Are you a small business owner looking to improve your local search visibility? Then you’ll want to consider local link-building tactics to increase traffic on your website. After all, the more links you have pointing back to your website, the higher your search engine ranking will be.
But what’s the best way to go about building links? If you’re targeting a local audience, expert link builders will discuss a few tactics in this blog that should be at the top of your list.
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What Is Local-Link Building?
Local link building is building relationships with other businesses and organizations in your community to earn links to your website. This is a great way to build authority and trust with potential customers and improve your search engine ranking for keywords related to your business.
There are many ways to go about local link building. Still, some of the most effective include sponsoring local events, contributing guest blog posts to local publications, and participating in online directories and review sites. By building strong relationships with other businesses in your community, you can earn valuable links that will help improve your visibility online.
Link Building Tactics for Small Businesses
1. Get Listed In Online Directories
One of the easiest ways to get started with link-building is to make sure your business is listed in online directories such as Yelp, Foursquare, and Yellow Pages. Not only will this help people find your business when searching online, but most directories will also provide a link to your website.
These directories are often used by people looking for businesses in their area, so claiming your listing can help to increase your visibility and potentially generate new links.
Just be sure to choose relevant, high-quality directories—otherwise, you could end up with low-quality links that won’t do much to improve your search engine ranking.
2. Creating A Google My Business Listing
This free service offered by Google allows businesses to manage their online presence on Google Search and Maps. Creating a listing on Google My Business can help to improve your visibility in local search results, which can ultimately lead to more links.
This free platform can help potential customers find your business more easily. Plus, it’s a great way to connect with your community and showcase what makes your business unique.
3. Setting Up Social Media Profiles
Another great way to get started is by setting up social media profiles and actively using them. When potential customers search for your business on Google, they will see your website and your social media profiles.
If they like what they see, they may be more likely to follow you and link to your site. This will help with local link building, improve visibility, and reach potential customers.
In addition, if you post interesting and relevant content on your social media accounts, you may find that other websites will link to your content as well. You can quickly build a strong local link profile for your small business by using social media.
If you’re unsure how to start setting up social profiles on different platforms, consider hiring link-building services to help you out.
4. Sponsor A Local Event
Another great way to get links directing traffic to your website is to sponsor a local event. This could be anything from sponsoring a Little League team to setting up a booth at the annual county fair. You can also consider sponsoring a charity event or a community festival.
Not only will this give you some great publicity, but as a sponsor, you would typically have your business name and website listed on promotional materials for the event, which can help to increase your visibility and generate new links.
5. Getting Involved In The Local Chamber Of Commerce
The chamber of commerce is typically an organization representing businesses in a particular city or town. Getting involved with your local chamber of commerce can help you network with other businesses in the area and potentially generate new leads and links.
6. Write Guest Blog Posts
If you’re not already blogging regularly, now’s the time to start. In addition to helping boost your SEO efforts, link-building experts believe that blogging can also be a great way to build relationships with other local businesses—which can come in handy for link-building.
Once you’ve built up a base of loyal readers, reach out to other local businesses and see if they’d be interested in hosting a guest post from you on their site. Most likely, they’ll be happy to oblige—and you’ll get a valuable link back to your site in the process.
7. Get Involved With Local Charities
Giving back to the community is always a good idea—and it just happens to be great for link-building! Get involved with local charities and see if there are any opportunities for promotion on their websites or social media accounts.
For example, many charities host special events where they list sponsors on their website or promote them through their social media channels—giving you valuable exposure (and links) in the process.
8. Reach Out To Local Forums And Newspapers
Small businesses have a distinct advantage over their larger counterparts when it comes to local link building. Because they are more intimately connected to their communities, they can often forge stronger relationships with local media outlets and forums.
You can leverage these relationships to secure valuable links that can help to boost a small business’s visibility in search engines.
In addition, by establishing themselves as thought leaders in their community, small businesses can earn links from high-authority sources that would otherwise be out of reach. By investing the time and effort to build strong relationships with local media outlets and forums, small businesses can give themselves a big boost in the world of local link-building.
9. Partner With Other Local Businesses
Remember that link-building doesn’t have to be a competition—it can be quite collaborative! If other businesses in your area complement yours (but don’t compete with it), reach out and see if there are any opportunities for partnership.
For example, you could collaborate on a joint blog post or promotional giveaway, giving you valuable links to your respective websites.
10. Participating In Local Networking Events
Another great way to connect with other businesses in your area is to participate in local networking events. These events provide an opportunity for business owners and professionals to meet one another, exchange contact information, and potentially do business together.
Attendance at these events can also help you raise awareness for your business and potentially generate new leads and links.
11. Claim Unlinked Mentions
This can be done by conducting a Google search for your business name, product, or service. If you see your business mentioned without a link to your website, you can contact the site owner and request that they add a link.
This is especially effective for local link building because it allows you to build relationships with other businesses in your area.
In addition, claiming unlinked mentions can help to build brand awareness and increase your visibility in search engine results in pages. As a result, this simple tactic can effectively build links and improve your local SEO.
12. Creating Local Content
Creating content specific to your city or town can also be a great way to build local links. This could include creating blog posts about local events, writing articles about local businesses, or even creating a directory of local resources.
By creating content relevant to people in your area, you can increase the chances that it will be shared and linked to by others.
Link-building is an important part of any small business’s SEO strategy—but it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. You can start boosting your search engine ranking without breaking the bank by utilizing some or all of these 12 tactics. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start building those links
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