Link Building for Local SEO [27 Strategies For 2023]

by Venchito Tampon Jr | Last Updated on July 1, 2023

This is the most actionable guide to link building for local SEO.

You’ll learn here how to build backlinks for any local business on a shoestring budget.

Also, you’ll discover some advanced strategies for 2023 (and beyond) that I never shared anywhere.

Let’s get started.

 

1. Use Job Portals For Quick Backlink Wins

When building links for our clients, one of the first questions we ask is, “what’s the existing content asset in the client’s website we can use as USP for linker outreach?”.

This question breaks the “content mental block” often experienced when strategizing what link acquisition tactics require content to create to acquire high-quality links.

Interestingly, we’ve discovered that there are existing under-utilized pages published on client’s sites that we can use to show/provide to publishers and content creators to get them to link to the client’s page.

A great example of this content is “jobs portal”.

A “jobs portal” is a directory/curation of all job positions available in a local area.

Your brand can even curate available positions for a specific industry  (e.g. “tech startup jobs in New York”).

 

For some local brands I’ve audited, the jobs portal is inherently the first few pages published on their sites. It serves as a content hub for their local partners, like local professional organizations looking for new team hires.

The jobs portal caters specifically to the “job seekers” linkable market with a lucrative number of links pages.

Link prospecting for this strategy is pretty much the same as how you’ll normally do it for a resource page link building or broken link building strategy, but the difference is just that you are only looking for a local linkable market – “jobs links/resources pages in Boston” for example.

You can start prospecting using Google search with any of the following search queries to collect your initial set of local link opportunities:

• “job search” “resources” “CITY”
• employment” inurl:resources “CITY”
• “job hunting” resources “CITY”
• inurl:careers “CITY”

Expand your list by reverse engineering other local job portals or job board sites.

By checking which pages link to local-relevant job board sites on this page, I collected a few more tens of local links pages.

Once you have generated your list of prospects and their contact details, you can start engaging them through your outreach campaign.

Spend a few extra minutes to check if there are broken links on a prospect page.

If all links are working, simply request to be included as an additional resource on their links page.

I’ve found it helpful to add subtle changes to email copies to emphasize the local relevance of the jobs portal or any other local content pieces I’m building links to. I usually add lines for:

• The best section on the resource page to add the client’s local content
• Who is the target audience of the content?
• A few recommendations for content that serves as a social proof

 

With proper execution, we were able to acquire links:

2. Create Localized Visual Data

Image link building (infographic-based link building) is getting more saturated as more brands try to pick up on it. But with the right audience targeting, accurate data, and impressive design, visual data can still prove its effectiveness in getting high-value links, especially if it’s been massively promoted through different content distribution channels.

One way to get started with this approach is to find a local piece of content created by other publishers who had extensive research on a particular subject matter and transform it into a visual asset.

To give you an example, recently, we’ve been looking for a piece of content that we could well turn into an infographic.

By searching for available public data on different trusted sites, we’ve found a research study on teen dating, abuse & bullying with respondents in  New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

 

Side note: here are a few public data sites you can source information from for your visual assets:

• https://www.data.gov/
• https://socrata.com/resources/
• https://datahub.io/
• http://data.worldbank.org/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/datasets/

We’ve checked if the public data is still relevant in the current year, as we want to get the most recent study as much as possible (the latest we consider is 2016).

One way that helped us assess the relevance and credibility of a public data piece is by looking at the version history section. For example, the research study we considered was initially published in 2012 but has been updated for 2016 (indicated in the version history section).

Then we strategize how the public data content can be turned into an infographic without cursing the target audience with knowledge.

Given that the research study has two sections: teen dating & abuse and teen bullying, we’ve decided to choose teen dating & abuse and keep the latter for future content references.

 

The hardest part of visual data link building is content creation.

As an agency, there are two ways to attack this: outsource to a freelancer or hire an in-house graphic designer.

We chose the latter simply because it’s time and cost-efficient.

Produced the visual data (partial image below):

 

Then we spent most of our hours looking for potential link partners or content publishers interested in the content piece we produced.

We begin prospecting using the following local-centric queries in Google search:

You can also use Reverse Image Search or Tineye to find and track any local-based infographics for local bloggers and publishers who distributed these pieces on their blogs.

If you’ve been running out of prospects, you can tap other industries and look for local publishers who still cater to the targeted audience of your content.

