Are you looking for ways to boost your local SEO rankings and attract more customers to your business? One of the most effective strategies you can use is local SEO link building.
By acquiring links from other trustworthy local websites, you may increase the authority and relevance of your website. And it will likely increase your ranking in search engines.
In fact, 97% of local businesses are discovered online than anywhere else. That means your business has more chances of getting discovered if you rank higher on search engines.
But with so many different tactics and techniques to choose from, where should you start? In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the best local link-building strategies you need to know.
Local link-building provides numerous direct and indirect benefits to your website’s visibility. Here are just a few of the benefits of implementing a local link-building strategy.
Do you want to begin building your local backlinks? Here are ten of my best strategies to help you get started.
Did you know that, according to research, 94% of customers have recently searched for a new business in a business directory? Business directories list businesses within a specific geographic location or industry and can be a quick and easy way to get local links.
Target directories such as Bing, Facebook, Foursquare, Google Business Profile, and Yelp to take advantage of this opportunity. You can also find more local or niche directories through a quick Google search. For example, you can search on Google for “local directories for dental clinics in Minnesota.”
When submitting a pitch to a directory, carefully follow their requirements and provide relevant information about your company for verification purposes.
This strategy is also known as Barnacle SEO. It’s a strategy that lets your business connect to a larger website that ranks well for your desired keywords. It can help drive more traffic and leads to your site and boost your search rankings.
To implement this strategy, simply do a Google search for relevant keywords and attempt to obtain links from an aggregator or directory-type website that show up in the results.
These sites are frequently used by individuals looking for businesses like yours. Putting your company on them quickly and easily boosts visibility and draws new clients.
Are you ready to spy on your competitors and gain an edge in the SEO game? You can discover valuable link-building opportunities you may have missed by spying on your competitors.
Simply identify the backlinks your competitors have that you don’t, and go after them to fill gaps in your backlink profile. Sure, it may require some extra time and effort.
You also need the help of SEO tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs. But the payoff in increased visibility and competition is well worth it!
According to BrightLocal, the most effective way to build local backlinks is by building relationships with other businesses and influencers in your area.
Start by identifying local bloggers, government sites, news media, or other influencers in your niche. You can reach out to them to see if they’d be interested in featuring your business.
Don’t forget to sweeten the deal by offering a product or service in exchange for the feature. It not only helps to motivate them but also promotes your offering to more people. With a bit of work and communication, this local link-building approach may boost your business’s visibility and bring in more potential customers from your area.
Guest posting on local niche-related websites can also be a great strategy to build backlinks. You can offer to write blog posts on topics related to your business for websites in your area.
This strategy can help them improve their ranking, and you can also earn valuable backlinks for your site.
To get started, list local websites that publish content from contributors and pitch them your ideas. Try to develop topics relevant to the website’s target audience and your business niche.
Writing guest posts for your website can also help build relationships and lead to more future backlinks opportunities. Remember, the more local websites linking to your site, the better your chances of ranking higher in local search results.
Considering offering local sponsorships and scholarships can also benefit your link-building. By sponsoring a local event or offering a scholarship for students in your area, you can gain exposure and valuable links to your website.
When you offer sponsorships, you can often get listed on local event pages that receive a lot of traffic, like local sporting clubs. And if you offer scholarships to high schools in your market, you can be linked and mentioned across their scholarship pages on the school site.
It’s a win-win situation for your website and your chosen sponsorship or scholarship.
Don’t overlook the power of local content! Instead of just focusing on creating content for a global audience, consider creating content for your local community.
You can write about local events, share news about the local government or schools, or highlight businesses and landmarks in your area.
You can attract the attention of nearby websites and earn valuable local citations, which can lead to more links and traffic. And when Google sees that your site is providing helpful information to your local community, they’re more likely to consider it relevant to local search queries.
For example, if you have a landscaping business in your area, you could write blog posts about local gardening tips and highlight local parks and gardens. You can even share photos of your team working on projects around town. This type of content provides value to your local audience and helps establish your business as a trusted community member.
Did you know that not all mentions of your brand on the internet link back to your website? You could be missing out on potential backlinks. But don’t worry! You can still turn those unlinked mentions into valuable backlinks.
Start by identifying where your brand is being mentioned online. Then, reach out to the website owner or author. And kindly ask if they can add a link to your website. Since they are already discussing your product or service, they are more likely to be open to the idea.
This strategy not only helps build backlinks but may also boost brand awareness and improve website traffic. So, take advantage of those unlinked brand mentions and turn them into valuable backlinks for your business!
Using internal links in your content strategy is a great way to keep your reader engaged and a powerful way to build local links. Your website is considered local content. Even if internal links don’t count as backlinks, they can still be considered local links to your content.
But that’s not the only good thing about internal links. Linking to related posts internally, you’re helping Google understand the structure of your website and the relationships between your pages.
You can therefore improve your chances of ranking for local search results. Do not underestimate the power of internal linking because it is a quick and easy strategy to improve your local SEO efforts.
Setting up profiles on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is a great way to connect with your customers and build your online presence.
After you set up your social media profiles, you should link your website. Also, putting your business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) on social media can help search engines verify your business information and increase your local search rankings.
If you use the local link-building strategies in this guide, you’ll be ahead of your competitors when it comes to local SEO. Don’t give up if building up your backlink profile takes a while.
Links are valuable, and it takes work to get them. You’ll get better at making connections and growing your network of local links the more you do it.
Remember that connecting with local websites is the best way to build a strong backlink profile. Keep making good content and reach out to sites relevant to your area.
Once you have a good relationship with local websites, they may be more likely to work with you in the future and tell other local websites about you. You can win the local search results game and achieve your SEO goals with persistence and dedication.
Do you need help with creating a local link-building strategy? I’m here to give you a hand! As an SEO specialist, I would be more than happy to chat with you and come up with a plan that works specifically for your needs. Don’t hesitate to book a meeting with me! 😉
