Local link building

A plumber in Leeds is told she needs backlinks and ends up with two offers in her inbox: a package of listings on a long list of directories, and a guest post on a home-improvement blog she has never read. Both are the wrong shape. The links that lift a local business come from the organisations in its own town that already know it exists; the job is finding the ones that count and asking.

Why a local link does two jobs

Google's help on improving local ranking says prominence is based on information Google has about a business from across the web, "like links, articles, and directories", and that your position in web results is also a factor. So a local link works twice: it helps the page it points to rank in the organic results under the map, and it feeds the prominence that decides the map pack.

Google doesn't document a separate local link signal; the same systems apply. What changes is what counts as relevant. For a national site, relevance comes from a page about the same subject. For a local business, it can come from place: a link from the town rowing club to a plumber makes sense to a reader in that town, and the test Google's systems are built around is whether the link would exist if nobody cared about rankings.

Backlinks that matter has the three tests in full; in short, a link in the text of a page real people read beats anything in a footer, a widget or a pay-to-list directory.

Directories: the few that matter, then stop

A directory listing is a citation first and a link second. Its main job is to confirm, with a matching name, address and phone number, that your business exists where you say it does. NAP consistency and citations covers that hygiene. As a link, most directories pass little, and Google's spam policies name "low-quality directory or bookmark site links" as link spam.

The test is whether a customer would find you through it. That leaves a short list:

• The platforms customers search on: the business listings run by Google, Apple and Bing.
• The register or association your trade belongs to, where membership means something to a buyer.
• The chamber of commerce, the business improvement district, the council's directory, and your town's trade or tourism bodies.
• The review and booking sites your customers use for your kind of business.

Get those right and consistent, then stop. Bulk listing packages are what Google's link spam policy describes, and a listing on a site nobody visits adds no prominence.

Local press: be the story, not the advert

"Articles" is the second word in Google's description of prominence. Local papers, hyperlocal news sites and community magazines are short of stories, and what they cover from businesses is predictable: an opening or a move, a hire, an award, a charity effort, a local data angle, or a view on something happening in the town.

The pitch is a short email to the named editor or reporter: what happened, why local readers care, a quote and a photo. Ask for nothing about links. Some local papers link, some mark links nofollow, and some mention you without linking, and all of those help. Google's 2019 announcement on evolving nofollow made it a hint rather than a block, and an article that names your business and your town is the kind of mention prominence draws on.

Suppliers, customers and community pages: the links that already should exist

The richest source is the organisations that already deal with you. Each has a page where you belong and probably aren't.

1. Suppliers and manufacturers keep "stockists", "approved installers" or "find a dealer" pages. If you sell or fit their products, ask to be listed.
2. Your accountant, your landlord's business park and your co-working space often list clients or tenants.
3. Commercial customers may have a suppliers or case-studies page, and a short write-up of the job is a better link than a logo.
4. Schools, clubs, charities and venues you've helped list their supporters; the next lesson covers sponsorship properly.
5. Local events, markets and festivals list exhibitors and vendors, usually with a link, for years after the event.

The ask is easy because it isn't a favour; it's the listing that describes a relationship they already have. Use your business name as it appears on your profile, and point the link at the page that matches: the homepage, or the service page for that kind of work.

What Google's link spam policies rule out

Google defines link spam as links intended primarily to manipulate rankings, and its spam policies list the patterns: buying or selling links, including goods or services exchanged for links; excessive link exchanges; automated link programs; optimised anchor text in articles, guest posts or press releases; low-quality directory links; and links in footers, widgets or templates across many sites. Most "local SEO link packages" are one of those.

Paid placements are allowed when marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", as Google's guidance on qualifying outbound links sets out.

What to take away

• A local link works twice: it helps the page rank in organic results and feeds the prominence that decides the map pack.
• For a local business, relevance can come from place as well as subject, so organisations in your own town are the right sources.
• Get the directories customers actually use correct and consistent, then stop; the rest are citations at best and spam at worst.
• The best local links are listings that should already exist on supplier, customer, club and event pages; a named mention in the local paper counts even without a link.

Next

Sponsorships and partnerships are the most reliable local source, and the easiest to do wrong: Partnerships and sponsorships.