In our case, we tapped local legal publishers with the injury/sexual harassment categories in their sections.

 

As for the outreach, make it easier for local prospects to know interesting facts about your visual data. It is best to state some numbers and your target audience to build the context, relevance, and credibility of your content piece.

 

You can test the two-blogger outreach process to capture your prospects’ interests initially, then eventually send the link pointing to your visual data (or attach it to your email conversation) if they’ve positively responded to your initial pitch.

Useful Resource: The State of Backlinks for SEO in 2021: What 800+ SEOs Think About Link Building

 

3. Realize Opportunity In “New To An Area” Pages

For local link building, what I’ve found to be the most quantitative (high amount) in links/resource pages are those that cater to audiences relocating/living in a new area or city.

Typically, these pages provide lists of resources/references that a person new to an area would definitely find.

Here are some examples of local “new to an area” topics:

• Quality schools in [City] or finding the right schools
• Local laws in [City]
• Tourist information, local attractions, or things to do in [City]
• How to get here
• Volunteer listings in [City]
• Moving and relocation in [City]
• internet & cable
• my neighborhood

If you are marketing a brick-and-mortar business, a local attraction, a local professional organization, or a utility company (i.e. internet cable), it’s best to get your initial set of links from this type of resource page.

 

You can start prospecting by using “page-level” qualifier queries (which I highly recommend if you’re looking for “new to an area” topical pages) through Google search.

If you’re prospecting for “things to do in [City]” pages, here are the following search queries that you can use:

• inurl:”things to do” [City]
• intitle:”things to do” [City]
• inurl:links activities in [City]

The above approach is an alternate option to the basic link prospecting queries for resource page link building (i.e. using inurl:resources OR inurl:links “keyword”).  It expands your search for link opportunities that don’t necessarily have the title tag or URL qualifiers (intitle and inurl).

The next step is to reach out to webmasters of these links pages and offer your website to be included as an additional resource on the page.

I’ve found it helpful to prepare short lines/descriptions to be added to the links page along with your link. It can help remove webmasters’ burden of thinking about what texts to add that describe your brand/website (e.g. best description of your local attraction).

 

If you’ve executed it properly, you’ll get a link.

4. Get Resource Links From Summer/Off-Campus Housing [City] Pages

Summer housing/off-campus housing pages are resource lists of available housing options for students and interns in a local area.

This type of webpages can positively generate exposure to brands they’re linking out to and provide possible leads for brands’ services since the page focuses on recommending rental offerings currently available in the area.

The closest vertical that can benefit from generating high-quality links from summer housing [city] pages is real estate, particularly local apartment brands, housing, and rental services companies.

National brands with apartment rentals in different cities can also use this link acquisition technique by acquiring links from summer housing resource pages available in cities they cater offerings. The more cities they’re marketing to, the better they could take advantage of this local link building tactic.

 

You can start this link approach by creating a list of targeted link prospects from Google search results – using any of the following search terms:

• “Off-campus” housing [city] “resources”
• “Student housing” [city] “resources”
• “Internship housing” [city] “resources”

Populate your list by checking broken domains for inbound links from summer housing pages. A simple plug to your favorite link checker tool can help quickly assess the number of unique referring domains pointing to these dead websites.

For example, this extinct site that used to be an apartment rental site has 75+ unique referring domains that include solid .edu sites links pages. A quick look at it can reveal tens of potential summer housing pages that can be added to a link list.

 

Then craft email copies you can use for your local outreach that is straightforward and easy to personalize.

Finally, acquire the link:

5. Serve FSQ With Local Content

Creating content that’s really hard to do and that is better than its competitors is definitely one of the best ways to stand out as an authority publisher in the industry and acquire high-quality in-content links from other content publishers on the web.

In addition, ensuring that the content piece has well-served its audience by providing their needs through the useful information on the page can increase the chances of building and earning backlinks from highly relevant sites.

For local content creation, here are topics that are frequently searched (FSQ or frequently search queries) by a local audience and linked to by local publishers:

• Street occupancy and moving permits
• [city] neighborhoods
• Helpful moving tips or things to do before you move
• Resources for landlords & tenants
• Homeowner resources
• Voter registration
• Address change

The main key to success in creating local content is to be succinct while being so much helpful in providing the details that the local audience needs.

Coming up with a guide that sums up all of the items mentioned above for people looking for direct information is an extremely useful content asset with a high chance of earning links from local content creators.

