10 Local Link Building Strategies

Local link building helps boost your authority in location-based rankings. This is achieved by getting backlinks from websites located in your city. Local link building is a form of local SEO and is contrasted with general SEO link building, which has the goal of improving rankings with links from basically anywhere (as long as they’re in your niche). Search engine algorithms dish up results based on how authoritative and reputable your website is, among other factors, and local link building helps you rise up in location-based search results. As with any form of white hat link building, local link building takes time, effort, and patience, but the rewards are well worth it and once you get the hang of it, it can become easier and easier. Below are 10 examples of how you can acquire local links for your business.

1) Cater Your Website To Your Local Area As Much As Possible

The content of your website should be firmly rooted in the area in which you live. Include information and examples of popular events and locations in your city. When using images on your website, get them from a local photographer, take images yourself of your local area, and include local titles and alt-text keywords with these images. Hire a local web designer if you decide your website needs aesthetic improvement. The more you do this, the more you’ll find yourself closer to influential people and websites in your local area and you’ll find great opportunities to expand your network. This will be highly beneficial in making your website stand out in your local area.

2) Make Yourself A Valuable Local Resource

The content of your website should go beyond merely advertising and glorifying your products and services – you should be offering content to people in your local area that they find beneficial in other ways. For instance, post about local events, interesting facts about your local area, new local government policies, and so forth. This will ensure they come back to your site not only for the products and services you have to offer, but also for some useful information catered to local residents. It might even be a good idea to set up a map or guide of some sort that shows popular local shops, events, attractions, restaurants, and other things locals in your area would find appealing.

3) Network With Local Leaders In Your Community

It’s all about taking advantage of the local resources around you – from local businesses in your own niche (who aren’t direct competitors) to prominent local figures and councilpersons. Look for opportunities to get in touch with these people and work out mutually beneficial arrangements that can end in you getting some backlinks.

4) Reach Out To Your Local Influencers

An influencer is a content creator with a high amount of social media followers. Working with local influencers is a great way of improving your website’s position on your local map. If you couldn’t tell by the name, “influencers” are highly influential to their followers; if they recommend something – your business with a link to your site, for instance – the chances are high that you’ll get not only a backlink but some pretty substantial traffic as well. That said, you will need to prove to these local influencers that you have a lot to offer to inspire them enough to recommend you. One way of doing this is to set up sponsorships or partnered content.

5) Offer Strategic Discounts

Offer discounts to:

Veterans and people in the military
Teachers
Senior citizens
Certain people that benefit your local community

This is a great way of getting yourself in higher standing in your community – people like and are loyal to businesses that offer these discounts, and this can ultimately help you in your community rankings as these people spread word of your business. If any of these people have websites or blogs of their own, it’s possible to get some backlinks from them.

6) Promote Local Businesses

Unless they are direct competitors, you should be promoting people in your local community and the other business owners in your area. By linking to these local businesses, you not only show yourself as a leader in your local area, but also have a great opportunity to get backlinks in return. Outbound links and inbound links both work to improve your local SEO if done correctly. You don’t just want to link out to everyone and get nothing in return – you want to seek a balance.

7) Offer Local Sponsorships

One great way to achieve local link building is to provide local sponsorships; trading donations to an organization in exchange for publicity in their networks can result in local backlinks. Some examples of local organizations you can sponsor include:

Youth activity organizations
Local schools
Youth sports leagues
Local charities
Local media companies
Civic organizations

You can easily arrange for them to give you local backlinks in your sponsorship agreement.

8) Donate To Local Charities

Not only is this a good thing to do and great PR for your company, putting you in excellent standing in your local community, but it’s also a great opportunity for local link building. However, be smart about which charities you donate to – most charity donations can help your reputation, but others can hurt it. Some good examples of charities to donate to include:

Food shelters
Homeless shelters
Animal shelters
Cancer research
5Ks & fun runs
And similar charities along those lines

9) Host Local Public Events

Depending on the size, scope, and importance of the event, this can be an excellent opportunity for media outlet attention and, consequently, some very good local backlinks. It also improves your local reputation

10) Run Local Contests

The sky’s the limit here – you can run any contest you want (legally, of course) and get people talking about you on social media and, most importantly, linking to you. While you’re at it, this is a great opportunity for local news outlets to give you local links in their announcements of your contest date, rules, and results.

Arcane Marketing Can Help With Many Of These Endeavors

If you’re new to SEO or simply don’t have the time for it, Arcane Marketing can do the heavy lifting. We can work with you and strategize on the most effective methods of local link building for your specific business in your local area. We can reach out to various resources on your behalf, develop content catered to your local area, optimize your website and make it something that people are going to want to pay attention to. We also offer social media marketing that can help spread the word of your local sponsorships, contests, and public events. Give us a call, pick our brains – we’ll develop the perfect strategy.