Answers · SEO
What is local SEO and how is it different from regular SEO?
Updated April 30, 2026 · Honest answer from a Colorado agency that does this work daily.
Short answer
Local SEO optimizes a business to rank in geographically-bound searches — "plumber Denver," "dentist near me," Google Maps results. Regular SEO targets non-local searches like "how to fix a leaky faucet." Local SEO weights Google Business Profile, reviews, citations, and proximity heavily. Regular SEO weights content depth, backlinks, and topical authority. Most Colorado service businesses need 80% local SEO and 20% regular SEO.
- Local SEO: ranks you in maps and "near me" searches
- Regular SEO: ranks you for informational and national queries
- Local SEO factors: GBP, reviews, citations, NAP consistency, proximity
- Regular SEO factors: backlinks, content depth, technical health
- Service businesses skew local; e-commerce and SaaS skew regular
How Google decides which results to show
When Google detects local intent — a city in the query, a "near me" modifier, or a query type that historically gets local results (plumber, dentist, lawyer) — it triggers a Map Pack at the top of results and weights local ranking factors.
Without local intent, Google shows traditional 10 blue links and weights content quality, backlinks, and topical authority. The same business can rank in both depending on what someone searches for.
What local SEO work looks like
Google Business Profile optimization (categories, services, attributes, photos, posts), citation building across 30–80 niche directories, review generation systems, location-specific landing pages on your website, schema markup for LocalBusiness, and proximity-aware service area pages.
The single highest-ROI local SEO activity for Colorado businesses is review velocity — getting 5–10 fresh reviews per month consistently. It outperforms most other tactics combined.
Follow-up questions
Do I need both local and regular SEO?
Most Colorado service businesses need primarily local SEO with some content/regular SEO to support it (educational blog content that builds topical authority and earns links).
Does local SEO work for online-only businesses?
Limited. If you have no physical location and no service area, you can't compete in local results. Focus on traditional SEO.
Can a business rank in multiple cities?
Yes, but it's harder than a single-location optimization. Each city needs its own landing page, citations referencing the area, and ideally physical presence (or strong service area signals).
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