 

6. Seed Answers For Long Tail Online Discussions

Conversation marketing is a highly effective brand-building tool for local business owners, marketers, and an agency that markets local clients who don’t have a huge budget to spend building a strong brand presence online.

While it’s time-consuming, the amount of effort put into value-added conversations can invaluably bring momentum and exponential growth of links and drive referral traffic and potential leads for the business.

One of the best ways to start this approach is by joining online communities where your local target audience participates and looking for direct information.

For example, if you’re promoting a local attraction site, answering questions on StreetAdvisor can be an initial jump to your conversation marketing efforts.

 

Below are some ways that you can do to leverage and scale conversation marketing for your local business:

• Do Google searches for direct questions that people are seeking to find local businesses and attractions (e.g. best [product/service] in [city/area]) and spot-on local and niche-specific forums that are currently ranking in the first two or three pages in search results  – these online pages still receive a few tens/hundreds of organic traffic and may bring valuable traffic to your website.
• Choose an in-house team member with a strong knowledge of the product/service you’re offering and let him/her spend 20 to 30 minutes daily participating in local online discussions.

 

7. Promote Your Local Content Using Reddit

Reddit is a community news aggregator site that has its own ranking algorithm to decide which referring link deserves to be placed on the front page for a specific subreddit.

If you’re launching local content that contains a compelling story/data and design-driven images, such as infographics, then Reddit is a place that you can utilize to put more eyeballs on your content (increasing the amount of traffic you’re getting).

You can start by identifying specific subreddits relevant to your local brand. Do a Google search for site:reddit.com “keyword” OR “city,” manually check each subreddit and see if they cater to the audience with the same demographics you’re targeting.

Create a list of relevant subreddits and their current number of subscribers and online users (photo credit: Siegemedia).

 

It is best to take a few minutes to check referring links placed on the front page of each subreddit to assess content types (images/videos/data) that best resonate with the subreddit audience. You can add a column for Notes or Remarks in your spreadsheet to mark content formats/types.

Once you have the Reddit data to base your content upon, you can produce niche-specific content pieces that are context fit to those local subreddits.

You may want to check out this comprehensive post on creating content by building traffic sources backward from Reddit.

The next step is to customize social buttons on your content by adding a Reddit button, for example, to make it easier for Reddit users to upvote your content.

Another approach that you can make to increase the likelihood of ranking your story on the front Reddit pages is by reaching out to like-minded individuals in your industry or sharing your subreddit link with an online group of marketers to get more upvotes for your client’s content piece.

 

8. Use Affinity Categories For Local Sponsorships 

Sponsorships are big in local SEO.

It’s nothing new.

But what makes local sponsorships successful?

Answer: proper targeting of audience.

I’m not referring to types of entities: car clubs, event organizers, town clubs, charities, and forums.

But I’m referring to your:

Potential customers.

Most local sponsorships target any local audience but not those who purchase their offerings — products/ or services.

One way to know the right market segment for local sponsorships is:

By identifying affinity categories.

Affinity categories are users likely to be ready to purchase your products or services in the specified categories.

You can find these categories in Google Analytics:

Audience > Interests > Affinity Categories

 

These are specified categories your potential customers are also interested in.

You’re not just getting any sponsorship link from a local website.

But you benefit from directly putting your local sponsorship to potential customers.

Pro Tip: Zipsprout has reliable link building services that directly target local sponsorships.

 

9. Publish Review-Type Guest Posts For Local Vendors

 

Guest posts are everywhere.

But instead of doing it the traditional way for local link building.

Why not try this one?

Modified shoulder guest post.

You may not be familiar with this, but it’s so simple.

Here’s the process:

Identify local vendors.

 

You may partner with these brands as part of your operations and marketing.

In other words, you’ve used their products or services to grow your business.

Pitch to them, not guest posts.

But a case study or a review.

The first section of the article shares about your brand — a topic, and you include the link back to your website.

Then in the second part, you showcase how that local vendor has helped grow your business.

Simple.

 

10. Build Vendor Partner Links

Your vendor partners are the best sources of links.

Why?

Because they know you, they’re likely to make your requests. And that includes — links.

So think about who is your vendor partners.

If you run a restaurant, you may source bread from a local bakery, or your ice cream could come from a homemade mom-and-pop shop.

 

Have a list of all products you sell as a brand. Then check your vendor partners for each food (for example).

Then see if they have local stores.

