Local SEO vs. Regular SEO - Episode 128

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Grumpy SEO Guy – Episode 128

Local SEO vs. Regular SEO

Release Date: October 1, 2025
Host: Grumpy SEO Guy

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Episode Overview

In this episode, titled “Local SEO vs. Regular SEO,” the Grumpy SEO Guy tackles one of the most common sources of confusion in the digital marketing world: the difference between local SEO and traditional (or “regular”) SEO. Drawing on 14 years of agency experience, the host dives into what sets local SEO apart, how Google’s systems have evolved, and what businesses must do to succeed in each area. This episode is direct, practical, and aimed at giving listeners a no-nonsense understanding of local vs. regular SEO.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining Local SEO vs. Regular SEO

• [02:02] Local SEO is all about appearing in the “map pack”—the map and business listings that appear for location-related searches.

• Regular SEO (also called “normal SEO”) refers to ranking in the organic results below the map pack or for searches with no local intent.

  Notable Quote:

  “Local SEO is only map results. Just because you have a location keyword does not mean you are doing local SEO.”
  — Grumpy SEO Guy [02:33]

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2. How Traditional (Regular) SEO Works

• Four main pillars to succeed in normal SEO:

  1. Avoid Penalties: Google penalties destroy rankings.
  2. Content: Puts relevant words on your website, but “good content and bad content rank equally well because it is established by other factors.” [03:24]
  3. Relevancy: Your site content must clearly indicate its topic.
  4. Authority: Comes from backlinks; you need more authority than the competition.

  Memorable Emphasis:

  “What is the topic of your website? Okay, we'll say this one more time. What is the topic of your website?”
  — Grumpy SEO Guy [03:35]

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3. How Local SEO Works

• Local SEO has its own distinct ranking factors, which overlap with but are different from regular SEO.

  Key Factors for Local SEO:

  1. Google My Business (GMB):

     • Essential for showing in map results.
     • GMB verification proves you have an actual business at a real address.
     • Local SEO emerged as a response to people misusing traditional SEO for local searches.

     Insight:

     “You must have a Google My Business in order to be in the map results.”
     — Grumpy SEO Guy [05:18]

  2. NAP Consistency (Name, Address, Phone):

     • Consistency across all online listings is crucial for legitimacy.
     • Any mention of your business on another site must match exactly.

     “Make sure that the name, address and your phone number are the same.”
     — Grumpy SEO Guy [06:07]

  3. Citations:

     • Listings of your business on other sites (directories, aggregators, etc.).
     • Often grouped together with NAP by some experts.

  4. Reviews:

     • Quality and quantity of reviews in your Google My Business profile can influence positioning in the map pack.
     • Only legitimate, real reviews matter.

     “Make sure you are getting actual reviews.”
     — Grumpy SEO Guy [06:51]

  5. Proximity:

     • Your business location relative to the searcher is a key factor.
     • The closer a searcher is to your address, the more likely you are to appear high in local results.

     “If somebody is close to your business and they search for a business, they are more likely to see your business.”
     — Grumpy SEO Guy [07:00]

  6. Backlinks and Authority:

     • Similar to traditional SEO, authority gained through backlinks also influences map pack rankings.

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4. Why the Distinction Matters

• Local SEO and regular SEO have different requirements. You can appear in one, both, or neither—and each requires its own playbook.

• Many businesses and even some so-called professionals confuse the two and waste resources targeting the wrong tactics.

