50 Local Link Building Tactics for ANY Budget

Link building is an essential part of SEO, Google itself counts links as one of the main cornerstones of a successful SEO strategy.

There are many different types of links, and while links from high authority sites do benefit your rankings, there is a lot of competition for these types of links.

But what about acquiring and earning links for local businesses? What about building locally relevant links?

Enter: local link building.

What is Local Link Building?

Essentially, local link building is the process of building locally relevant links to help establish a business at the top of geo-targeted keywords (that have a higher chance of converting).

For small and medium-sized businesses, local links play an important role in building relevancy for a website towards its locality.

So what’s the best way to get local links? The short answer is there is no best way to build local links. The longer answer is: this guide.

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50 Local Link Building Tactics

There are various types of local link building tactics to use, and this (quite big) guide will take you through the different local link building tactics available for businesses.

Without further ado, let’s checkout the local links you can build right now:

#1 Enter Your Business For Local Awards

Other than creating blogs about established and relevant local businesses, and linking out to other local events, you can also participate in a local competition.

All it requires is a simple Google search to come up with a list of upcoming local events and competitions in your niche. In short, find relevant events and sign up!

How does this help? Well, typically, organizers list your business on their website as a ‘participant.’ In the process, they add a valuable link to your site.

Online publications and magazines can even pick up on such listings to curate a high visibility list such as ‘The Top 10 Digital Marketing Agencies In New York.’

In the best case scenario, you end up winning the competition, and make it to the front page – resulting in several more high quality, local backlinks that establish your domain authority in your geographical locality.

#2 Keep An Eye Out For Local Influencers

Influencer marketing has really taken off as a key driver of brand exposure and consumer trust – yielding 11 times more ROI than conventional advertisements, such as banner ads.

This gives you a golden opportunity to link up with a local influencer in your niche. Approach them with a professional offer to curate content, such as online reviews or guest blogs.

You can even make it a content exchange agreement – where you write a blog for their site, and they return the favor with a prized and authoritative backlink to your website.

#3 Write About Your Favorite Business In A Similar Niche

When you do a favor for somebody, chances are that they are going to return it.

That’s the underlying principle of this tactic; you can invest in creating a high-quality blog, infographic, or explainer video about a business that operates in a similar niche, but is not your direct competitor.

You can add their link in the content, and write to them with a link to that very piece.

Chances are, they will love the fact that they have been mentioned in your blog. After all, who doesn’t like free publicity?

You can expect them to return the favor by writing a piece for you – and most importantly adding that precious backlink that increases your local SEO influence.

#4 Create A Local Resource Page On Your Website

Have you ever come across a local resource page? An entire page that acts as a guide of sorts, and links to local businesses that are the best in that location – such as restaurants and libraries.

As it turns out, the best tactic for asking for a backlink involves linking out to their business first.

Once you have invested in the creation of a resource page, it’s your turn to ask for a favor in return. The focal point of this technique involves reaching out to the business you have linked to, and asking them to mention you on their site as well.

#5 Search For Online Mentions

Guess what – your business might have been mentioned by other businesses or publications multiple times already. However, you cannot benefit from these mentions since many site owners fail to link back to your site.

Tools such as Google Alerts or Mention do a good job of tracking your brand mentions across various social channels that exist today. By utilizing such tools, you can track all the chatter around your brand.

Simply reach out to business/owner who has mentioned your brand, and request them to add a link. Voila! Another local backlink to boost local SEO visibility.

#6 Gain Exposure and Prominence Through Local Guides

A business can gain local exposure and prominence by accumulating valuable information in a ‘local guide.’

Whether you live in a metropolitan or a small suburb, every town has events, activities, and places that attract locals. However, information about these events only exists scattered across outdated government websites.

Businesses can leverage increased traffic and brand awareness by compiling all such information under one ‘local guide.’