Do eCommerce link building by going through their “vendors list” pages.

Reach out to them and ask for links.

 

11. Get Low Hanging Fruits From Competitors 

 

Competitor link analysis is nothing new.

You check who links to your competitors. Make a list of them and try to get backlinks from those pages.

In local link building, you start your search with your target keywords in Google Maps and organic search.

Then, it’s time to discover some low-hanging fruits.

Use Ahrefs’ Link Intersect.

 

Put in your competitors’ domains. And include your website as well — but it doesn’t link to you.

You’ll now see a list of websites that link to your competitor but not your site.

 

Another good thing here:

You’ll find link opportunities that are linked to a 404 page.

What you could do here is to create a better piece of content.

And reach out to all websites that linked to the broken page.

One more creative thing to do:

Get information on what link building tactics your competitors are doing.

This opens up new ideas and backlink opportunities for your local business.

 

12. Offer Free Content To Local Business Groups 

Guest posting is nothing new in SEO.

The typical approach to prospecting industry blogs is through Google search.

Use advanced search operators (i.g. inurl) plus topic. Then you’ll see possible websites for content.

But what if you almost run out of guest post targets?

What is an alternative way to find new niche blogs?

A NEW guest post prospecting strategy:

Facebook groups.

Not just generic Facebook groups that explicitly buy/sell or accept guest posts.

But I’m referring to local Facebook groups.

 

One way to get guest post prospects is to offer an exclusive service to any content writer or SEO person of a local business.

By posting on specific local business groups, you open an opportunity for anyone interested in free content in their niche.

You can start with specific niche local businesses to make your content offer appeal to members of the group.

Then once you get comments and personal messages from local business content creators, you can check the quality of the blogs.

See if it passes your blog standards. Then, write and publish an article to their blogs with editorial links.

 

13. Pitch Statistics Content To Local and Regional Publishers 

Getting attention from local media isn’t that difficult.

Create content with a story appealing to local publishers, and you pick up great backlinks.

How can you do that?

Think of statistics content.

 

Local publishers often cite this type of content as they have information not usually found elsewhere.

Especially if points and stories are interesting or unique.

One angle you can look at is state-by-state local data.

For example, “During Covid, Rental Rates in X States were % more expensive than in Y States”.

While you can pitch this content directly to national publishers, pack some data points for local media attention.

 

14. Get Strategy Inspiration From Other Markets

Running out of link prospects is normal.

It often happens for local link-building campaigns where only a few websites are discovered in a specific city.

How do you come up with new targets for links?

The answer:

Outside your market, take the time to look at any other markets.

Maybe, you’ve been thinking:

What sense would it make to see your websites from different marketers when they don’t work directly with your website?

The answer is pretty simple:

You get inspiration for new link building ideas.

So if you’re in a smaller metro area, try to find other similar businesses from a large metro — to see what’s working for them.

If you’re in a large metro area, analyze backlink profiles from other larger metro areas.

You can also explore other niches, not just local businesses from other metro areas.

Let’s say you’re building backlinks for attorneys. Maybe you can see what’s working for other industries like pest control.

 

One tactic in a niche can be used differently in your local business niche.

If everyone in the legal market is doing scholarship link building, you won’t see it being effective if it’s adopted by many, including your competition.

When you discover a link building technique that’s not being abused yet by many…

You stay ahead of the competition.

Different markets have different search landscapes, so every backlink profile from ranking websites opens up other link building techniques.

 

15. Build Backlinks From Alumni Directories 

One common type of local backlink is alumni links.

They are easy to spot and acquire for your local business.

How?

You start by looking for local schools.

Then see if they have alumni directory pages with links.

 

From there, you use either two of these creative ways:

Provide discounts to community members to get links from their sites’ member benefits page.

 

 

Or offer a free event space for org meetings.

If you’re an eCommerce, the first one perfectly works.

If you have extra office space (or an events hall), the second idea gives you links.

 

16. Acquire Gov Links Using the “Bait and Switch Strategy” 

 

Gov links aren’t easy to acquire.

Especially for local businesses, you’ll have a competitive advantage if you can get those authority links.

Bait and switch strategy.

This is a budgeted local link building campaign to land gov links.

Here is a seven-step process to execute this creative link building strategy.

Step 1: Find 30 to 50 local councils.

 

Step 2: Think about what to offer to council members. It could be a yoga class or giving away gym equipment.

