Backlink Building for Local Businesses
When another website links to yours, that link is called a backlink. Google follows links to find pages, and links from sites that know your business, like your chamber of commerce or a supplier you buy from, count toward how well known Google thinks you are. Our SEO plans with link building start at $1,449 a month, and every plan we offer includes a FREE 10-page website.
Good Local Links Come From People Who Already Know You
A link from a site that has nothing to do with you or your town doesn’t say much about your business. A link from the local paper, a trade association or a distributor that lists you as a dealer does, because they’ve got a reason to mention you. Below are six places those links tend to come from, and why each one is worth having.
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Chambers and business associations
Chambers of commerce and trade associations usually publish a member directory, and your listing there can link straight to your website.
Why it counts: the group is already known around town or in your trade, and its directory only lists the businesses that belong to it.
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Suppliers and manufacturers
Plenty of manufacturers and distributors list their dealers or certified installers on their own websites, often with a link for each one.
Why it counts: it puts your name next to a brand your customers already know, on a page people use to find someone who sells or installs it.
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Local news and community sites
Local papers, neighborhood news sites and community calendars often link to the businesses they write about.
Why it counts: the paper chose your business to write about, and the people who read it live in the area you serve.
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Sponsorships
Youth teams, school fundraisers and charity events often list their sponsors on their websites, usually with a link.
Why it counts: people in your area see your name next to a team or cause they care about. Google expects a paid link to be labeled sponsored or nofollow, so what you get is goodwill and name recognition, not a ranking shortcut.
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Guest articles
These are articles you write for a site your customers already read, like a local home and garden site or an industry blog.
Why it counts: that site’s readers are people who might hire you, and a useful article shows them you know your trade. A thin post packed with keyword links belongs on the spam list further down this page.
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Broken links and useful guides
Sites in your field sometimes link to pages that don’t exist anymore, and a guide people keep coming back to tends to pick up links without anyone asking.
Why it counts: a site links to a page like a roof checklist for hurricane season because it helps its own readers, not because anyone paid or traded for the link.
Links pay off most once the basics are in place: a Business Profile that’s filled out, listings that match, and a website worth linking to. That groundwork comes first in local SEO, and it’s why link building doesn’t start until our second SEO plan.
These Links Can Get Your Business in Trouble
If you’ve gotten an email promising hundreds of backlinks, hold it up against this list before you reply.
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Buying or selling links
Paying for a link that passes ranking credit, or getting paid to place one, whether the payment is cash, free product or a trade of services.
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Swapping links in bulk
“Link to me and I’ll link to you” is harmless between two businesses that work together. Done in bulk, or through partner pages that exist only to trade links, it crosses the line.
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Automated link building
Software or services that crank out links to you by the hundreds, usually on forums, comment sections and profile pages nobody reads.
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Keyword-stuffed guest posts and press releases
Guest posts and press releases sent out to other sites with your keywords as the clickable words, or paid articles whose links pass ranking credit.
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Filler pages and link networks
Sites, sometimes a whole network of them, stuffed with low-value articles whose main job is to carry links rather than be read.
Google’s spam policies cover all five, and they spell out what happens to sites that break them: they may rank lower or drop out of results entirely. If an offer in your inbox sounds like any of these, you’re better off passing on it.
Get a Free WebsiteA Citation and a Backlink Aren’t the Same Thing
The two get mixed up a lot, partly because a single listing can count as both. Here’s where the line falls.
Citations only
A citation is a listing of your business’s name, phone number and address on a site where people go to look businesses up.
- Review sites, map apps and online directories
- Counts even when there’s no link
- Every one should match the others
Their job: accuracy.
Both at once
A listing that shows your details and also links to your website counts as each.
- Your chamber’s member directory
- A trade association’s list of certified pros
- A manufacturer’s dealer locator
Its job: accuracy and reputation.
Backlinks only
Many of the links worth having come from pages that aren’t listings at all.
- News stories, guides and articles on other sites
- Counts even when your address isn’t on the page
- Worth the most from sites in your town or your trade
Their job: reputation.
You want both, and citations come first. A link can send people your way, but it won’t fix an old phone number on Yelp or a wrong address on Apple Maps. Get the details right everywhere first, and every link you earn after that leads people to a business they can find and call.
Link Building Starts at $1,449 a Month
Local Spark works on your profile and listings for $460 a month and leaves links out. Accelerate Growth is where Backlinking comes in, and Area Domination and Regional Leader both carry Premium Backlinking instead.
Accelerate Growth
$1,449/mo
- Backlinking
- On-Page SEO
Builds on Local Spark
Area Domination
$3,087/mo
- Premium Backlinking
Builds on Accelerate Growth
Regional Leader
$5,364/mo
- Premium Backlinking
- In-Depth Keyword Research
Builds on Area Domination
What Business Owners Ask About Backlinks
Do backlinks help with Google Maps rankings too?
Some, yes. Google’s help article on local ranking counts links from other websites, along with reviews, toward how prominent a business is. Links are only one input, though, and we explain the others in how Google ranks map results.
How many backlinks does my business need?
There isn’t a set number. A handful of links from places that know your business is worth more than a big pile from sites your customers wouldn’t recognize, and what’s enough for you depends on your trade and how many other businesses near you are going after the same searches.
Can bad backlinks hurt my site?
Junk links you never asked for rarely do, since Google can usually tell on its own which links to trust. The risk comes from building them on purpose. Buying links or signing up for anything on the spam list above can lead to a manual action, and if that ever happens, it shows up in the Manual Actions report in Google Search Console.
How long before new links make a difference?
Expect months, not weeks. Google has to come across a new link and then weigh it alongside everything else it knows about your business, so links do their work over the life of a plan rather than in one burst.
Do I need to disavow links someone else built?
Usually not. Google’s help page for its disavow tool says most sites won’t need it, and that it’s meant for a site with a lot of spammy links that have caused a manual action or are likely to. If yours turns out to be the rare exception, we’ll say so.
Backlink terms you’ll come across
- Anchor text
- The clickable words in a link. Your business name as anchor text looks natural, while the same keyword phrase on link after link is the kind of optimized anchor text Google’s spam policies call out.
- Nofollow and sponsored links
- Labels a site adds to a link it was paid for, or one it doesn’t want to vouch for, telling Google not to treat the link as an endorsement. People can still click it and land on your site.
- Referring domain
- A website that links to yours, counted once however many links it has pointing at you. Ten links from one site add up to one referring domain.
- Disavow
- A list of links you upload through Google Search Console, asking Google to ignore them when it looks at your site.
Is Your Business Ready for Link Building?
Give us a call or send a message through the form, and tell us what kind of work you do and the area you cover. We’ll go over the plans with you, including whether links should wait until your profile and listings are in shape. The FREE 10-page website comes with every plan either way, so any links you earn later have a good site to point to.
Call or text(972) 838-5038Monday to Saturday, 8AM to 5PM