92% of Your Local Competitors Aren’t Doing This

Local Links - One Way to Boost Your Google Rankings

Google is the number one tool moms use when starting their search for a family-friendly local business, so it pays to stay near the top of those search rankings.  

There are a lot of factors that affect your Google search result placement - enough that entire careers are made on that topic alone.  Local businesses like yours don't have the time or energy to deal with all of that.

So at Local Marketer, we focus on the easiest things you can do to move the needle when it comes to SEO (search engine optimization) in your business.

One of the more effective things you can do?  Add local links.  

➡️ Local links (often called backlinks) are links to your website from another website.

Imagine a local newspaper writes an article about a recent event you hosted and links back to your site.  That's an example of the perfect local link.  

Having local links improves the chances of moving up in the Google search results.  

Another reason to spend some time adding local links?  92% of your competitors aren't doing a good job in this department meaning the door is wide open for you to gain an advantage.

According to a recent study by Ahrefs, 66% of businesses have zero backlinks and another 26% have three or fewer linked sites.

HOW TO GET LOCAL LINKS

So how to get these oh-so-important links?  There are several ways to get started.

1. Local Directories
Make sure your business is included in all appropriate local directories and that the information is accurate.  These could be anything from your chamber of commerce to the town business district.  If they list local businesses like yours, you need to be in there.

2. Event Calendars
Find all the local event calendars near you - tv, radio, and newspaper websites, parenting websites (like Hulafrog), city or county websites, and others - and add any events you may have coming up.

3. Community Resources or Forums
Connect with any local community resources or forums.  Often local library websites will have lists of family-friendly businesses.  Visitor bureaus, welcome agencies, or hotels have similar lists for new residents or tourists. 

4. Sponsorships
Look for opportunities to sponsor family-friendly events or organizations that make sense for your business.  Sponsors are generally listed on event or organization websites. Your logo on a kids' fun run t-shirt is great, but a solid local link from the charity's website?  That can be very valuable as well.

5. Media Opportunities
Send a quick press release to your local media outlets if you have a major event coming up or some other noteworthy milestone in your business. Newspapers and TV stations are often on the lookout for local stories and even if moms aren't reading the paper, the link you'll get on the website can be as good as gold for your SEO.

6. Produce Local Content
Consider creating some local content on your website that might be of interest to community members or other organizations.  Put together your own list of favorite places to have a picnic with the kids or amazing family-friendly spots to grab a bite to eat.  

Include other businesses (giving them a link of their own!) and then share your content with them. Encourage them to share or link from their site.  Most local business owners love to help out their fellow entrepreneurs.

7. Check Competitors' Links
Finally don't forget to spend a few minutes Googling your competitors.  What online places are linking to their websites?  Can you reach out and see if they'll link to your site as well?

If you need to boost your Google rankings or just want to get a step ahead of your competitors, consider adding a local link strategy into the mix.

It won't make a difference overnight but can have a significant effect on your overall SEO and local online marketing success.