Step 3: Purchase and create a .org domain. Then create a website based on your offer. For example, make a community yoga class website with a council finder if it’s a yoga class. It has no commercial intent but purely includes community information.

Step 4: Create a landing page related to the value offer (e.g., a yoga class landing page on your website).

Step 5: Reach out to all local councils and other websites to promote your new .org site.

Step 6: Create a landing page related to the value offer (e.g., a yoga class landing page on your website).

Step 7: Redirect the .org to your landing page with links to your money pages.

Win.

 

17. Find Local Businesses That Feature Non-Competing Brands

A strategic partnership is an excellent way to think about local link building.

There are great link opportunities when two or more non-competing brands collaborate.

For example, if you’re doing SEO for a photography website, you can find ways to get featured on wedding and event organizer sites.

 

It may be from their blog section or their page listing local partner brands.

If you’re a wedding organizer, one of the best links you might get is from wedding photography sites. They might feature weddings shot at their venue.

Think of your brand.

Identify your non-competing brands.

Reach out and ask to get featured on specific pages or articles.

 

18. Find Local Government Programs For Certifications 

Certifications help build up the credibility of an individual or business.

But did you know it’s also an excellent way to earn good local links?

Here is how to get started with this:

Find resources or programs your business needs to enroll in or get certified in.

If you’ve been certified in a few places, check those certification websites and see if they linked to people or businesses they are certified in.

Invest your resources in these certification programs for additional credibility or brand exposure, especially if your local business needs them.

 

19. Offer Unique Testimonials To Local Businesses

One of the best social proofs is testimonials.

If a customer gives you a testimonial in written or video format, it increases the perceived value of your products/services.

Potential customers will likely see the results from using your offer.

Think testimonials not only for conversions but also for local backlinks.

Local businesses won’t ignore an honest testimonial from a customer.

Significantly if it adds proof of results for potential customers.

So, how can you use testimonials for link building?

Step 1: Find local vendors your local business/client uses, likes, and shares.

Step 2: Offer a long-form testimonial on their website. It includes how the local vendor helped your local business.

 

Pro tip: You can format the testimonial in a basic block of HTML, so your contact person can forward it straight to the web developer to implement the changes.

Testimonial link building is helping other local businesses grow through your words.

Then links become a by-product.

 

20. Publish Relevant Top X City Posts With Lead Generation In Mind 

You see local content in most local business blogs.

It’s for traffic — they say.

So, for example, publishing a “Top X city” article helps drive people from your target location.

Nothing bad here.

But what if you want, as a local business, not just traffic but also potential customers?

Here’s the thing:

You can get both.

Traffic and leads.

So whenever you publish local content, think of lead generation.

Will this content I will create drive traffic and potential customers to my local business?

So instead of just creating content like:

• Top 10 things you should know about in [city]
• Best [cuisine] spots in [city]
• 5 things to do in [city]

 

You create content that ties into your products or services.

Let’s use local vets as our example.

People interested in pet care services would usually read content like:

• 10 pet-friendly restaurants in [city]
• Pet laws in [city] you don’t know, but you should
• Dog-friendly hikes in [city] rated by a veterinarian

 

Did you get the idea?

So regardless of whether you publish it on your blog or distribute it elsewhere (i.e., guest posts), you’re also thinking about how that local content can drive conversions to your local business.

 

21. Discover Local HOAs & Neighborhoods Using This One Search Operator 

HOA – Homeowner’s Association.

And neighborhoods.

You won’t find much of this in every city.

But consider this as one of your link building techniques.

If your local business engages physically with local town members of associations, you can benefit from this.

How can you find link opportunities from HOAs and neighborhoods?

You need to use a search function that gives you the results of a specific page.

Take a look at this search query.

“homeowners association” “florida” inurl:links.html

 

At the time of this writing, it will show links pages (in other terms, resource pages) for homeowners in New York.

You’ll have to look for links/resource pages and not just any type of page because you want to know if they have a history of linking to external resources or businesses.

So try it out for your target location.

See if there are any HOAs and neighborhood sites you can discover.

Then check if they have links/resources pages you can get listed in. Or better yet, start the search using “[city]” “homeowners” links.html

 

22. Build A Useful Tool For Local and Niche-Targeted Entities 

One way to drive high authority links is by creating a helpful tool for your audience.

For example, Shopify created a business name generator that generated 1.9K+ in referring domains and $500K+ in traffic value.

 

The cost of creating tools depends on the complexity of the functions.

