Local link-building is crucial for businesses to create a reputation in a particular geographic area. Local link-building holds importance in establishing a businessโs online visibility and credibility, especially in local search engine rankings. It is one of the first steps that you have to take if you are planning to start digital marketing for a small business.
In this article, weโll cover local linking-building basics and share effective strategies to improve your local backlinks.
What is Local Link Building?
Link building is crucial for improving local SEO rankings, whether you have a physical business or offer services in a particular area.
According to a Backlinko study, the first search result in Googleโs organic search results gets a click-through rate of 39.8%. Your business needs to rank in your localized business niche so that it gets easily found on Google.
Local links prove that a business is trustworthy in its community. This is particularly important for local stores and service-based businesses that need to show that theyโre reliable in their area.
Effective Local Link Building Strategies
When it comes to building local links for your business, itโs important to get involved in your local community. The best links are often formed through strong relationships. Here are a few strategies for building local links:
1. Get links from other ranking sites
This strategy is called Barnacle SEO. In this strategy, you search a few of your related phrases in Google and get links from the websites that appear in the results.
Itโs better to look for directory or aggregator sites as you probably wouldnโt get any links from your competitors. Individuals who seek a business to work with use these websites typically.This means that when you target directory or aggregator sites for local citations, you are more likely to secure valuable mentions without the added concern of directing potential customers to your competitors.
By signing up and submitting your business on these platforms, you can make sure that your business is included in the list of options and can receive direct business benefits.
2. Social Media
You can get links for local SEO from social media accounts as well. Adding links to your website from various social media platforms will help boost your backlink profile. You can create and optimize profiles on these platforms:
- โ Google My Business
- โ Apple Maps
- โ LinkedIn
- โ Facebook
- โ Instagram
This is the simplest and quickest way to improve your backlink profile as you can set it up yourself.
3. Relevant round-ups and resource pages
Locally-focused sites frequently feature round-ups that showcase the top businesses in town. These round-ups usually focus on a specific industry, interest, or niche.
You can also find helpful links on local resource pages. For example, a coffee shopโs page may elaborate on the various types of coffee, how to brew them, and what distinguishes high-quality beans.
It may also link to other businesses that complement the coffee experience, such as suppliers of unique cups, coffee machines, or accessories.
Additionally, the page could showcase customer feedback and feature a blog about the broader coffee culture, fostering a well-rounded exploration of related topics.
To have your website listed on platforms similar to yours, reach out to the website administrators. Contact them and request inclusion in their upcoming lists. Include a link to your website and highlight the value you can offer to their readers.
4. Guest posts
Guest posting is a content marketing strategy in which a writer creates and publishes an article on another website or blog that isnโt their own. Many local niche websites offer the chance to guest post. So, you can find guest posting opportunities there. You can get a link back to your site in exchange for your free article. Just look for a website that has a โsubmit a guest postโ category on their home page.
5. Creating a Local Blog on Your Website.
It is crucial to create a blog on local topics. This will help you get more links for your local SEO, and hereโs how.
By blogging, you can demonstrate your skills and knowledge. This will allow your customers to trust you more and prefer your brand. Blog posts are also a great way to attract buyers looking for information in the early stages of buying.
Plus, you can easily share your blog content on social media as it will increase your brand awareness and traffic.
So, to acquire more local links for your blog posts, focus on creating high-quality content. It is essential to engage in targeted strategies like submitting to link roundups, promoting your content on social media, and networking with fellow businesses and bloggers. By adopting this multifaceted approach, you can establish your presence as a local authority in your niche.
6. Find unlinked brand mentions and request links
One of the ways for you to get local links from authoritative websites is to find unlinked brand mentions. This usually occurs when other websites speak about your business or individuals at your business but do not give a backlink to your website.
If you belong to a niche such as cryptocurrency or if there is already an active community around your company and/or people, you are more likely to succeed with this approach. This tactic works best when the niche you are in receives news coverage.
7. Employment and internship posts
You can obtain backlinks by publishing an employment opportunity on a regional online job board. Include a link back to your website in the job listing.