While this tactic may not primarily be a link-building strategy, there is potential to grab a few important links. A well-researched local resource naturally attracts links, but businesses can also link out to websites dedicated to such events, and ask for a link in return for including them in the resource.

You can also add strong social signals in the mix, by linking this resource with organic and paid social media marketing.

#7 Leverage The Power Of Alumni Links

Most colleges and universities take pride in broadcasting their achievements by dedicating a page that links out to successful alumni.

This is your chance to make those students loans worth a little more; reach out to your university and request a feature on their website, or alumni directory so you can acquire a high authority, ‘.edu’ link for your business.

Universities and colleges gain multiple backlinks, and experience considerable traffic because of existing student portals, people searching for admission information, teacher’s portal, and many other factors.

All these factors accumulate to form a highly authoritative domain which can do wonders for your SEO, if you do manage to obtain a backlink from their website.

However, there is a probability that all your hard work to gain a backlink can go to vain. Some institutions have a strict policy against allowing any commercial or business sites on their websites.

In such a scenario, you can opt to link to one of your high authority social profiles or citations.

#8 Get Featured On Local Review Sites

Every city, locality, town, and suburb has a ‘review’ site that is dedicated to informing and educating people on the businesses and venues in the area.

These sites also compile reviews on different niche and industries – such as the ‘Top 10 digital marketing agencies in Minnesota.’

Local and niche mentions are very important factors when it comes to SERP rankings. If you can ensure that your NAP (name, address, phone number) that is mentioned in local review sites appears exactly the same on your website and Google listings, you have the potential to rank higher.

The more local links Google sees directed towards your business, the more your SEO authority grows. Reach out to your local review sites, and request to be listed – with backlinks, it’s always ‘the more, the merrier!’

#9 Offer To Write For Your Local Newspaper And Magazines

Your local newspaper might be a hit in your niche – with everybody from local businesses to employees visiting the site.

Why not put yourself out there? Not only can you gain relevance and build trust, but more importantly, you will get a backlink that helps your SEO.

Newspapers can prove to be tricky customers – they might not allow your link-building efforts on their platform. This is why you don’t approach them with a link building offer, but rather, offer to write for their blogs or editorials.

You can publish interesting and news-worthy content, and they will be happy to publicize and promote your content – as well as lend you a backlink that will pass the juice on to your website.

The case with newspapers is simple; get high-quality content out there, and the links will come naturally – other news agencies might even be tempted into inviting you over for their editorials.

#10 Promote Your Business Through A Local Interest Website

What are the most important and significant interests in your area? What brings the crowd together? What are people really attracted to?

This can be anything – from a small dedicated website, to a project that attempts to cover everything that is going on in your area. However, small businesses do not have the budget to cover everything in a large metropolitan city.

Instead, a more feasible alternative is to narrow the focus down with regards to the size of your town. The smaller the area you are targeting, the more you can delve deep and cover what’s going around.

The reverse is also true; the larger the area, the more you need to narrow your focus down depending on the budget in hand.

Your website can be about sports, nightlife, recreational activities – remember, a good local interest site will automatically attract links, but you can also boost exposure by promoting local interests through social media marketing.

#11 Build A Useful Tool To Attract Local Traffic

When it comes to building a useful tool, the key is to remember that you are doing this for local link-building efforts, so it has to provide local information.

This doesn’t have to be a very technical tool, rather, you can shape it into something that provides value to the local population. It could be anything – from providing information about accidents in the locality, to how to deal with pests and insects that are native to your location.

Once you have built the tool, the important step is to reach out to the target audience. The development of such a tool can even enable you to gain some wiki links.

The only drawback is that for businesses that don’t have a programmer on board, this can become quiet expensive. Development of a tool, despite how uncomplicated it is, requires considerable time, effort, and technical expertise.

#12 Reverse Engineer And Steal Your Competitors Links

The primary way to gain backlinks is to provide value to customers, and constantly strive to gain niche authority – gradually paving the way for high-quality backlinks.

