How to Build Backlinks for Your Local Business

Back­links are cru­cial to grow­ing a website’s traf­fic. First, they are one of the main sig­nals Google uses to deter­mine what web pages appear first in SERPs. The more the back­links a web page has from rep­utable author­i­ta­tive web­sites, the more cred­i­ble and rel­e­vant Google con­sid­ers it for a giv­en key­word. Sec­ond, back­links from high traf­fic sites will direct a con­sid­er­able num­ber of vis­i­tors to your web page seek­ing more information.

Accu­mu­lat­ing qual­i­ty back­links is cer­tain­ly a goal every web­site own­er should aspire to. How do you do that for your local busi­ness though? The fol­low­ing are 4 prac­ti­cal tips to get you going in the right direc­tion. For a more exhaus­tive look at build­ing qual­i­ty back­links, check out OutreachMama.

1. Guest Blog for Industry Publications and Sites

You may run a local busi­ness but you have a lot to gain from guest blog­ging on rel­e­vant indus­try sites espe­cial­ly for your SEO objec­tives. Indus­try web­sites like­ly have sub­stan­tial online clout and are seen as sub­ject-mat­ter author­i­ties by search engines. Back­links on indus­try sites don’t just dri­ve traf­fic but they also ele­vate your brand by association.

The largest indus­try sites will receive numer­ous requests for guest blog­ging. Ergo, direct your efforts at mid-tier web­sites. Also, look at your sup­pli­ers, dis­trib­u­tors, and part­ners who run blogs of their own. It’s going to be much eas­i­er to con­vince them since you already have a busi­ness relationship.

Irre­spec­tive of the site you want your post pub­lished, pitch a unique com­pelling top­ic. It should add val­ue to their site but still pro­vide the right con­text for a link back to your web page.

2. Sponsor Local Events and Causes

The geo­graph­i­cal area your busi­ness caters to must have cer­tain com­mu­ni­ty events, activ­i­ties, and caus­es that need spon­sor­ship. Usu­al­ly, when you spon­sor an event or cause, the ben­e­fits would include a link back to your site. The advan­tage of local events is that it doesn’t make a huge con­tri­bu­tion to be con­sid­ered a tier 1 or tier 2 sponsor.

Start by look­ing at tra­di­tion­al­ly estab­lished char­i­ties as these would enjoy a strong rep­u­ta­tion in the com­mu­ni­ty. Extend your research to schools, sports events, sem­i­nars, and exhi­bi­tions. Not just any event will do. The most ide­al is one that res­onates with your brand. Paint a pro­file of your tar­get cus­tomer and look for a cause they will latch onto.

3. Connect with Local Bloggers

Inter­net access in the Unit­ed States and oth­er advanced economies is near ubiq­ui­tous. One of the con­se­quences of that is vibrant, hyper­local online com­mu­ni­ties. No mat­ter where you are, there’s almost cer­tain­ly one or more blogs that draw a siz­able audi­ence of locals.

Usu­al­ly, such blogs are small one- or two-per­son out­fits. They won’t always have the time or ener­gy to churn out con­tent reg­u­lar­ly for their read­ers. You can always be the hero they need by send­ing sug­ges­tions on top­ics they can cov­er. It doesn’t have to be some­thing relat­ed to your busi­ness at this point. The key to this ear­ly engage­ment phase is to cre­ate a gen­uine connection.

Sub­scribe to their blog and com­ment on their social media posts. Make it clear though what local busi­ness you run. Pay atten­tion to what they write about and offer to do a blog post once in a while. Focus on areas that are rel­e­vant for their site but are still appro­pri­ate for you to include a link to your web page.

4. Use Social Media

Social net­work­ing is where plen­ty of online user engage­ment hap­pens nowa­days. A quick glance of the world’s most pop­u­lar web­sites and most pop­u­lar apps shows just how dom­i­nant social media has become. Bet­ter yet for local busi­ness­es, social media apps like Face­book pri­or­i­tize local friends and fol­low suggestions.

For link build­ing, start by review­ing your busi­ness’ social media pro­files and ensure each has your URL. Next, post regularly—preferably at least once a day. Not every post must have a link to your site through the vast major­i­ty should. You want your posts to have a casu­al feel and not exces­sive­ly pro­mo­tion­al. The idea is to even­tu­al­ly get social media as a source of nat­ur­al unso­licit­ed links.

Link build­ing just could be the thing that draws the atten­tion of a local tar­get mar­ket to your busi­ness. Apply these tips con­sis­tent­ly and it shouldn’t be long before you see the results of your effort.

SOURCE: App­clone­script