What is the Difference Between Local and Organic SEO?

There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution for search engine optimization (SEO). Many of the practices are the same, but the approach and areas of focus change depending on your industry, goals, and area of focus.

Local vs. organic SEO is a great example. Most businesses will benefit from both, but the focus and results are very different.

What is Organic SEO?

Organic SEO is more generalized than local SEO and targets a wider group of users. You don’t need a physical business to benefit from an organic SEO campaign. You can target users worldwide with a product/service or drive more traffic to an affiliate/content site.

Google considers various factors to determine organic SEO rankings, including:

Technical: The speed and ease of use of the website.
On-Page: The quality, trustworthiness, and relevance of everything from blogs and guides to product descriptions.
Off-Page: Authority established via third-party links, as well as links from forums, social media, and other sources.

Benefits of Organic SEO

Improved Visibility: Pay-per-click advertising can give you a sponsored placement at the top of SERPs, and social media marketing can give you exposure on sites like Facebook. But nothing compares to the visibility you get from ranking high in major search engines, as these process billions of daily organic searches.
Reduced Long-Term Marketing Costs: SEO requires a high initial cost and some ongoing fees, but it’s usually much cheaper than alternative methods. You don’t pay for every click or conversion, and there will be no shortage of these when your rankings improve.
Greater Credibility: If customers see your brand every time they search for more information on products/services, they’re more likely to trust you and buy when they stumble across your products.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO focuses more on local search results, with search engines emphasizing results that may be of interest to the user at that specific moment.

For instance, if a user searches for “[PRODUCT/SERVICE TYPE] near me”, a search engine like Google will order results based on factors such as:

The relevance of the brand and its products/services
Its proximity to the user at that time
The ratings/review scores

Local SEO also benefits from some of the same approaches as organic SEO, but you have to think about it from a customer’s perspective.

You’re on vacation and find yourself strolling down the street, searching for a place to eat. You whip out your phone and run a Google search.

What do you care about most?

Do you care more about the site that has a lot of relevant and well-written content, as well as high-authority links, or do you focus on the restaurant that is just around the corner and has lots of positive reviews from verified customers?

It’s the latter every time, and as Google and other search engines are all about making life easier for the user—the algorithms were built to accommodate users and not to reward writers, consultants, and SEO agencies—those are the results that take priority.

Benefits of Local SEO

Targeted Reach: The right search terms can attract hyper-specific demographics, focusing on people who live in a certain area and are interested in specific things.
Increased Foot Traffic: Targeting local people should attract more customers to your store. You’re not just relying on social media marketing and word of mouth and are also drawing interest from locals who use Google and other search engines to find nearby locations.
Higher Conversions: A user searching for “the best coffee” isn’t necessarily ready to buy. They could just be doing their research. They could be preparing to buy from a site like Amazon. If they’re adding “near me” to the end of that search term, however, it shows intent and suggests they want a shop that will actually sell them coffee.
Increased Trust: You’re competing against every other site in the world with organic SEO, so customers won’t necessarily think less of you if you don’t rank high for specific terms. With local SEO, however, the competition is low, and as high rankings correlate with greater trust in the eyes of the customers, it’s essential to climb those results.

How Do Local and Organic SEO Differ?

To better understand local SEO vs organic SEO, think about them in the context of coffee-related keywords like “best coffee” and “best affordable coffee”.

Local SEO results would show you nearby coffee shops that have high ratings and affordable prices, pointing you toward locations within walking or driving distance.

Organic SEO will point you toward everything from mail-order companies selling bags of ground coffee to listicles discussing the world’s best coffees.

If you run a local coffee shop, both of these things are important. You need the former to attract local customers to your shop; you need the latter to drive visitors and increase mail order conversions.

How you target those customers is very different, as are the ways you benefit from them visiting your site. But both are important.

Is Local or Organic SEO Better For Your Business?

There is no “better” option for everyone, as it depends on the products/services you’re selling, as well as the type of customers you’re targeting.

A local coffee shop that doesn’t sell mail-order products will benefit more from local SEO. It’s all about getting more foot traffic, and a strong local SEO campaign will ensure that everyone searching for hot drinks in the local area will be directed to the shop.

If you run a content website and don’t have a physical location, you can afford to ignore local SEO. After all, you don’t care about foot traffic and simply want to direct as many people to your website as possible.

For everyone else, including professional service providers and retail/ecommerce brands, it makes sense to incorporate both local and organic SEO.

Conclusion: Start Your Local and Organic SEO Campaigns Today

Whether you need local SEO, organic SEO, or both, we can help you plan and execute the perfect SEO strategy for your business. We have worked with countless local, national, and global businesses and have achieved excellent results across the board.