There is another way to do this; it involves analyzing your competitor’s backlinks, and how you can use these links to boost your own site’s authority.

They key is to find superior quality, high authority links that link to your competitor, and replicate them for your own site – while steering clear of any spammy links that might be included in the list.

There are many tools that can assist you in generating the entire list of competitor backlinks. Tools such as cognitiveSEO and Ahrefs also include authority metrics such as DomainRank and TrustFlow that signal what links are of superior quality.

Businesses can export the backlinks to CSV, and sorting all of them in Excel. Experts advice doing a manual analysis of such links to be wary of comment links, forum links, and spam-filled directories.

Or we can do it for you:

#13 Write Valuable, Gated E-Books

E-books provide an effective and concise way to build trust, gain authority, leverage expertise in return for high-quality backlinks, and create a newsletter/mailing list.

Even a small business possesses enough niche insight that can provide considerable value. All they require is a good start to the E-book, and then it only becomes a mere formality to fill in different chapters.

The starting point for writing an E-book strategy is to ascertain a topic that resonates with a specific pain point of your target audience. Then, you can delve into the possible causes, and offer valuable solutions.

But keep in mind that your content quality is the one thing that will earn you important backlinks – and so, be sure to offer actual, actionable insights that readers will find useful.

The next step involves promoting your E-book across different channels to increase exposure, and your chances of landing backlinks.

#14 Ego Bait Local Expert Contributor Outreach

Continuing from our previous tactic to leverage niche expertise for local backlinks and exposure, ego bait involves identifying a niche related subject that overlaps with another niche or subject.

This should be indirectly linked with your expertise/solution – a good example can be a personal injury law firm teaming up with a group of grief counselors to provide insights on how to deal with the loss of a person.

As a small business, you start by identifying a topic that overlaps with another niche. The next step involves reaching out to thought leaders/established businesses, and creating content where you both share your expert insights on how to deal with the matter in hand.

Adding another expert brings clear value to your content, and helps in gaining exposure. Most importantly, this will help you land an important backlink and gain social media references as they share it on their social media accounts.

You will obviously return the favor, but that’s a small price to pay when taking the local SEO boost you are bound to get.

#15 Run Facebook Ads To Get More Exposure And Links

Disclaimer – this link building tactic hinges on the low-end tier when it comes to the probability, and authority of link-building. Still, it still holds some potential, and thus, a place on the list.

Facebook Ads allow companies to pitch their solutions to a specific demographic, or people who display interests that are closely connected to your brand.

Hence, running a paid ad campaign is a great way to boost brand awareness and gain likes. With time, your Facebook posts (with links to your site) will also benefit from increased exposure – ultimately resulting in backlinks.

The ability to target an audience based on their geographical presence is what distinguishes Facebook’s advertisement, and makes it suitable for local link building tactics.

#16 Set Up A Facebook Likes Drive With Local NGOs

Local charities, NGOs and other such institutions are eager to partake in activities that can result in donations.

Partnering with a high authority charity can add to your backlinks, highlight your CSR efforts, and give you the opportunity to do something noble.

Find a relevant, local charity and start a Facebook campaign where you pledge to donate money for every like the post receives. For smaller businesses, it is important to limit the total sum to something that is easily affordable.

Make sure you tag the relevant charity’s Facebook page to draw the attention of their target audience. The backlink comes from an announcement on their blog or a press release in their ‘media’ section.

You can replicate this campaign with multiple charities – if your budget allows – and gain several backlinks.

#17 Put Up Free Assets And Resources On Different Sites

You know what customers like? Free things!

But this isn’t about offering free products or discount offers – this is about free resources such as high definition, niche-related photography that consumers want, but don’t always have the resources or intention to purchase.

Sites such as WikiMedia or Pixabay allow users to download free resources, and you can upload your pictures for people to use freely. In return, you can just ask for attribution as a requirement to use the high-quality resource.

