and Aggregators
• Health and Wellness Blogs
• Consulting Firms with National/Global Reach
• Online Marketplaces (e.g., job boards, real estate portals)
• Digital Marketing Agencies
• Subscription Box Services
• Influencer and Content Creator Platforms
• Publishers and E-book Retailers
• Fashion and Beauty Brands (selling exclusively online)
• Gaming and Entertainment Platforms
• Industry-Specific Blogs and Resources (e.g., legal advice, DIY)
• Online Job Boards and Recruitment Platforms
• Scientific Research and Academic Institutions

Can I Optimize for Both SEO Types?

The short answer is no. If you are doing local SEO, your on-page SEO efforts should focus on localized content. In contrast, if you have an online business, you’ll focus on broader market targeting rather than specific neighborhoods or cities. This involves performing keyword research in the target market's language and tailoring content to that market, which isn’t considered local SEO. It’s important to differentiate between actual localized targeting and market-level targeting. Remember, the key ranking factors for both types are quite different!

What About Multi-Chain Businesses?

For multi-chain businesses that depend on local traffic, local SEO remains the priority. The difference lies in the structure: your homepage would not target local keywords, but you would have individual pages for each location, with separate Google Business Profiles (GBPs) per location. Each location, though part of the same company, will be optimized individually.

Discover how we already help renowned chains across the globe get new customers!

What About Hotels? Aren’t Guests Typically Outside the Geographic Area When Searching?

Yes, that’s true; however, potential guests still search with local intent (e.g., “hotel in [city]”) even if they’re physically far from the location. In some cases, depending on the hotel and region, there may also be a reliance on last-minute guests (e.g., backpackers). Therefore, hotels should prioritize local SEO as well.

We already helped hundreds of hotels get new guests! Discover how we can help your hotel as well!

What About Travel Bloggers or Regional Magazines?

For sites like travel blogs or regional magazines, traditional SEO is the focus. While you might have a smaller market or target specific regions, visitors are not coming to a physical location, nor do they require your presence for a service. While you may use locally-oriented keywords (e.g., “the best restaurants in [city]”), the search intent remains informational, not location-based.

What About Retail Stores with a Webshop?

Here, the webshop needs to be considered separately from the physical store, as each entity will be optimized independently. While the webshop will be optimized for traditional SEO, the physical location will be optimized for local SEO. Similar to our multi-chain example, the main website will be optimized for traditional SEO, with only the local pages directly connected to your local SEO efforts for the physical location.

Do I Need a Website for Local SEO?

While a website can be highly beneficial for gaining online visibility in local searches, it’s not strictly required for local SEO. The most crucial element of local SEO is your Google Business Profile (GBP). However, if you're finding it challenging to gain visibility in a competitive area, having a website can provide an advantage. Local SEO involves many smaller optimizations, each contributing to overall visibility, so following all optimization steps, including a website, is recommended for the best results.

Do I Need a Google Business Profile for SEO?

If your business’s goal is to attract local customers, then you definitely need a GBP! Even if you are a corporate company with a physical office, having a GBP can be beneficial, as it allows you to share basic information and images. This can provide reassurance for new candidates or occasionally associated parties visiting on-site. However, you do not need to optimize the GBP to the smallest detail, as it will typically be found through direct searches rather than local searches.

Wrapping Up

Depending on which business type you have, you will need to choose the right SEO type that will benefit your business the most. If you are a business that will benefit from local SEO, we are here to help you with our local SEO tools. Let us drive new customers directly to your location or increase the number of bookings. We have a number of useful local SEO tools that automate all essential tasks for you. If you don’t have time to dive into the world of local SEO yourself, let us do the work for you!