The best backlinks for local SEO are an important ranking factor for both local rankings and map packs. Unlike general link-building strategies that aren’t focused on location, local link-building, which are links from local sites, has a massive impact on link-building for local SEO. With the right local link-building strategies, you can find solid local prospects that will help you rank your local business higher in Google.Â
Why Are The Best Backlinks for Local SEO Important for Your Business?
You might be wondering why it is even important to get local SEO backlinks. You might think that a backlink from any powerful source is the same, but things aren’t like this anymore. You want to get things that are locally based and relevant to you.
Getting a powerful backlink from a local source can be absolutely fantastic. For example, you are a construction company in Florida, and you are trying to tell Google that you are an actual business located in Florida. How would you go about it?
Well, one of the easiest ways of doing that is that you can put it up on your business website. But – how will Google actually know that you are a construction business located in Florida? The answer is that you will require local backlinks.Â
General Link-Building vs. Link Building for Local Businesses
General link-building refers to the process of getting relevant and contextual websites to link to your business website or a page on your business website. While local-building is technically the same thing – there is the addition of the aspect that you get backlinks from websites that are locally relevant and contextual.Â
Understandably, the difference between general link-building and local link-building doesn’t sound very big – but you adopt different approaches for pitching link prospects.Â
It is important to mention here that a great aspect of local seo link building is that there will be relatively less competition than global link-building. Why, you might ask? Well, because you are only competing with local players.Â
However, to secure a local backlink, you need to get a bit more creative when finding and reaching out to potential link prospects for local SEO, as there will be fewer targets than global SEO.Â
Quality vs. Quantity BacklinksÂ
To truly master link building for local SEO, you should remember that the key here is to always choose quality over quantity. One quality link from the right websites is worth more than one hundred low-quality backlinks.
Make sure to reach out to good-quality authority websites and see how you can get a link placed on their site. You can offer to write an article for them or see if they offer directory listings. The goal is to secure a high-quality backlink from their website to yours, preferably a do-follow link.Â
What is A Do-follow Link, and Why Prioritize It?
The reason why people opt for Do-follow links for local backlinks for SEO is that Do-follow links pass on PR, which stands for PageRank, thus contributing to the ranking of the linked page and simultaneously encouraging Google to crawl and index the links.Â
So, Do-follow links can significantly boost your SEO.Â
Benefits of Local Link-Building For Businesses
Local link-building is an effective SEO strategy and a crucial factor that helps you determine where your business ranks on SERPs. Google uses various factors to determine the prominence of a local business, including the type of information Google collects about your business from various sources, such as articles, directories, and links.Â
Here are the benefits of local link-building:Â
Boost Brand Credibility
As you already know, more than 80% of users make buying decisions after looking up products and services online. This aspect indicates that your potential prospects research your business online to gauge whether to trust you or not. With effective local link-building, you can boost your brand credibility.Â
Boost SERP Rankings
Understandably, backlinks transfer authority to your website, which boosts your SERP rankings. The primary objective of all online businesses is to appear at the top of Google and other search engines. So, by focusing on local SEO and link-building techniques, you can increase your click-through rate and traffic, which will help your website rank higher in Google and other search engines.Â
Establish Brand AuthorityÂ
Local SEO and link-building strategies allow your business to build authority as an expert within your industry. The best way to establish your business as a brand authority is through generating informative and useful content, such as how-to blogs and guides. If you can effectively publish and distribute such content, you will effectively establish your brand authority and boost online visibility.Â
Boost Domain Authority
The higher the score of your website health, also known as domain authority or DA, the healthier your website will be. Domain authority is an important local and global ranking factor, which is why local link-building can help improve your website’s domain authority.Â
Ideally, you should aim to have a DA score higher than 60. Search engines consider the following factors when assessing the DA of your website:
- Quality of backlinks
- Quality of content
- UI experience
- UX experienceÂ
- General securityÂ
If relevant, local, and authoritative websites link to your business websites, they indicate to Google that you should rank your website higher, which will eventually boost your DA and attract more traffic.Â
How to Get Local Backlinks for Your BusinessesÂ
Now that we know the importance of link building for local SEO, the question is how to build links for local businesses. The golden rule to follow for effective link-building comes down to relevance. You should be able to build links from relevant domains.
With local SEO, you have essentially two types of relevance to worry about:
- Industry-based relevanceÂ
- Local relevanceÂ
For instance, if you are trying to build backlinks for your real estate business in Florida, you need to get links from real estate websites or websites about Florida – or websites of both. With that said, here are some effective local link building tips for your businesses.