A high quality, niche-specific picture would enhance any blog related to the specific industry. And that too for free? That’s a hard offer to pass.

For your business, this means valuable backlinks whenever your pictures are used anywhere on the internet.

#18 Reverse Image Links

Continuing from my previous point, having good website images is not only a bonus, but imperative considering how visual cues impact consumers at large.

Once you have uploaded free resources across multiple platforms, wait for them to be used. After some time, use Google’s image search to track the websites where the images are being used.

If you find images that are not linking back to your site, or do not have the proper attribution, you should contact the site immediately. Ask the owners for attribution, and remind them that your images are protected by a copyright.

In short, the best part about the pictures being picked up is that you reserve the right to claim adequate attribution for your image from a high authority site. If the site isn’t worth obtaining a backlink from, you can just leave it there.

#19 Use Data From Google Consumer Insight Surveys

With the growing emphasis on consumer experience and satisfaction, there is an increased demand for trustworthy and credible consumer surveys.

Typically, these surveys are used to highlight the needs, wants, and important feedback from the public and your target audience.

There are various advantages of using Google Surveys: it allows anyone to collect data on niche topics, such as what businesses do your target audience likes to engage with, and why?

With the right setup and questions, you’ll end up with data that is highly valuable and sought after. The next step is to accumulate and organize such data in a visually rich infographic, or an interactive map, and leave it on the internet to attract high-quality backlinks.

This isn’t the most cost effective link building method, but it is nevertheless, effective. Local, data-rich surveys lend an insight into the industry, and businesses around the area are quick to use (and link back to) it.

#20 Produce A Google Custom Map

Google allows people to utilize their custom map tool to create maps/tag locations of their own, including any significant landmarks that they think would be important for people in the area.

Businesses can utilize these maps for local communities – by mapping out landmarks, locations, and places that they think might be helpful. One approach is to create maps for very specific purposes.

So, if you are focusing on highlighting the places that are pet-friendly and animal-related, you can pinpoint pet-friendly stores, parks and other such places on a Google custom map – you can even highlight local vet hospitals.

Once you’re done, you can upload the map on a webpage, and reach out to local sites who would be willing to link back to it. This will allow your website to benefit from multiple links.

You can go one step ahead and create another custom map, for let’s say, specific places where you can witness art shows, or theatre. The possibilities are pretty much endless!

#21 Enlist In Industry Specific Directories

Niche citations are an important part of Google’s ranking algorithm. These allows Google to recognize the industry in which you operate, and thus, increase your chances of popping up in the results when somebody conducts a niche-related query.

Niche citations that follow the exact same NAP format as your own website also considerably add to the ‘link juice’ that your site can benefit from.

In order to search up niche related directories where businesses are listed, you can search on Google using “business listings” or “business directories,” or “free business listings.”

You might have to replace the word ‘business’ with the industry you work in, and you will come across tons of directories where you can get listed.

Simply reach out to them, and ensure that your NAP matches that of your own website and Google My Business. The more links Google sees, the more it is likely to associate your business with that very industry.

#22 List Your Business In Local Specific Directories

Like niche directories, there are directories that are dedicated to listing businesses that operate in a specific area.

Additionally, you can get lucky by coming across hybrid directories that are essentially local directories that segment businesses under the niche they operate in.

Getting listed in such a directory is not only a source of highly qualified traffic, but it also tells Google about the industry you operate in, and the location you are based in.

This means that when a user in the very area searches for a query that is related to your niche, your chances of getting featured increase exponentially.

You can also add a local parameter to your directory search to find local specific directories; for instance, you can try to search for ‘town + “business directory.’

Local citations are important signals for building authority, and the more incoming links that you have from local sites, the more your chances of getting featured on top.

#23 Post On Job Posting Websites

Organizations are hiring people all the time – whether you need a person for the new position you just opened, or are trying to replace your veteran admin head, there are frequent job posting opportunities.

