What Is the Difference Between SEO and Local SEO

Rankings, content, technical health. That foundation gets shared by both SEO and local SEO. One more layer gets added on top, though. Built around a specific city or neighborhood a business actually serves, that’s the geographic dimension in question.

A national ecommerce brand needs one. A Calgary plumber needs the other, specifically.

What Standard SEO Actually Targets

Broad SEO chases visibility for a business or brand regardless of the searcher’s physical location. National ecommerce sites fall into this category typically. SaaS companies and content publishers too.

National or global scope is where keyword targeting stays. The exact same way, whether the searcher sits in Calgary or Toronto, “best running shoes” gets targeted.

Location-based signals matter less here than backlinks and content depth for driving rankings. Every other page targeting that exact same term worldwide is what a blog post ranking nationally competes against.

What Makes Local SEO Genuinely Different

One specific service area is what local SEO targets. “Plumber Calgary” or “dentist near me” carries location baked directly into the search itself.

Google Business Profile becomes central to local SEO in a way it never matters for national SEO. The map pack, that block of three local results, depends almost entirely on this one profile.

Signals broad SEO barely touches matter here, for a Calgary SEO client. Proximity. Business hours. Consistent contact information across the web.

Citations and Reviews Matter Far More Locally

NAP consistency matters enormously for local rankings. Name and address matching exactly across directories, in other words. Phone number too. This kind of directory-level detail rarely factors into national SEO at all.

In a way that reviews barely touch broad organic rankings, Google reviews directly influence local pack rankings. Local rankings often move faster from a steady stream of genuine reviews than from new content.

Local trust signals get built by local citations on directories like Yelp and industry-specific listings. This kind of directory building almost never factors into national SEO strategies.

Keyword Strategy Diverges Sharply Between the Two

Local SEO keywords almost always include a city, neighborhood, or “near me” phrase attached. That geographic qualifier rarely gets needed by broad SEO keywords at all.

Competition looks completely different too. Only a handful of local businesses compete against a Calgary-specific term. A national one instead gets competed against by every business in the country targeting it.

Hyper-specific local context often gets addressed by content built for local SEO. Neighborhood landmarks, for instance. Local regulations or region-specific concerns too, things a national-focused page would never mention.

Which One a Business Actually Needs

A business serving customers in person, within a defined service area, needs local SEO specifically. Squarely into this category fits a plumber. A dentist or restaurant too.

Broad SEO suits a business selling nationally or operating entirely online instead. Nothing means physical proximity to a customer for an ecommerce store shipping anywhere.

Many businesses genuinely need both. A regional company with multiple locations often runs local SEO for each branch. Broader SEO for its overall brand presence alongside that. Local businesses that need calls this month rather than next quarter can also run Google Ads with location targeting while local rankings build.

How Reviews and Backlinks Play Different Roles

Outsized weight goes to reviews for local SEO specifically. A competitor with better content but fewer reviews often loses to a Google Business Profile filled with recent, genuine ones.

Backlinks matter here too, just differently than for broad SEO. Chambers of commerce earn a local business more links than global industry publications ever do. Local news sites and community sponsorships too.

Along these same lines, keyword research splits too. High-volume national terms get chased by broad SEO keyword research. Local SEO keyword research chases location-modified variants of the same core terms instead. Often lower volume individually, but far less competitive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a business need both SEO and local SEO at once?

Especially for multi-location businesses, yes. Overall brand authority gets built by broad SEO, while location-specific visibility for each individual branch comes from local SEO.

Does local SEO cost less than national SEO?

Since competition tends to be narrower, often yes. A hyper-competitive city or industry can still make local SEO just as demanding as broad national work.

Is Google Business Profile only relevant for local SEO?

Mostly, yes, for the most part. National, non-location-based businesses rarely benefit from Google Business Profile the way a local, physical business does. See SEO services for a fuller comparison of both approaches.