But what about local businesses?

Brainstorm an idea where a tool is needed.

It doesn’t have to be specific to the niche you’re in.

We are looking at the relevance of local links for this matter — as this is what we’re aiming for.

Are there any tasks or projects other businesses in your location need that you can create and generate links from it?

 

23. Approach Journalists With a Local Angle Of Content 

Could you get journalists to cover your local business story?

The answer is yes.

But what makes journalists tick when accepting stories from businesses?

It’s the angle and hook of your stories.

If you’ve published a content piece (news, story, data, etc..) that has worked for the national press, start thinking about how you can tweak it for local media attention.

Perhaps, you can add rankings (top 5 cities or any location thereof) to your interactive world map to get that local business angle.

So if you’re looking for excellent links from local publications, always think about how to pitch local journalists with a local angle of your story, data, or any content piece.

 

24. Acquire Donation Links From Decent Authoritative Local Organizations 

Donation isn’t a new thing in local link building.

Most local businesses with enough resources invest in donations to scale links quickly in the first months of a link building campaign.

How to start with donation link building?

Check your resources and determine your estimated budget for this link building project.

Typically, a decent donation link can cost around $500~. Some links from organizations can have lower pricing for the $200 range — but you’d have to check if it’s worth the site’s quality.

Find local organizations using two metrics:

Relevance.

The sites should be locally relevant and potentially drive potential customers to your website.

So if you’re a veterinarian in Philadelphia, try to find local pet clubs, health organizations, etc.

 

You can also go far from niche targeting and check from just a local standpoint.

From a recent vet example, donating to small software projects isn’t bad (as long as it’s still in Philadelphia).

The second metric is decent authority.

You can use Ahrefs’ DR (Domain Rating) to measure the website’s authority.

Try to look for sites with DR40+.

If you don’t have time for this type of link building strategy, you can hire agencies that do solely — local sponsorship marketing.

One good example is Zipsprout, founded by Garett French.

So, you can get sponsor links DIY or hire a sponsorship service like Zipsprout.

 

25. Use Local Linkbait Strategy To Get More Targeted Traffic 

Linkbait is a type of content that gets natural links.

It benefits your local business as you create a ‘flywheel’ effect.

Where you publish a few comprehensive linkbait contents, and these handfuls of posts repeatedly hand you new backlinks over time, it becomes a natural link acquisition system for your brand.

In local link building:

There is one local linkbait strategy that you can use.

Here is how it works:

Step 1: Think of a topic that will bait local businesses to be featured on a list.

For example, if you pitch “Best 15 Coffee Shops in Philadelphia” to an owner of a local coffee shop, it’s a no-brainer the person would help with the content promotion.

Step 2: List all potential local businesses you’ll partner with for the blog post.

Step 3: Reach out to these people and let them know you are about to publish an article.

The pitch value here is that they’ll be featured in an article that will attract new leads for their local business.

Plus, it would also have more visibility for their brand and possible website links.

Pro tip: If you’ve got a solid base of social media followers, include it as part of your value pitch, “We could share the blog article across XXX followers.”

Step 4: Publish your “Top/Best X in [City]” post.

Step 5: Send the link to the blog post to your partner local businesses.

Expect local backlinks from those business blogs and other websites.

 

26. Write New Segment For Link Insertions 

Outreach is one of the crucial phases of a link building campaign.

You connect to your target linkers with your email pitch.

That’s the reason why:

If you write an email that speaks to your linkers’ needs, you can persuade them to link to you.

How will that happen?

You encourage the outcome that you want in your initial email.

For example:

In most link insertions and outreach campaigns, you contact bloggers or publishers to include a link to your content from one of their existing articles.

This is commonly known as “niche edits.”

The way to encourage the outcome here is to write the passage with the link in the same format, existing voice, and style as the article.

This offloads the work on the part of the blogger.

The good thing here:

You help these publishers to copy-paste the new segment out of your email simply.

What’s the added value?

The easier for them to place your link somewhere on their articles, the more likely you’ll get the link.

 

27. Create Your Own Link Building Playbook 

Here’s one thing about scaling backlinks:

You need processes to do that.

One tip here is to create your link building playbook.

This is where you’ll input all the necessary details about your link building campaign.

The playbook includes:

Backlink profile data:

Questionnaire:

Order of priorities (for link building strategies):

Procedure documents:

Reports:

Link building playbook helps you scale your link building team.