And all such opportunities present a chance to gain a backlink. There are a number of job sites that are quiet popular, such as Monster, Indeed, SimplyHired, etc.

For this strategy, the first step is to list the job requirements on a separate page on your site. Next, you can post a job application on different platforms, with a link that points to your page – you can even add a link of the ‘About’ page for further effect.

Some organizations may decide to keep a job post up indefinitely in pursuit of the ‘perfect’ candidate, which also ensures that the backlink remains active.

Local websites also have pages designed for local events and job fairs which you can leverage for a valuable backlink.

#24 Promote Your Local Blogs

Local blogs that have valuable and hyper-local content can do very well, if promoted on the right forums.

Finding the right platform where you can promote and market your content is vital for the success of this tactic.

Local blog promotion sites, such as Reddit sub-threads, city pages, discussion forums, etc. provide the best fit for such hyper-local, and relevant content. For example, a blog on ‘the best 4^th of July deals in Manhattan’ in a location specific subreddit is likely to gain considerable traction while gaining a backlink.

Keep in mind that this technique requires that your content must be valuable to local audiences, and not salesly. If you come across as self-promotional, you might get called out, and garner a bad reputation amongst users.

#25 Collaborate With Local Influencers

This is a very popular tactic that involves the creation of content that combines your expertise with that of local influencers, and leaders. You can leverage their pull and influence on the community to gain increased traction, and exposure for your content.

Gather these local influencers, and allow them to voice opinions and share their ideas on a topic of local importance. This shouldn’t be hard, considering they will also benefit from increased exposure.

Once you are done with the post, you can ask these influencers to promote it on their social media channels, and websites.

The result? Local prominence, social signals, and more chances of backlinks.

For maximum impact, a small business can approach multiple local influencers from different niche and professions to voice their opinion – thus, procuring backlinks on a regular basis.

#26 Give Local Discounts

People absolutely love discounts and rebates, which means there is always a local guide on discounts for each specific town, or district.

Businesses offer discounts throughout the year, but in order to get listed, the discounts have to be creative and targeted. For instance, students and military discounts can be commonly found across businesses, but why stop there? Why not include other groups as well?

Not only will you benefit from more people trying to leverage such discounts, but you will also have a chance to be listed at these ‘discount’ forums, and gain a local backlink.

You can easily find such sites on Google – start by searching for: ‘Georgia inurl:discounts, list’ or ‘Georgia inurl:member, discounts.’ This is likely to extract any possible discount listings in your proximity.

Approach such list moderators, and ask to be linked for a specific discount for a group that you are looking to target.

#27 Host A Local Event

Local events provide a nice opportunity for local influencers, businesses, and people to build a relationship. For a budding business eager to gather some backlinks, such an event provides the perfect opportunity to gain some valuable hyper-local backlinks.

You can also volunteer to host a local event, a niche related workshop, or maybe a speaking event where you can invite prominent people from the community.

Not only will this provide you an excellent way to gel in with the community, but your event will likely be featured on headlines and news sections – all venues of great backlinks that are easy, authoritative, diverse, hyper-local, and include your NAP information.

That is like hitting the local SEO jackpot, with rich backlinks lending a great helping hand to your link building and SEO efforts.

It’s important to note that this tactic might be too much for a small business’ budget, so only collaborate when you can actually see it through without breaking the bank.

#28 Partner With Local Bloggers

Blogging has seen a meteoric rise in popularity over the past decade. In fact, stats confirm that companies who blog regularly, receive an overwhelming percentage of links compared to companies that don’t – about 97% more!

There are many bloggers to choose from – starting from travel and tech enthusiasts, to mom bloggers. This provides you the perfect opportunity to pick a blogger that resonates the most with your target audience.

The key point is to create something that is valuable and relevant to the bloggers’ audience, and prompts them to share the post. Without social signal relevance, you won’t be able to garner the backlinks, thus defeating the purpose.