  Advice:

  “I hope that it helps explain how local SEO and normal SEO are not the same.”
  — Grumpy SEO Guy [07:30]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On content quality in SEO:

  "Just because you write really good content, that has no effect on where you actually rank."
  — Grumpy SEO Guy [03:23]

• On the historical shift to local SEO:

  "Webmasters would create a page on their website for every city in the country and then they would do normal SEO … not very beneficial for somebody who searches for something and sees results in a different city. That’s why we have local SEO."
  — Grumpy SEO Guy [05:00]

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Recommendations and Next Steps

• Refer to the linked episodes and articles mentioned for deeper dives into penalties, content, relevancy, and authority.
• Double-check your business’s NAP for consistency everywhere online.
• Set up and verify your Google My Business profile if aiming for local results.
• Focus on getting genuine reviews from real customers.
• Remember: proximity cannot be “SEOed”—it’s based on your true location.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Time | |---------------------------------------|----------| | Defining Local vs. Regular SEO | 02:02 | | Four Pillars of Regular SEO | 03:03 | | Map Pack and Google My Business | 04:18 | | NAP & Citations | 06:01 | | Reviews & Proximity | 06:50 | | Backlinks in Local SEO | 07:15 | | Distinction Recap & Listener Advice | 07:30 |

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Conclusion

This episode offers a concise but thorough explanation of an often-misunderstood topic: the real differences between local SEO and standard SEO tactics. Grumpy SEO Guy unpacks each element with directness and authority, emphasizing the unique factors in local SEO—especially Google My Business, NAP consistency, and proximity—that can make or break your visibility in map results.

Listeners are encouraged to review the resources linked in the episode description, submit questions, and remember that the biggest mistakes in SEO come from not understanding which game you’re playing.

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“If you listen to this podcast, you will know more about SEO than 99% of people on the planet.”
— Grumpy SEO Guy [00:27]

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Transcript

[A]

This is Grumpy SEO guy. Episode 128, local SEO versus regular SEO.

[B]

You're listening to grumpy SEO guy, the SEO podcast that doesn't waste your time with nonsense that doesn't work. I'm the Grumpy SEO Guy and I'm sharing with you the strategies that have helped me successfully run my SEO agency.

[A]

For the last 14 years.

[B]

In this podcast, I'll be sharing my knowledge and experience, discussing tips and strategies, and trying to help you cut through the confusion that permeates this industry. If you listen to this podcast, you will know more about SEO than 99% of people on the planet. Ready? Let's get started.

[A]

I'm the Grumpy SEO Guy. Let me tell you why I'm grumpy today. I'm grumpy today because a lot of people are unclear on the difference between local SEO and regular SEO. So that's what we're gonna talk about in this episode. But before we do that, some announcements. New episodes come out at 9:00am Central Standard Time on Wednesday. That's for the podcast. For those of you that are listening to this on YouTube, it's gonna be a little bit after that. If you leave a comment on YouTube, I try to reply on Wednesday, but sometimes it's not until Thursday. If you like the podcast, please subscribe. If you have a question for me, you can email [e-mail] if you have a question, you can also post it on [e-mail] r grumpyseoguy if you have a complicated question and you'd like to set up a zoom advisory call, you can email me at the address I just gave you and we can talk about getting that arranged. If you would like to support the podcast, you can do [e-mail] Grumpy Seouguy okay, let's get on to the discussion. But before we do that, my lawyer.

[B]

Tells me that I have to say this right now.

[A]

A quick disclaimer before we get started.

[B]

Everything I say here is based on my experience and opinion from 14 years in the industry.

[A]

I don't officially know how Google or.

[B]

Any other search engines work. Everything I say here is hypothetical. And based on my experience, this podcast does not constitute advice or services. What worked for me may or may not work for you.

[A]

Okay, back to the show. So local SEO versus normal SEO.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

What is the difference? Local SEO is when you search for something and you see results in the maps.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

You might see actual businesses with addresses on a Map that is local SEO. This is called the map pack. Okay, Map packs. That's what it is. If you do not see the map, it is not local SEO. So generally what you will see is the map at the top and then below that you will see the normal SEO results. You can be in one, the other, or both.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

But the way you do it is different and that's what we're going to talk about in this episode. So I want to be very clear about something though. Just because you have a location keyword does not mean you are doing local SEO. Local SEO is only map results. Okay, let's talk about how to do them. We're going to start with normal SEO, and I've said this on multiple episodes, but we're going to cover it again very quickly. To rank with normal SEO, there are four things that you need. Number one, don't get a penalty.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

We have an episode that talks about penalties. I will put a link in the description. Number two, you need content. Content does two things. It puts words on your website and it gives relevancy, which we're gonna talk about in a minute, but really quickly. First, I wanna tell you that just because you write really good content, that has no effect on where you actually rank.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Good content and bad content rank equally well because it is established by other factors which are the things we're talking about. Three, Relevancy. Relevancy means what is the topic of your website?