Directory Citations
Directory citations are the places where you list your business name, address, and phone number in different directories. While you are on it, make sure to hit up all the local directories before moving on to the national ones, such as Yelp.Â
Move on to the industry-specific industries and get your business listed on these, too.Â
Join Industry-Related Business Associations
Another effective link-building trick for local SEO is to join your local chambers of commerce as well as industry-related business associations. The links that you get from your industry-related business associations are very similar to chamber of commerce links.Â
The authority of business associations will be high, and you can benefit from their local relevance.Â
Guest Posting
Guest posting is another one of the best local link building strategies for your business. Use guest posts to back up your pitch with data. First, look for high-authority local and industry sites from which you would like to get a backlink.Â
Then, use the right SEO tools, such as Ahrefs tools, to pull some data and show your prospects that you are going to write a piece of unique, informative, and invaluable content for them to rank for and pull traffic for.Â
Guest posting is incredibly effective for link-building for local SEO.Â
HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
HARO is all about creating high-quality, informative, and invaluable responses to journalist’s queries while focusing on clear formatting and the journalist’s needs. Creating noteworthy answers to industry-relevant queries is crucial so you can make the most of the HARO ecosystem and earn high-quality local backlinks in response.Â
To boost your local SEO link-building, make sure to use location and industry-specific keywords in HARO while using the “find” function. Keep track of queries and requests from local media outlets as well as bloggers or journalists who cover your local area.Â
It is important to mention here that HARO backlinks cannot be traded or bought – but you have to earn them, which is why HARO backlinks are the most valuable backlinks in the digital landscape.Â
Link Insertions
You can also reach out to people for link insertions. This process is about identifying websites from which you would like to get a link. Once you make a list of those sites, you will reach out to them and ask them if they would place one of your website links on one of their existing pages – or – to be specific, in one of their existing pieces of content that already exists on their sites.Â
Now, an effective way to persuade other bloggers to link insertion is to use FOMO. For instance, if your business is selling coffee in Florida, you might want to tell bloggers that you are writing an article on the top ten coffee shops in Florida.
Tell them you have never been to their coffee shops before, but you have heard good things. So, if they wouldn’t mind giving you a link to the article, you will be more than happy to include them in your list.Â
Unlinked Brand MentionsÂ
Unlinked brand mentions are websites that mention you without actually leaving links. You can use Ahrefs to hunt these websites and put the process on autopilot. Subsequently, reach out to the website owners and politely request them to add the link to your website.
You might want to go the extra mile and explain to them how their linking to your website can also boost their content as they will provide their readers with instant access to more information.Â
Assess Competitor’s Backlinks
You might as well want to look at your top competitor’s organic backlinks. Why you should do this is because if your competitors are ranking at the top of Google, then they surely have backlinks that are moving the needle for them.Â
This aspect perfectly indicates why you have to find common backlinks between your competitors and reach out to those sites, trying to get them for yourself. Open Google and search for something like this: “your niche + your city.”
Subsequently, collect a list of your competitor’s domains using the Map Pack and organic results. At this point, you should avoid sites, such as directories and blogs, as you are intentionally looking for your real business competitors. Proceed to find common backlinks between your competitor’s sites.Â
Final Thoughts
With the right strategies, you can effectively secure the best backlinks for local SEO and rank higher in local rankings and map packs. Building local links can make a massive difference to your business. So, you need to stay consistent and keep looking for new opportunities. However, you should know that building connections takes time – however – the process is worth it. You can make your business stand out in Google by partnering with local businesses, events, and local blogs to be more visible, establish authority, and gain the trust of your local audience.Â
FAQs
How to Ask Local Bloggers for Backlinks?Â
For effective local link-building, you can reach out to local bloggers with personalized emails where you offer them valuable content, such as in the form of a guest post that suits their audience. Tell them how your content will provide their audience with value and boost their rankings. Subsequently, ask for a link back to your site.
What Mistakes Should Be Avoided When Building Local Backlinks?Â
The rule applies to global backlinks as well: You must avoid getting backlinks from irrelevant local websites. Also, make sure to get local backlinks that are of good quality, as low-quality backlinks can affect your search engine rankings.Â
How Does Local SEO Affect Your Google Business Profile?
Local SEO and local backlinks that you get from good-quality local sites can essentially boost your Google Business Profile. This is done by boosting your overall visibility and authority in Google.Â
How Many Local Backlinks Should You Build?
Assess your local competitors about what they are doing and the number of backlinks they are building. This way, you will have a better understanding of the number of local backlinks you need to remain competitive.Â