Got a new hire?

You hand it over to the playbook. Let them learn what’s inside.

The more you develop your playbook, the more you increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your campaign.

 

Here’s The Next Step…

Which of the 27 local link building tactics will you execute for your campaign?

Will you build backlinks from alumni directories? How about publishing relevant top X city posts to generate leads for local businesses in local link building?

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

 

Link Building for Local SEO Frequently Asked Questions

How do I create a local SEO link?

To create local SEO links, start by identifying local websites, directories, and businesses. Reach out to them and offer to exchange links or collaborate on content. Pay attention to relevant local keywords and incorporate them into your anchor text. Building relationships with local influencers and participating in community events can also help you earn valuable local backlinks.

 

Is link building good for SEO?

Yes, link building is an effective strategy in SEO. By building links, you signal to Google that your website is trustworthy and deserves to rank higher. Websites with more backlinks generally achieve better search engine rankings, making link building an essential tactic in SEO.

 

What type of links should you care about for local SEO?

To enhance your local SEO, focus on building strong internal links. These links provide Google with a clear understanding of your website’s structure and the relevance of different pages. By incorporating internal links, you ensure that all relevant content is discoverable and can be effectively ranked by Google, giving you an advantage in local search results.

Is it important to have a balance of local and non-local links?

Yes, having a balance of local and non-local links can be beneficial for your website’s overall link profile and can help to improve your search visibility.

A diverse link profile, which includes links from various sources and locations, can signal to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy, which can help improve your ranking in search results.

However, it’s also important to focus on acquiring high-quality links from authoritative websites, regardless of location. The quality of the links you acquire is more important than the quantity, and low-quality links can harm your search ranking.

It’s also worth noting that the importance of local links may vary depending on your business and industry. For example, if you are a local business that serves a specific geographic area, local links may be more valuable than non-local links.

On the other hand, non-local links may be more important if your business serves a wider audience or operates nationally or internationally.

 

Can local link building be done manually or do I need to use a tool?

Local link building can be done manually or with the use of tools. Some tactics, such as networking and building relationships with local organizations, will likely require a more manual approach. This may involve reaching out to local businesses and organizations directly, participating in local events and sponsored activities, and creating local content that is relevant and valuable to your target audience.

There are also tools available that can help you to identify local link building opportunities, track your local link profile, and monitor your local search visibility. Some examples of tools that can be useful for local link building include:

Local directories and citation sources: Local directories and citation sources, such as Yelp, Google My Business, and Yellow Pages, can be valuable sources of local links. These platforms allow you to list your business and provide information about your products and services, which can help to attract local customers and improve your local search visibility.

Link building tools: Link building tools, such as Ahrefs and Majestic, can help you to track your local link profile and identify local link building opportunities. These tools allow you to analyze your link profile, view the links pointing to your website, and see where your competitors get their links.

Local SEO tools: Local SEO tools, such as Yext and BrightLocal, can help you to optimize your local search visibility and track your performance in local search results. These tools allow you to manage your online presence on local directories and citation sources, monitor your local search ranking, and track your local search traffic.

Whether to use tools or rely on manual efforts will ultimately depend on your specific needs and resources. Some businesses may find that combining manual efforts and tools is the most effective approach for their local link building strategy.

 

What are some common mistakes to avoid in local link building?

Some common mistakes to avoid in local link building include:

• Focusing too much on the number of links: It’s important to focus on the quality of your links rather than the quantity. A few high-quality local links can be more valuable than many low-quality links.
• Neglecting local directories and citation sources: Local directories and citation sources, such as Yelp, Google My Business, and Yellow Pages, can be valuable local links. It’s important to ensure that your business is listed on these platforms and that your information is accurate and up-to-date.
• Neglecting local content and outreach: Local content and outreach are key components of local link building. Neglecting these elements can make it more difficult to attract local links.
• Overlooking the importance of relationship building: Building relationships with local organizations and businesses can effectively acquire local links. Neglecting this aspect of local link building can make it more difficult to secure valuable local links.
• Not tracking and measuring your local link building efforts: It’s important to track and measure your local link building efforts to identify what is working and what is not. Use tools like Ahrefs or Majestic to track your local link profile, and use Google Analytics or a similar tool to track the traffic and engagement on your website.
• Using spammy or unethical tactics: It’s important to avoid using spammy or unethical tactics to acquire local links. This can include buying links, participating in link schemes, or using automated tools to generate links. These tactics can harm your search ranking and damage your reputation.

