SEO feels like a game of words at times. It seems that winning the “link building” battle is about sharing top-notch local content and getting people to link it for its quality rather than manually build links. The same goes for “technical SEO”- you might not need as much technical know-how as you’d think.
Similarly, keyword research often involves discovering fresh topics more so than striving to rank high on specific phrases. Things can get tricky because we sometimes make assumptions about how various strategies work together or if parts of one approach stand apart from their parent strategy.
One such example stands out vividly – have you heard someone mention local link building? We aim to unpack this concept in this article: Is there any difference between traditional nationally-focused link-building and localized ones?
Local charities are ideal starting points when considering your local-linking strategies– helping build strong bonds with many local businesses while bolstering your own website appeal through valuable local backlinks and local citations provided by these organizations’ sites.
When boosting our site’s visibility in search results, employing locally focused tactics could help us reach our target audience faster – that includes using relevant keywords tied closely with geographic locales within your articles targeting precise queries they may use during searches online.
Contents
How Local SEO Is Different
Before we dive into the core of this topic, it’s essential to understand how local SEO and national SEO are not alike. It’s a common misunderstanding that local SEO is just like any other type but involves keywords related to particular geographic locations – say your city or state.
However, here’s an interesting fact: Local SEO has its own unique algorithm! So when you search using location-based phrases (like “near me”), Google triggers this specific system to fetch three top results for you.
Overlooking the paid ad at the very beginning, notice those first three organic entries? In a successful local SEO strategy, your goal should be grabbing one of these spots.
Now let’s tie in some key terms related directly with effective influence on others as we delve further:
Local backlinks from credible sources can help boost credibility while tapping into local link building opportunities presented by other local businesses may create mutual benefits.
Using local websites, participating in popular local events and frequently engaging with your existing local audience, allows businesses greater visibility online which could translate positively towards better website traffic stats too!
One cannot ignore their impact on enhancing our reach within targeted communities whilst also significantly improving overall positioning across ‘local search engine rankings.
To do that, you need to achieve a handful of goals:
- Achieve a high domain authority. You can do this by following standard SEO best practices—writing good content, attracting strong links, and optimizing your site for performance.
- Get good reviews. Google taps into your business reviews on various third party sources to evaluate your business.
- Feature yourself on local directories. The more accurate, consistent, and present this data is, the better your chances of ranking.
- Associate yourself with your geographic area. Make sure your address is accurate, and establish relationships with other local sources and businesses.
At first glance, it would seem that regular link building—the kind you follow for a national campaign—is sufficient to improve your domain authority. Hold that thought.
The Tenets of Link Building
Think of external links like getting a thumbs-up from other websites. For instance, if your local business gets linked by another company in the same field (maybe even one you’re up against), it might not be super powerful but hey – people start seeing you as part of that group!
Now consider being linked on an irrelevant page with high traffic; sounds cool right? But despite all those extra eyes viewing your link, they may just give you casual glance and move along because what they see isn’t related to their interest.
The real jackpot is when we use our smart “ocal link building strategy. We look for opportunities where relevant content meets lots of eyeballs: hitting two birds with one stone!
Local search results are key spots for these power plays. In fact online hangouts like local business directories also seem perfect for gaining those valuable ‘thumbs ups’ or ‘backlinks’. It’s this balance between relevance and audience reach that forms the basis of winning local SEO strategies.
And there we have it – An ideal combo mix linking us to both reputable sources relating to our industry plus some strong general ones too gives us everything needed – making sure small fry businesses rise through global ranks while securing firm footing within its own locale.
Qualities of a “Local” Link
Let’s talk about the concept of a “local link”. Imagine your locality as an industry in itself. Google gauges your reputation within this ‘industry’ while deciding if you make it to their top three local search results relevant to what you do.
Hence, when other local businesses and websites with locally-related content provide links directed back towards yours, chances are that they’re doing more good than harm – They could help boost up how ‘locally’ important or pertinent you seem on Google.
But here’s something interesting: A Houston-based business might have its SEO-link-building efforts boosted by getting linked from a newspaper based far off in Detroit (if relevance holds). While such linking isn’t necessarily going turn them into some sort of overnight sensation amongst the Detroit crowd nor get mistaken for being located there; but any authoritative link has value particularly because it aids building links which is critical for domain authority boosting!
Now let’s discuss how vital these undertakings can be not only to just location-specific companies. Local bloggers offer high-potential as local link opportunities besides neighborhood groups and regional news sites among others–all seen as credible sources related directly with one’s locale.
(Side note: if you live in Houston, you’ve got plenty of choices for local links, so you won’t have to go wooing the folks in Detroit to earn some extra authority):
A Practical Introduction to “Local Link Building”
So you’re looking into local link building tactics, right? Here’s the deal – they do stand apart from traditional methods in your overall link building strategy. However, it doesn’t mean that all internal links have to be sourced locally.
You see, when your business website receives inbound links (whether national or local), its domain authority boosts up. This affects both your nationwide and local search ranking positively – so why would we limit ourselves?
Local sources may seem enticing as a key part of our unique strategies for their easy persuasion power. Think about engaging with social media platforms and local media outlets during an upcoming town fair or partnering with nearby charities for events- this could boost those coveted natural backlinks.
But don’t put on blinders focusing only on these smaller-scale opportunities like obtaining mentions in the regional press such as local newspapers.
The main takeaway is quite simple: Local connections can indeed grow reputation within specific areas but going solely after them isn’t wise nor crucial.
Let’s look at things holistically here; keep ‘local’ just as one piece of the puzzle while crafting comprehensive plans involving much more than mere entries found across pages upon pages of any old location-based business directory lists available online.
Want more information on link building? Head over to our comprehensive guide on link building here: SEO Link Building: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide
Tim has spent more than two decades in organic online marketing, working with some of the most well-recognized online brands in scaling their content marketing campaigns.
Connect with Tim on Linkedin & Twitter.
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