[C]

Okay.

[A]

What is the topic of your website? Okay, we'll say this one more time. What is the topic of your website? In order to rank for something, you need to be relevant for those terms. And four, Authority. Authority is a measure of power, trustworthiness, or strength. Authority comes from backlinks. If you want to rank, you need to have more authority than your competition.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

By the way, we have episodes that explain each of these things very specifically. I will put links to them as part of the description. So now let's talk about local SEO. Depending on who you talk to, there's a different number of things that you need for local SEO. And so I will describe why there is a difference in numbering sometimes, but. But anyways, let's get started. One, Google my business. You might have heard this as gmb. Okay, Google my business. This is actually a good point to talk about. The reason we have local SEO, local SEO is actually fairly new. In the past, you could rank for any location you wanted just by doing regular SEO. So what would happen is webmasters would create a page on their website for every city in the country and then they would do normal SEO on those pages and they could rank for every city in the country. This isn't very beneficial for somebody who searches for something and they see results in a different city. So this is why you can do local SEO. This brings me back to the discussion of Google My Business. Google My Business confirms that you have an address and a business. And in order to appear on the map you need to have a Google My Business. They will deliver to you a postcard and you get that and you can use that to prove that you have an actual business there. And that's how it works. And there's other things that you can set up in your Google My Business account. We're not going to talk about that right now. I just want you to be aware that you must have a Google My Business in order to be in the map. Results 2. Nap. That might sound a little bit bizarre. Nap means name, address, phone number. Whenever your business is mentioned on another website, you need to make sure that the name, address and your phone number are the same.

[C]

Okay?

[A]

This provides legitimacy for your business.

[C]

Okay?

[A]

So make sure that the name, the address and your phone number are the same.

[C]

Okay?

[A]

Three citations. Now, depending on who you talk to, they might classify this as the same as nap because a citation is when your business is listed on another website. All you have to do is make sure the name, address and phone number the same. 4. Reviews. Did you ever notice that most of the websites at the top of the map pack have a lot of good reviews? The only thing I'm going to tell you about reviews is make sure you are getting actual reviews.

[C]

Okay?

[A]

5 Proximity. Proximity means how near are you to the searcher? So if somebody is close to your business and they search for a business, they are more likely to see your business. If they are further away from you, they are less likely to see your business and more likely to see your competitors. That is proximity. 6. Backlinks and authority. Basically how it works with normal SEO. So I hope this was helpful. This was a very quick overview of what you need to do to rank for these. But I hope, I hope that it helps explain how local SEO and normal SEO are not the same. Sometimes people email me and they have questions about local SEO. When this happens, there are two articles that I send them and I will share those articles in the description so you can learn more. So if you have any questions, let me know and I will talk to you later. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe. And if you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review. It would really help the show out.

[B]

I hope this episode was helpful. If you have any questions or want to suggest a subject for a future episode, you can contact me on Reddit. My username is Grumpy SEO Guy. You can visit the Grumpy SEO Guy subreddit or you can email [e-mail] if you email me, please either whitelist my email address or check your junk folders because I've been told that my replies are going into the junk folder and it's probably because we're talking about things like SEO and backlinks and I think those words will classify an email and as spam. And if you want to support the podcast because it's the best source of SEO information on the planet and it's free, you can do [e-mail] grumpy SEO guy and I will talk to you later. You're listening to Grumpy SEO Guy, the SEO podcast that doesn't waste your time with nonsense that doesn't work. Join us next Wednesday for another episode.

[C]

Sat.