What is local link building?
Local Link building is the process of linking your website through a hyperlink from other local websites to increase your local search rankings.
Creating a Google business profile can get you on Google maps, and local link building can put you on top of Google’s local search results.
While backlink building involves improving brand awareness nationally or globally, local link building focuses on a specific local region to connect to the relevant local audience.
In Local SEO, you must earn links from a local business as authority is one of the ranking factors.
When Google’s crawlers scan for new pages across the web, inbound links from other local sites to yours have the most weight in ranking since they are considered trust votes by Google.
Apart from researching the right local keywords and writing highly optimized content, having an effective local link-building strategy can drive organic traffic to your local business listing.
Link building requires a lot of effort and time, and it might not give you results every time; its best to hire an experienced Local SEO service or freelancer to do the link building for your local business.
Why is link building for local businesses important?
A location-specific link-building strategy can help you find the targeted customers by narrowing it down to your local neighborhoods.
Most common local search intents have transactional keywords like “best cafes near baker street” or “toy shops on fifth avenue.” Hence, the chances of purchase are higher.
Therefore, the more quickly you make your business discoverable online, the more traction you get.
Link building for local businesses is perceived as a task that takes time and effort, and you are not sure whether you will be rewarded with backlinks. But you will only produce profitable results if you do it correctly.
Avoid implementing black-hat techniques like Paid links which are against Google’s guidelines. Otherwise, your local building efforts can backfire, resulting in getting penalized.
Strategies for link building for local business
Create localized content
Online shoppers ignore businesses that do not provide local business information as blog posts. Since most of the local searchers use mobile phones, it’s natural for them to look for more information about your business.
Start a blog by posting interesting informational content and optimizing with local keywords having low competition. Sprinkling your local keywords all over the blog posts, including your titles and meta descriptions, can increase brand awareness via local search.
Writing content based on local search intents will put you on the top of the 3-pack as the keywords are geographically relevant to the user’s current location.
Create Citations
Citations are online business listings or directories created by entering your business details like name, address and phone number.
You can start with Google my business and Facebook Page, which are necessary for local SEO. Add additional information like an email address so your local searchers can contact you immediately and a website URL to earn an inbound link to your site.
High-quality Citations can put you on the top of local search results. If you do not know how to search for high-quality citations, you can always check what your competitor is doing.
Enter your competitor’s business name and locality on Google search and check the list of links that appear on the search results. These are the sites where your competitor has created their citations.
While entering your business information, add the relevant business category and maintain NAP consistency – by providing accurate and updated information in all your business listings.
Local Guest posting
Guest posting is the next best thing you can look for while creating localized content.
When you outreach for guest posting, finalize the websites you are willing to link back to based on essential factors like domain authority,offer them value through your content and draw them back to your business site.
Social Media
Social media may not directly impact your local search rankings, but it is indeed a tactic that can increase a local audience base.
Adding your website links in the information section of your social media handles can generate links back to your site.
Local searchers on social media share current location information on their status updates, post photos and videos while dining in their favorite restaurants or buy a book from a local bookstore and tag the business.
This user-generated content can help you gain free exposure to your business.
Share your handles with your customers and ask them to tag you on their social media platforms and comment on blog posts on your website. Understanding which platforms are prevalent among your customers can start creating relevant content.
Answering local questions in Quora by including links can also generate traffic. And since your content stays there for a long time, you can expect regular traffic.
Connect with Local influencers and bloggers
Influencers can help move the needle by doubling the exposure of your local brand to their audience. Reach out to influencers and bloggers with a firm hold on the audience in a region or locale.
Creating content that resonates with your local brand can help you attract new customers and increase brand awareness. Also, the chances of negative publicity are low.
The best tactic to find them is through social media. Perform a local search and use the keyword ‘influencer’ to generate results. Look for factors like the number of followers, engagement, and previous brand collaborations to help you decide who can help you with the brand.
Reach out to local media outlets
Local podcasts and radio stations can bring you a ton of traffic and link-building since they have high-quality domain authority. Request them to feature you live or discuss your products by placing your business links on their website.
Even though there’s a lack of visual elements, people love listening to the radio for music and local news.
Another choice is to reach out to local journalists to get featured in an online newspaper. Earning a backlink from a news site can give a massive boost to your local search rankings.
Collaborate with other local businesses
Building a healthy relationship with other local businesses can increase trust. The company you collaborate with should complement well with your business.
Let’s say you own a service-based company providing home/office relocation, reach out to realtors who can recommend you to their customers whenever they plan to buy a home and vis versa.
Get your links placed on their site to build natural link opportunities.
Conclusion:
Without a solid local link-building strategy, your business may not advance the way you want.
A ton of outreach and human effort does drain your time and energy. But it’s definitely worth the effort that leaves you a long-lasting effect on your SEO.
Test the above strategies and understand which works best for your business. Local link building can earn high-quality links and boost your traffic, sales, and rank at the top of local search results.
Author
Pentra SEO Agency