Also, you can earn local backlinks by advertising internship opportunities on various educational and institutional sites.
8. Organize Special Events and Promotions to Obtain PR Links
Organizing special events or campaigns can boost your local visibility, and prominence, and get more links for local SEO. You can choose from various options, such as:
- โ Sponsoring a local sports team
- โ Hosting a charity fundraiser
- โ Running a workshop
- โ Holding a contest
- โ Offering a free product demo or seasonal discounts
The best option for you depends on your business model.
After you decide on an event or campaign, you need to spread the word about it.
Find out which local news outlets are popular among your target audience, such as local papers, radio stations, Facebook groups, etc.
Most people use social media daily, so online platforms are a good option. Write a brief press release that includes the main events, details, and a link to your website. Also, ensure to use keywords that are relevant to your niche.
9. Buy Domains In Your Niche
Purchasing unused or expired domains within your niche can help in your local link-building for SEO strategy. 70% of domains donโt get renewed following the first year, making it a golden opportunity to buy relevant domain names for your business.
By gaining once-active domains, you gain access to a pre-existing backlink profile. These domains may have links from reputable websites, you can leverage these links to enhance your websiteโs authority.
You can leverage acquired domains by redirecting them to relevant pages on your current website. This preserves their backlinks and enhances your siteโs authority.
In addition to redirecting acquired domains, you can also update and repurpose their valuable content to incorporate into your current website. This strategy helps maintain the existing backlinks and enhances the contentโs authority, which in turn boosts your websiteโs overall authority in your niche.
You can secure new local backlinks. Expand your network by outreach and relationship building.
10. Local business partnerships
You can partner with different local businesses to gain links from their website. Ensure that they are not your competitors and are relevant to your industry.
For instance, as a local florist, you can boost your search engine ranking by exchanging backlinks with other businesses such as wedding planners, photographers, and venues. Reach out to them to introduce your business and explain how exchanging backlinks can benefit both parties.
By partnering with other local businesses, you can increase your online visibility, attract more customers, and boost local link building efforts.
11. Google My Business (GMB) Signals:
Linking to your Google My Business profile from your website and other online platforms is a good practice. It provides additional signals to search engines about your businessโs location and relevance. Additionally, having a well-optimized and accurate GMB profile with consistent information across the web can positively influence local search rankings.
12. Internal Links
You can use internal linking for local link building. It does not count as a backlink but does count as a local link.
Internal linking also helps Google to understand your websiteโs structure. With internal linking, you also ensure Google finds and ranks your relevant content. This will help in ranking for local search results.
Difference Between Local Backlinks and Local Citations
Before getting into local backlinks, it is crucial to understand the difference between local citations and local backlinks.
Local Backlinks
Getting a link from a different website to yours is called a backlink. Usually, backlinks are given from forums, blogs, and other areas on the internet.
Local link building means building links to a business website that are relevant to the local area. This will help bring organic traffic to your business. Also, It will enhance both the local search ranking and map packs of your website.
From a technical perspective, acquiring local backlinks is crucial for enhancing a websiteโs visibility. Search engines interpret local backlinks as signals of local relevance and authority, positively impacting the websiteโs search engine ranking.
Establishing these connections through various platforms strengthens the association with the local landscape, making it more likely for your website to appear in search results when users seek local products or services.
Local Citation
A local citation refers to any occurrence where your business name is mentioned online. It can include your businessโs NAP data and information like customer reviews, key offerings, photographs, and so on.
By claiming existing citations or creating new ones, Google will recognize your business as a crucial part of the community.
Online directories often display local citations, which typically include a backlink to your website. These citations not only improve your online presence but also significantly contribute to local search engine rankings, making it easier for individuals to discover and engage with local businesses.
When search algorithms like Google, identify consistent and accurate information about your business across various online platforms, it boosts the credibility and relevance of your business in the local context.
This consistency acts as a positive signal, contributing to higher local search rankings. It increases the likelihood of your business appearing prominently in local search results.
This is why many digital marketing experts believe that citations are essential for local SEO rankings.
