Backlinks have often been declared a holy grail of SEO marketing. Some argue that building backlinks is a crucial part of any SEO strategy, as the more backlinks you have, the better chances of your site being ranked high and appearing on the first page of any search engine.
But what exactly is this magical SEO trick? Backlink building is simply creating links to your website on external sites. For example, if a blogger writes about your business and links to it in their article, that is a backlink. Moreover, backlinks on more credible and popular sites have more authority when a search engine evaluates your site and ranks your site. Therefore, backlink building is somewhat an online version of word of mouth PR marketing strategy.
The more people write about and link to your website, the more backlinks you have, and therefore the more visible you are to search engines. Having more backlinks sends a signal to a search engine algorithm, suggesting that you have authority in a specific topic and/or industry. Therefore, your site is more likely to be ranked high by search engines, as they think your site will provide users with value as it has been linked to from other sources.
If you’re a small local business, backlink building can be an effective part of your SEO strategy, helping you stand out from the crowd in the local area. We will now take you through a few effective backlink building tactics, which complimented with a wholesome SEO strategy can help you boost your search rankings and gain new customers.
Tactic #1: Become a thought leader in your industry by providing extremely valuable content. Depending on the type of business you run, you have niche knowledge and expertise in matters that many other people, including your customers, don’t.
For example, if you are a local wedding dress designer, you most probably know how to handle wedding dresses in transport. Therefore, you can provide value by sharing tips on how to travel with a wedding dress, which is an information that brides-to-be will look to gain from experts. By sharing valuable knowledge relevant to your potential customers, you gain authority, and not only are people more likely to read your content, spend more time on your site and potentially buy from you, but you are also more likely to gain backlinks to your site from other people working or interested in your industry.
Tactic #2: Create local partnerships. When you’re running a local business, chances are that you are using other local businesses’ services too. For example, if you’re a small digital marketing agency working in the city, it might be that you’re renting an office in a big co-working space. This is a chance for you both to link to your businesses and gain an additional backlink.
For example, you can create a section on your site which lists the partners or clients you’re working with, and you can approach them and suggest they do the same for you. This way you both gain backlinks – a win-win situation! This strategy can also work really well on social media – mention your partners on your social channels, and then discreetly ask them to do the same in return. Most of the time other businesses will be more than happy to return the favour, getting you more exposure and potential new customers.
Tactic #3: Provide perks for your local community. Whether it’s sponsoring a local event, giving out grants to locals, or organising a contest, you can create backlinks to your site by being active in your community. Not only are these activities likely to get you local news coverage (and links from news sites are very valuable!), but if utilised well they also have the potential to gain backlinks from sites listing events, scholarships, grants or contests.
For example, if you’re providing a community grant, find websites which list community grants and let them know about your grant. Not only will this tactic get you a new backlink, but it will also increase the number of grant applicants and potentially grow a new customer base. Being active in your local community also makes great content to be shared on social media, which has the further potential to reach new customers for your business.
The above tactics will be helpful not only in getting more backlinks to your site and boosting your SEO, but also in getting new customers and building your reputation in your local area. As a small business, it is crucial to be trusted by your community.    Watch the second part of this video for more tips on how to build more backlinks for your business, or reach out to SEO Sydney.