 

How can I use local events and sponsored activities to acquire local links?

Participating in local events and sponsored activities can be an effective way to acquire local links. Here are some tips for using local events and sponsored activities to acquire local links:

Ask if you can include a link to your website on their event page or promotional materials. Many organizations that host events or sponsored activities will have a website or social media presence where they promote the event.

You can secure a valuable local link by asking if you can include a link to your website on their event page or in their promotional materials.

Create content related to the event. Another way to use local events and sponsored activities to acquire local links is to create content related to the event and share it on your website and social media channels.

This could include blog posts, articles, infographics, or other types of content that provide value to your audience and showcase your expertise. By sharing this content, you can attract local links from other local websites and organizations.

Engage with other local businesses and organizations. Participating in local events and sponsored activities can also provide an opportunity to network and build relationships with other local businesses and organizations. By engaging with these businesses and organizations and offering value, you can increase the chances of securing local links.

Monitor and track your local link building efforts. It’s important to monitor and track your local link building efforts to identify what is working and what is not. Use tools like Ahrefs or Majestic to track your local link profile, and use Google Analytics or a similar tool to track the traffic and engagement on your website.

This can help you to fine-tune your local link building strategy and identify new opportunities for acquiring local links.

 

How can I use social media to promote my local content and attract local links?

Social media can be a powerful tool for promoting your local content and attracting local links. Here are some tips for using social media to promote your local content and attract local links:

1. Share your local content on relevant social media groups and communities. By sharing your local content on relevant social media groups and communities, you can expose it to a wider audience and increase the chances of attracting local links. For example, if you have a local blog post about a community event, you could share it on a local social media group or community page related to that event.
2. Engage with other local businesses and organizations. Participating in social media groups and communities can also provide an opportunity to engage with other local businesses and organizations. By commenting, liking, and sharing their content, you can build relationships and increase the chances of securing local links.
3. Use hashtags to make your content more discoverable. Using relevant hashtags can help to make your content more discoverable on social media. This can include local hashtags, such as #localbusiness or #supportsmallbusiness, and hashtags related to your industry or niche.
4. Monitor and track your social media efforts. It’s important to monitor and track your social media efforts to identify what works and is not. Use tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social to track your social media engagement and identify opportunities for attracting local links.

 

How can I use local directories and citation sources to acquire local links?

Local directories and citation sources, such as Yelp, Google My Business, and Yellow Pages, can be valuable sources of local links. Here are some tips for using local directories and citation sources to acquire local links:

List your business on local directories and citation sources. By listing your business on local directories and citation sources, you can make it easier for local customers to find your business and improve your local search visibility.

It’s important to ensure that your business is listed on these platforms and that your information is accurate and up-to-date.

Include a link to your website in your business listing. Many local directories and citation sources allow you to include a link to your website in your business listing. This can provide a valuable local link and help to drive traffic to your website.

Monitor and track your local listings. Monitoring and tracking your local listings is important to ensure your information is accurate and up-to-date.

You can use tools like Yext or BrightLocal to manage your online presence on local directories and citation sources and track your local search ranking.

Respond to reviews and ratings. Many local directories and citation sources also allow customers to leave reviews and ratings for your business. Responding to these reviews and ratings can help to improve your reputation and increase the chances of attracting local links.

 

How can I use local content to attract local links?

Creating high-quality, local content that is relevant and valuable to your target audience can be a powerful way to attract local links. Here are some tips for using local content to attract local links:

Create content that is relevant and valuable to your target audience. The key to attracting local links with your content is to create relevant and valuable content for your target audience. This could include blog posts, articles, infographics, or other types of content that showcase your expertise and provide value to your audience.

Share your local content on your website and social media channels. Once you have created your local content, sharing it on your website and social media channels is important. This will help to expose it to a wider audience and increase the chances of attracting local links.

Engage with other local businesses and organizations. Participating in local social media groups and communities, commenting on local blogs and websites, and sharing your local content with other local businesses and organizations can help to increase the chances of attracting local links.

Monitor and track your local content efforts. It’s important to monitor and track your local content efforts to identify what is working and what is not. Use tools like Google Analytics or a similar tool to track the traffic and engagement on your website, and use social media analytics tools to track the engagement on your social media channels.

This can help you to fine-tune your local content strategy and identify new opportunities for attracting local links.