Link building is one of the many tactics to boost your local SEO. Playing a crucial role in helping improve your business’s visibility and credibility online, local link-building can boost your rankings, if done correctly. To help you, we explore the reasons why link building for local SEO matters and how you can gain high-quality backlinks.
What is link building?
Before we dive into the reasons why link building matters, let’s briefly cover what link building is for those who are unaware or need a recap. Link building is the process of obtaining links to your website (backlinks) from a third-party website.
Typically, gaining backlinks from high-quality and relevant websites helps improve the authority and relevance of your website. That’s because in most cases, each backlink you receive passes value and authority onto your site. This is commonly referred to as link juice or link equity.
The greater the number of high-quality backlinks you have, the better for improving your website’s authority and relevance. In turn, search engines are far more likely to rank you higher in the search results. This is a strategy most widely used in traditional SEO, but can also be used for local SEO.
Unlike link building for traditional SEO, local SEO will focus primarily on receiving links from businesses within the same geographical area. This can either be new sites, relevant businesses, events, or partnerships.
Why does local link-building matter?
We already detailed that it is possible to improve your website’s authority and relevance by gaining high-quality backlinks. However, many more reasons can make it a worthwhile investment. While gaining these backlinks can be tough, the rewards make it worthwhile.
Here are the reasons why local link-building matters:
Boost your local rankings
The first reason why local link-building matters is that you can boost your local rankings. This can be especially beneficial for businesses that face strong local competition making it difficult to stand out in the search results.
As search engines, such as Google, value locally relevant links, gaining high-quality and relevant local backlinks can help your business improve its rankings. In turn, you are more likely to be found by people searching for products or services related to your business.
Increase website authority
Another reason why local link building is important is that it helps increase your website authority. The more quality backlinks you receive from quality third-party websites send a strong signal to search engines that your site is credible and trustworthy.
Drives targeted traffic
The increase in your website’s authority and boost in local rankings will help to drive more targeted traffic to your site as your online presence. The increase in targeted traffic to your site is another reason why local SEO link building is important.
This increase in targeted traffic can either result directly from the backlink or the increase in your search rankings as a result of gaining high-quality backlinks. Either way, this will result in an increase in visitors from your area who are more likely to convert.
Enhances businesses visibility
It is also possible to enhance your business’s visibility through local SEO link building, highlighting another reason for its importance. Being linked from local sources, whether it is business partnerships, events, sponsorships, or press coverage, helps establish your presence in the local community.
Gain a competitive edge
Gaining higher rankings and standing out from your competitors can be difficult. Fortunately, outranking local competitors becomes easier when you have more high-quality local links.
How can you gain high-quality local backlinks?
Now that we’ve detailed the reasons why local SEO link building is important, it’s time to explore the best possible methods you can use to gain backlinks for your business. Some of these methods can be arduous but highly rewarding.
Add listings in local directories
One method you can use to gain high-quality local backlinks is by adding listings in local directories. Not only do these provide more ways for customers to find your business, but they also provide a backlink to your site.
The major local directory you should add your business to is Google. Creating and optimising a Google Business Profile is a sure way to make your business get noticed in search results. It also directs traffic directly to your website.
There is also a wealth of other high-quality directories you should consider adding your business to, including Yelp, Bing Places, Hotfrog, Cylex, Yell, and My Local Services. Each directory provides a backlink to your website. However, make sure that all the NAP details you add to each directory are consistent.
Partner with local businesses
Partnering with local relevant businesses in your area can also yield you a backlink. This may involve collaborating with nearby businesses for cross-promotion or working with another business to provide a more holistic service/product offering. Then, you are likely to get listed on their websites as a partner with a backlink.
Sponsor local events or charities
Alongside partnering with local businesses, you can also sponsor local events and charities to receive a backlink. Consider sponsoring community events, sports teams, or local charities in exchange for a backlink. You could also engage in fundraisers or scholarships to gain authoritative links from schools and organisations.
Get featured in local news and blogs
Another method you can use is getting featured in local news and blogs. Fortunately, there are several methods you can help achieve this. The first involves reaching out to local journalists and bloggers to cover your business and any new announcements or newsworthy stories.
Secondly, you can use specialist platforms that allow you to connect with media outlets and direct access to journalists. Finally, you can publish press releases about new products, milestones, or community involvement. When a news article or blog about your business is published, it will typically include a backlink to your site.
Join local chambers and associations
Joining local chambers and associations can also help you gain another quality backlink. Membership to your local chamber of commerce, industry group, or trade association often includes a backlink to your website.
Customer reviews and testimonials
Customer reviews and testimonials are essential elements of improving your online reputation and visibility. However, it is also possible to gain backlinks this way. Offering testimonials to suppliers or partners, who may link back to your site. Also encouraging customers to leave reviews on platforms that allow backlinks.
Create locally relevant content
Creating high-quality content is often considered an effective method of gaining backlinks to your website. The same is true for local SEO. Creating locally relevant, high-quality content is a great way to gain more backlinks. Either publishing content about local news, guides, and events or creating “best of” lists featuring local businesses can encourage backlinks.
Guest blogging
Following on from creating locally relevant content, guest blogging can also be an effective method for gaining local backlinks. This involves writing guest posts for local business blogs, news sites, or industry-related websites. By offering valuable insights or content, most websites will provide a backlink to your website in return.
Use social media and forums
Using social media and forums can be another way to grow your backlink profile. While backlinks from these sources won’t affect your authority, it is a fantastic way to drive traffic to your site and can have an indirect impact on your SEO efforts.
You can achieve this by participating in local Facebook groups, Reddit threads, or Quora discussions. Sharing content that naturally encourages link-sharing from local sources can also help build up backlinks to your site.
Unlinked mentions
The last method we will cover for gaining local SEO backlinks is to find unlinked mentions. You may find there are a wide range of websites mentioning your business but not linking to you.
By running a Google search for your business, you can identify instances of unlinked mentions. This will typically involve searching for your business using an exact match with square brackets and your location. An example would be “[Dreamscape Design] + Coventry”. You can then browse through the search results to find any websites with an unlinked mention.
Local link-building is a long-term strategy that requires relationship-building and community involvement. By consistently engaging with local businesses and organisations, you can establish a strong local backlink profile that boosts your search visibility and drives relevant traffic. Combining local link building with other local SEO strategies is a sure way to skyrocket your business.
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