How to Gain Backlinks from Local Directories?
- 1. Locating Directories Based on Location
Start by using a search engine like Google. Look up your city, state, or service area with the phrase โbusiness directory.โ
- 2. Finding Directories Based on Industry
Here, instead of focusing on location, concentrate on industry-specific directories.
Use search terms like โrestaurant business directory,โ โphotography business directory,โ or โdirectories for fitness services.โ
Explore the initial search results containing NAP information. You can refine your search results by location on industry-specific directories.
5 Factors to Consider when you Start Local Link Building
Undertaking a local link-building journey can be a strategic move for businesses aiming to boost their online presence within a specific geographic area. To effectively start local link-building for your business website, you should consider these five crucial factors of digital marketing:
- 1. When it comes to building local links, avoid using proxy domain metrics: This can be Trust Flow, Domain Authority, and so on. These scales donโt necessarily reflect the value, relevance, and potential of the local links.
- 2. Donโt overlook the NoFollow link options: Even though some websites have NoFollow policies, they can still provide valuable hints to Google for crawling and indexing your content. Dismissing them altogether is an outdated practice.
- 3. Donโt worry too much about the anchor text: While earning a few keyword-rich anchors can help, itโs easy to abuse and can make a pattern that harms your websiteโs reputation. When looking for relevance in your search, itโs crucial to have relevant keywords surrounding your link.
- 4. Identify link opportunities: Several local sites have various problems you can use for local link building (i.e., linking to obsolete content, broken links, etc). Crawlers can make it easier to find the path of least resistance for earning a link, such as by linking to pages identical to yours.
- 5. Use your Competitors: Find sites linking to your competitions but not to you. The majority of links you discover may not contribute immensely. Investing time and resources in building these links wouldnโt help you much.
What are the Benefits of a Local Link Building Strategy?
Link building is crucial for local SEO. It helps your site gain credibility and authority in the local community. Trustworthy websites linking to your local business site is seen as a sign of approval by search engines, which improves your local search rankings.
Here are some benefits of using local link building:
1. Improves Local Traffic both Online and Offline:
By building local links, you can attract people to your website from nearby areas. This increases the chances of turning online visitors into customers. Also, it encourages more people to come to your physical location, which helps to grow your local customer base.
2. Boost in Website Metrics:
When you build links with local businesses, it helps increase the number of people who click on your website, stay on it longer, and reduce the number of people who leave quickly. This makes your website more interesting and helpful to users, which is good for your websiteโs overall performance.
3. Increases Domain Authority and Trustworthiness:
Getting backlinks from reputable local sources can help improve your websiteโs domain authority, making it a trusted resource in the local community. This credibility can impact positively on your overall search rankings, as search engines value trustworthy sources.
4. Improvement in Sales and Conversions:
Using local link-building can help your business become more visible and trustworthy to potential customers. This increases local traffic, resulting in higher sales and conversion rates. By establishing your business as a reliable local entity, you can build trust and credibility among your audience.
5. Increases Social Media Followers:
When you build links locally, it can help your business become more visible on social media. This can bring in more followers who are interested in your brand and what you have to offer. As your business gains recognition in the local community, your social media audience can become more engaged with your brand and content.
You can build meaningful relationships and expand your network when you reach out to customers and businesses.
One key motivation for local link building is visibility, making it easier for your audience to find and engage with you.
Conclusion
Local link-building is a crucial growth strategy that you cannot ignore. It helps attract a targeted audience to physical stores while strengthening online traffic.
When you start local link building keep this phrase in mind โPatience is keyโ. Link-building strategies donโt give results overnight, but it will in the long-term.
Remember, local backlinks present immense value for SEO and conversion rates. As businesses aim for Google Maps prominence and top search rankings, you need to prioritize local link building as an ongoing strategy.
At Egara Digital, we specialize in enhancing your websiteโs local search optimization and creating excellent local backlinks. We use effective strategies and tools to boost your websiteโs visibility, traffic and conversions from local customers. Whether you have one or several locations, we can assist you in achieving higher rankings on organic search results and Google 5 Maps.
