10 Local Link Building Strategies

10 Local Link Building Strategies to Improve Your Local Rankings

Getting your business to rank higher in local search results takes effort, but it’s worth it. Higher local rankings mean more visibility, website traffic, phone calls, and new customers from people searching for businesses like yours.

While optimizing your Google My Business listing and on-page SEO are crucial, one of the most effective ways to improve local rankings is link building.

Local link building simply means getting reputable, locally-relevant websites to link back to your own website. This helps search engines understand your business is authoritative and popular in your geographic area.

For example, if you’re a plumber in Phoenix, Arizona, you want to gain backlinks from local directories, blogs, news sites, and other websites specific to Phoenix and the plumbing industry. These types of local links act as “votes” to boost your local SEO and credibility.

The more quality local links you can acquire, the more signals you send to Google that your business deserves a top spot for local search queries. Local links have a direct positive effect on local pack and map rankings.

Here are 10 proven tactics to build high-quality local links:

1. Get Listed on Relevant Local Directories

Claim and optimize your listings on any appropriate local directories you can find. Common examples include:

  • Google My Business
  • Yelp
  • BBB
  • Chamber of commerce
  • Local newspaper directories
  • Industry associations
  • Local service review sites like Angie’s List

Complete your profiles fully, use keywords, link back to your website, and keep the information consistent across all directories. This builds citations and powerful local signals.

2. Guest Post on Local Blogs

Find popular local blogs that accept guest posts, especially ones that reach your ideal customers. Offer to write a high-quality post for free, but request a backlink in return.

Make sure the blog is relevant, trusted, and gets decent traffic. Write useful, engaging content that fits the blog’s audience. This can earn you a quality contextual local link.

Contact local newspapers, radio stations, magazines, and TV news programs to pitch yourself as an expert source for stories related to your industry.

If they interview you or mention your business, this earns a high-value local link and exposure. Look for press release distribution services to help with outreach.

4. Sponsor Local Events

Sponsor relevant local events like races, festivals, galas, conferences, and fundraisers. Negotiate for branding and links on the event website and promotions. Get involved on planning committees too.

This builds community goodwill and earns backlinks from event sites which tend to have high domain authority and local trust.

5. Partner with Local Businesses

Strategic partnerships can earn quality links while also growing your business. Partner with vendors, retailers, or other non-competing businesses to co-create value.

For example, a caterer could partner with event venues, florists, DJs, and photographers to offer packaged deals for clients. Cross-promote and link to each other.

6. Volunteer for Local Organizations

Volunteer your time, services, products, or donations to local charities and non-profits. Get involved with their fundraising and events.

Most will gladly link to your website from their “sponsors” or “partners” page. You also build community recognition and relationships.

7. Claim and Optimize Local Business Listings

Register your business on platforms like Google My Business, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yelp, and others. Completely fill out your profiles and keep them updated.

Optimized local listings help you rank higher in map packs and local searches. They also give you another linkable asset.

8. Join Local Chambers, Associations, and Networks

Become an active member of local trade groups and professional organizations. Attend their events and sponsor if possible.

This exposes you to many local linking opportunities, establishes you as an authority, and helps you connect with partners.

9. Get Customer Reviews on Local Sites

Ask satisfied customers to leave positive online reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, and other local review sites.

The more 5-star local reviews you have with backlinks to your website, the more signals this sends about your local reputation.

10. Build Relationships with Local Influencers

Connect with local leaders, bloggers, media personalities, and active social media users. Interact and share their content regularly.

When they become familiar with you, they’ll be more likely to mention your business to their audiences.

As you can see, building local links requires consistency, creativity, and relationship building. But it’s one of the most valuable investments you can make in your local SEO strategy.

Don’t get discouraged if it takes months to see results. Search engines need time to crawl, index, and value new links pointing to your website. But over time, you’ll notice your local pack rankings improve.

Focus on forging win-win partnerships that provide value beyond just links. And don’t neglect your on-page optimization, citations, reviews, and other signals.

A diversified local link building approach combined with a solid overall SEO strategy will elevate your local authority and bring your business more visibility and customers.

What local link building tactics have you found most effective? Let me know in the comments!

References

[1] https://josiennation.com/local-link-building-strategies/

[2] https://www.arcanemarketing.com/10-local-link-building-strategies/

[3] https://www.seobility.net/en/blog/local-link-building/

[4] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/local-link-building-strategies-improve-your-search-rankings-soomro

[5] https://localbizguru.com/blog/local-link-building-tips/

[6] https://www.infidigit.com/blog/local-link-building/

Post List #3

How to Optimize Your GMB Categories for Maximum Visibility

How to Optimize Your GMB Categories for Maximum Visibility

Marc LaClearOct 10, 20236 min read

Selecting the right categories for your Google My Business (GMB) listing is one of the most important optimization steps you can take. The categories you choose directly impact how visible your business is for relevant local searches. In this comprehensive…

How to Use Google My Business Insights for Better Local SEO

How to Use Google My Business Insights for Better Local…

Marc LaClearOct 9, 20237 min read

As a local business owner, getting found in local search results is critical for driving new customers to your door. Ranking higher in Google’s local pack and map listings leads to more clicks, calls, and foot traffic. One of the…

Quora Local SEO

How to Leverage Quora for Local SEO

Marc LaClearOct 8, 20237 min read

Quora is an online question-and-answer platform that has become hugely popular in recent years. With over 300 million monthly visitors, it’s one of the top 50 websites globally. For local businesses, Quora presents a major opportunity to boost your local…

local seo review

The Role of Reviews in Your Local SEO Strategy

Marc LaClearOct 8, 20237 min read

In today’s digital world, reviews have become one of the most important factors for any local business when it comes to ranking higher in local search results. With over 90% of consumers reading online reviews before visiting a local business,…

Optimizing_Your_GMB_Profile_for_Maximum_Conversions

Optimizing Your GMB Profile for Maximum Conversions

Marc LaClearOct 7, 20236 min read

For any local business, your Google My Business (GMB) profile is one of the most powerful tools for driving conversions online. With Google dominating local search, ranking highly in local pack results is critical for visibility and conversions. But simply…