Local SEO vs. Organic SEO: What's the Difference and Why You Need Both

Local SEO and organic SEO are two key strategies businesses use to improve their online visibility and attract more customers.

Local SEO focuses on optimising a website's content and structure to rank higher in local search results, while organic SEO aims to improve a website's overall visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Understanding the importance of local SEO is crucial for businesses looking to attract local customers within a specific geographical area. 

By optimising their websites and leveraging SEO tools, they can increase their visibility in online search results and gain an edge over competitors operating outside the targeted area.

In this "Local SEO vs. Organic SEO" guide, we'll discuss the differences between these two aspects of SEO and why your business needs both.

💬 Understanding Local SEO

Local SEO (local search engine optimisation) is a digital marketing strategy that aims to improve the online visibility of businesses that have physical locations or serve customers in specific areas.

It's an essential strategy for businesses aiming to optimise their online presence and increase visibility, specifically within a targeted geographical area.

It involves optimising the website structure and content so it can position itself higher in search results for local searches.

Through an effective local SEO strategy, which might include optimising your Google My Business listing, local keyword optimisation, and writing localised content for your blog, your business can attract the attention of customers looking for products or services your business is offering.

For example, if you want to make a local SEO campaign for a bakery in Sydney, you can use keywords such as "bakery Sydney," "best bakery Sydney," and "bakery near me." 

By incorporating these keywords naturally into your website content, product descriptions, and blog posts, your bakery can increase its chances of appearing in organic search results.

Local SEO especially matters for local businesses and brick-and-mortar businesses that rely on foot traffic for their success, but we'll talk more about that later.

🚦 What Is Organic Traffic?

When discussing organic SEO, it's important to understand the concept of organic traffic.

Organic traffic can be explained as people who click on a website as a result of unpaid search results, instead of paid advertisements.

Organic traffic depends on the relevance and quality of a website's content and how it's related to a user's search query. 

Search engines use complex algorithms that analyse various factors to determine a website's ranking in their search results pages. These factors include:

1. Keyword relevance
2. Site authority
3. User experience
4. The number and quality of backlinks
5. Quality content
6. Website loading speed
7. Mobile-friendliness

Unlike paid advertisements or local search results, organic traffic can't be directly influenced or controlled financially. It's based solely on the merit of a website's content and its ability to meet users' needs.

In other words, websites with high-quality and relevant content have a better chance of attracting organic traffic from those who are genuinely interested in what the website has to offer.

Organic traffic tends to be more sustainable over time compared to other sources of website traffic because it relies on natural rankings rather than temporary advertising campaigns.

🔁 How Are Local SEO and Organic SEO Connected?

Organic and local SEO are closely connected as local SEO strategies aim to increase local online visibility, ultimately driving relevant traffic to the site.

Simply put, a good local SEO strategy can result in a continuous surge of organic traffic.

By targeting specific locations, businesses can optimise their websites with location-specific keywords, meta tags, and content tailored to their target local audience. 

This optimisation helps search engines understand the relevance of the website to local searches, increasing its chances of appearing in top search results.

Businesses can also create location-specific landing pages or directories that provide valuable information about their products or services within a particular area.

These pages do not only attract organic traffic but also enhance the user experience by catering to the specific needs and personal preferences of potential customers.

A local business can leverage online reviews and ratings on platforms like Google My Business or Yelp to further boost its visibility in local searches. Positive reviews serve as social proof and encourage more users to visit the website through organic results.

💼 What Businesses Need Local SEO?

The three main types of businesses that need Local SEO include:

• Brick-and-mortar businesses
• Service-based businesses
• Online businesses

Local SEO is especially beneficial for businesses with physical locations and those that provide services in specific areas. 

This includes local restaurants, retail stores, medical clinics, professional services such as lawyers or accountants, and home service providers like plumbers or electricians.

The main reason a brick-and-mortar business might need local SEO is because it largely depends on foot traffic. So, even though potential customers might find out about your business online, they will come to your location to buy something in person.

Local SEO isn't only beneficial for a brick-and-mortar location. Even businesses that offer their services online can use local SEO to receive more organic traffic through Google's search results.

Implementing a local SEO strategy allows businesses to compete against larger national or international companies by targeting a specific geographic area. 

This is especially helpful for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as it helps them establish a strong online presence within their local market.

🌟 Best Practices for Attracting Organic Traffic

To effectively drive targeted traffic to your site, you need to use practices that improve visibility and attract visitors. Here are some ways you can drive organic traffic to your website:

• Optimise your website's content with relevant keywords
• Writing engaging, quality content
• Optimise your on-page SEO elements
• Improve your technical SEO
• Make your website mobile-friendly
• Use backlinking strategies

One of the most important strategies for attracting organic traffic is to optimise the website's content with relevant keywords. Conducting thorough keyword research allows businesses to understand what terms and phrases potential visitors are using when searching for products or services online.

By incorporating these keywords strategically into the website's content, businesses can improve their shot of ranking better on search engine results pages (SERPs), receiving more organic traffic.

Another practice for attracting organic traffic is creating high-quality and engaging content. Search engines prioritise websites that provide informative content that adds value to your users.

Optimising on-page elements like title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and URLs further improves your website's organic search rankings.

It's important to ensure your website has a clean and efficient technical setup. This includes optimising page loading speed, using clean URLs, and setting up proper redirects.

With the increasing use of mobile devices, a responsive and mobile-friendly website design is crucial for both user experience and organic search results.

Finally, developing a strategy to get high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites in a given industry is just as important. Guest posting, outreach, and creating shareable content can help attract natural backlinks.

 📈 How to Improve Your Local SEO

These are the best strategies for improving your website's local SEO:

1. Claiming and optimising your Google My Business Listing
2. Providing up-to-date information about your local business
3. Doing keyword research and optimise your website with relevant keywords
4. Generating positive online reviews
5. Optimising your website for mobile searches

To improve local SEO, you should begin by optimising your Google My Business listing or your Google Business Profile, which will also make your business appear on Google Maps. 

This includes providing accurate and up-to-date information about the business, such as its name, address, phone number, and operating hours.

Additionally, businesses should ensure their website is optimised for local keywords by including location-specific terms in title tags, meta descriptions, and content.

Another important strategy to enhance local SEO is to generate positive online reviews from satisfied customers. Online reviews not only help boost a business's reputation but also play a significant role in local search engine rankings.

Encouraging customers to write reviews on Google My Business or Yelp can significantly improve a business's visibility on Google and other search engines.

It's also important to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly since more and more people are using smartphones to perform local searches. A mobile-friendly website improves user experience and increases the chances of appearing in relevant organic search results.

🏆 Organic SEO vs. Local SEO - What's the Difference

Local SEO plays a crucial role in driving organic traffic by aligning a business's online presence with its target market's geographical location. 

By implementing effective local SEO strategies, businesses can increase their visibility in relevant search queries and attract highly targeted organic traffic that is more likely to convert into paying customers.

If you're struggling to find local customers, RankRise can help your website increase organic results on Google and other search engines. Our SEO team knows how local search works and how to get the best results from your SEO strategy.

Reach out to us if you want to know more.