Looking for links near you?
Local link building really moves the needle for local businesses. Let’s explore what link building is and give you eight tips and tactics for building your own local links.
PS: Stick around until the end, when we’ll reveal an overlooked link-building tactic that you can use right now!
What is Local Link Building?
Local link building focuses on acquiring backlinks from locally relevant websites. These links help search engines understand your business’s geographic footprint and increase your prominence in the local search ecosystem.
For local businesses, locally relevant links can often prove much more valuable than a link placement on a big topically or locally unrelated site. Local link relevance has a greater impact on local rankings, which drive real leads and sales to your business.
Examples of local links include:
- Local newspapers and news outlets: Coverage in local media can provide high-authority backlinks.
- Local blogs: Collaborating with local mommy bloggers, travel bloggers, and other community influencers can often lead to backlinks.
- Directories: Listings in local directories like chambers of commerce, business directories like Yelp and Yellowpages, and other relevant local directories all provide useful links. (Just remember that large aggregator services like Yelp aren’t quite as locally relevant as genuinely local institutions.)
- Local businesses: Other businesses you have relationships with may partner with you to provide locally relevant links.
Local link building isn’t limited to your town or city; state-level links also promote local relevance while increasing your website’s authority. If you’re dealing with a business that has multiple locations or a broad service territory, build local links to the most relevant location pages whenever possible.
8 Tips and Tactics for Local Link Building
Now that we have a better grasp on the importance of local link building, let’s examine effective strategies to help you build valuable local links.
Here are eight tips and tactics that will move the needle for your website’s performance.
1. Land directory and citation links.
Directories and citations are a great place to begin your local link-building journey. They’re generally easy to acquire, though some may require payment.
First off, ensure your business is listed on major directories like Google Maps, Yelp, Yellowpages, and Foursquare. They’re a bit more generic than other directories but essential for your local business. Not only will the links to your website improve your SEO performance, but major sites like these have their own user base that can send your referral traffic.
Also, check for topically relevant directories, like Avvo for legal services or Porch.com for home services. The links from these types of sites will enhance your local and topical relevance simultaneously.
If you live in a larger metro area, you might discover directories specifically for businesses in your region. Just remember that if a directory seems spammy, it probably is!
2. Peek at competitors’ backlink profiles.
Backlink profiles sound top secret. The truth is no one can hide their links (otherwise, they wouldn’t be votes of confidence!), and backlink profiles are really quite accessible with most common SEO tools.
You probably already know local competitors who are succeeding online. Pop their domain into a backlink auditing tool, and voila—take a look at the opportunities in front of you.
Search for your city or location name among the links and take a closer look at any links leading to location pages. If your competitor has these links, there’s usually no compelling reason you can’t either.
3. Join chambers of commerce.
Most chambers of commerce have a public directory that includes a backlink. If the business you run or work for is willing to join, you can benefit from that link and exposure with local chambers. Chambers also offer other benefits that can help grow and prosper your business, like networking, advocacy, and training.
Check for multiple chambers. Larger cities often have regional or unique chambers. For example, Houston lists 37 chambers of commerce. Just remember: You’re not just buying a link here. That’s a no-no. Only join if you intend to participate.
4. Write local content and promote it.
Writing locally flavored informational content can be an excellent way to land links. Think creatively about your services and what sort of local nuance you can add.
Whether or not this type of content ranks will depend on the search habits of your locale, but don’t get bogged down with keyword rankings alone! Even if your content doesn’t draw a lot of organic traffic, it may still appeal to your local audience and just might attract valuable links from local news outlets.
Once you have a share-worthy piece (maybe on pool cleaning tips for local weather or car maintenance insights for local climate and road conditions), reach out to local news sites and blogs that might take an interest in sharing your insights with their own audiences.
5. Sponsor local charities, nonprofits, or events.
Sponsoring local charities, nonprofits, and events is an excellent way to earn quality local links while supporting your community.
If you’re unsure of where to begin, try using search operators to uncover opportunities:
inurl:sponsors “city”
intitle:sponsors “city”
intext:sponsors “city”
Sift through the results and look for sponsorships that are meaningful to you or your client base.
6. Create a scholarship.
Creating a scholarship is a strategic way to earn local backlinks while supporting education and giving back to your community. Once you establish a scholarship, you can reach out to school districts, colleges, and universities.
To look for link opportunities, try a site: with the domain of nearby schools and search for external scholarships, outside scholarships, and private scholarships (for example, site:utulsa.edu outside scholarships). Before you try to land a link, just ensure that the schools you’re checking out link to scholarships, not just scholarship search websites.
7. Offer case studies to local partners.
Offer to write a detailed case study about how a local business has helped you.
Start by introducing yourself, explaining what you do and where you do it — complete with a link to your website. Then thoroughly discuss how the partner business has helped you, the results you’ve achieved, and provide a thorough recommendation.
When the business you are reviewing publishes the case study on their blog or website, they’ll likely share it on their social media and with prospects. You gain a valuable backlink plus local exposure. It’s a win-win for everyone involved!
8. Link internally to your own content.
If you’ve reached this last tip, you’re in for a real treat: internal linking.
Okay, maybe that sounds like a sham, but we’re serious: internal linking is an untapped opportunity on too many local business websites.
Google readily encourages internal links:
You may usually think about linking in terms of pointing to external websites, but paying more attention to the anchor text used for internal links can help both people and Google make sense of your site more easily and find other pages on your site. Every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site. Think about what other resources on your site could help your readers understand a given page on your site, and link to those pages in context. (emphasis added)
So essentially Google is saying it without coming out and saying it: robust internal linking can improve your SEO performance.
Link naturally throughout your site with descriptive anchor text, and you’ll help both users and search engines better understand your content. If you can link from pages with backlinks to other pages that are underperforming a bit, you have a real chance to see some ranking improvement.
Build Local Links Like a Pro
Should your local business try to replicate Fortune 500 companies’ approaches to link building?
Probably not.
But just because you don’t need to earn links from large, recognizable websites with high authority doesn’t mean you don’t need links at all.
You just have to focus on the right things—mainly links near you.
Look for opportunities, land local links, and relish in the gains.
Locally relevant links can be a game-changer for your business. Do you want some help? At RicketyRoo, we build links every day with local SEO services for businesses just like yours. Schedule a discovery call, and let’s aim for the stratosphere.
