New Ways to Build Quality Local Links
For most of the businesses we work with, Local SEO is a big deal. Many of them are local establishments who rely on foot traffic to keep them going. Local SEO plays a big role in making sure these local businesses can get found and, better yet, can accurately detail their services and mission to potential customers. Which, then, brings us to link building. Link building is crucial to improving Local SEO. Search engines use links to crawl the web and discover new pages. They use links to determine the popularity of a page and the relevancy of the page to a searcher’s question. Links also increase a site’s authority. Local links (or, links from locally relevant sources) do all of the above, but with a local-specific slant. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Believe me, it is great. However, link building is also, in a word, hard.
If you’re a local business and you’re wracking your brain, trying to think up new ways to build quality local links for your company, keep reading. We’ve got a smorgasbord of ideas for you below. Some take more work than others, but we can promise you that they’re worth it. After all, not every business is going after those hard-to-get links. If your business is, it’s bonus points in your favor. As with everything in marketing, the phrase to remember is quality over quantity. We’ll talk you through quality ways to earn new links below.
New Ways to Build Quality Local Links
“Best of” Award links
Every town has these. From “best of 2016” awards in your industry to “best office space” to “40 under 40,” there’s all sorts of lists that you can get yourself on. The important part is to get on lists that actually make sense for your business. Remember when we talked about Local SEO and the role it plays in making sure searchers can find your business with an accurate depiction of your services and mission? If you’re on all lists everywhere, it is hard for searchers (and for Google) to determine what your business really does.
In our area, Milwaukee has many, many of these lists. The Milwaukee Business Journal puts on “40 Under 40.” WISN conducts the “Milwaukee A-list” every year. The Journal Sentinel runs the “Top Workplaces” contest. Plus, there’s the “Women of Influence” award, the “Real Estate Awards,” the “HR Awards”…and the list goes on. To get started, search “nominations Milwaukee” or “nominate a business Milwaukee.” Or, try “best of Wisconsin nominations.” Play around with different variations and see what opportunities arise.
Join the chamber of commerce
Usually there’s some kind of nominal fee, but this is an easy win. You can also join multiple chambers. For instance, join the Delafield Chamber of Commerce because your business is located in Delafield, and then join the Waukesha County Business Alliance because your business is located in Waukesha County. Now there’s two credible, authoritative links for your business right there.
Sponsor a meetup group or a community sports team
If you’re a local custard stand, try offering to host a singles group date night. If you’re a bike shop, how about a group bike ride? Get creative with your ideas and then head to Google to see what options are available.
If you’d rather not host in your place of business, offer to sponsor a sports team. Besides the community links you’ll receive, your business’s name will adorn every Little Leaguer’s jersey as a walking, talking advertisement.
Host an event in the community
This option allows your business to “give back”…but also gain some valuable back links in the process. Host a community dinner or a book buy-back. Run a toy drive. Participate in a road-side clean-up day, making your business the “command center” of the day’s operations.
Whatever event you choose, pick a date at least 60 days out. Then, add the details to your website, invite local press, promote it on social and, most importantly, make sure your town’s website includes the details of the event with a link back to your company’s website.
Manufacturer and wholesaler links
Does your store sell a product that someone else manufactures? That’s a link opportunity. Sometimes, the hard part of link building is the asking for the link.
Partnership links
Is there a company that you constantly refer business to? Ask for a link. Do you collaborate with a company on certain projects? Ask for a link.
As you can see, there’s many link building opportunities out there. With a little innovation and a little time and effort, you can build generous amounts of high-quality links to your website. It’ll take a little bit of time to build up, but, once you have, the reward is tangible.
If you’d like to talk with us further on this topic, reach out to us here or give us a call at 262-303-4238. We’ll talk to you then!