This is where businesses need to be clever; the subject matter or topic of the post should also be related to what your business represents, and what your target audience likes to read.

For example, if you are a personal injury lawyer collaborating with a mom blogger, you can offer to write an article on school bus accident cases around your area.

#29 Create A Local Infographic

Infographics are great – they can be used to summarize content that would otherwise take up a whole page, in one single graphic.

As a source of high-quality information that is often plain statistical (thus more valuable and concise), infographics have now become an extremely popular form of visual content. In fact, infographics have the potential to increase your web traffic by up to 12%.

Businesses can leverage this technique by curating local information in high quality visuals. Topics can include, rising trends of vacation rentals in the locality, new restaurants opening in the area, cheapest vacation rentals in the city etc.

The next step is more important – finding sites that can link back to your business. For example, your target should be vacation rental businesses, vacation blogs, and subscribers of your town’s subreddit who are interested in such trends.

You can even write a post with the infographic, and publish it on a related blog. In our example, this would involve publishing in a vacation rental blog.

#30 Post For Local Internships

Internees provide an amazing opportunity for businesses to gain some high authority links from local universities, while also providing you with qualified students for your business.

All it takes for a business is to add an internship prospect page on their website, and start contacting institutes with that specific link. Universities take student placement seriously, so this tactic is likely to provide you positive and prompt responses.

The best case scenario is that you reach out to the university, they process your request, and you soon have an internship offer – as well as an important backlink on their website, or separate internship program board.

Some universities also use their student database to promote internship opportunities that does nothing to help your link building efforts. If this is the case, avoid contacting the main department, rather reach out to your industry-specific department’s head. This might give you a chance of being featured on their department’s page.

#31 Host A Local Interview

Local influencers form an important part of a good, comprehensive local link building strategy. Their hyper-local influence is a major attraction for brands, as their followers really look up to them and passionately follow their social accounts.

This guide mentions local influencers at several points, and this tactic also includes leveraging their influence and popularity for your brand.

These influencers are eager to produce fresh content on the daily, and so, you can collaborate with important people and interview them on matters of local importance, or their personal life – anything that the public and their followers would be eager to read.

You can then do a write-up of the interview, and offer the content to other sites with links embedded, so they have to do is copy and paste everything.

#32 Use Photos From Local Photographers

High definition and industry relevant photography is typically hard to find, particularly if your line of business pertains to a small niche. For an SME, even getting local imagery can be challenging.

This is where local photographers come in; with the dramatic increase in the scope of photography, you are sure to find a local photographer with the right local imagery to complement your post.

You can reach out to them with a request to use their image with your content, and they likely be happy to grant it with proper attribution. Once the post is live, you can ask them to reference that piece of content on their online portfolio, as well as social media channels.

This will provide you with an important local backlink, while also feeding you social signals that will help boost your SEO.

Such quid pro quo campaigns work successfully with influencers, as they are looking for opportunities to increase their following.

#33 Sponsor Local Scholarships

This one might not be the most cost effective link building strategy, but considering its high link authority potential, it is well worth the investment.

The principal driver behind this is to organize a scholarship opportunity for the local academic institutions that they will be happy to accept, and promote. Your motive is to garner a considerable amount of additional, high-quality backlinks from ‘.edu’ sites.

The first step is ascertaining how big of a scholarship you are willing to sponsor. This includes the financial as well as the administrative aspects, such as deadlines and privacy policy.

The key is to identify local schools and colleges that are interested, and eager to engage students in the scholarship program. Get in touch with academic counselors, financial scholarship counselors, or even student organizations to get started.

#34 Sponsor Local Causes

This is a not a simple reiteration of the previous point, but rather a wide scale implementation of the same idea. You take the academic sponsorship idea, and expand it to your entire locality.

There are endless possibilities with this one – from sponsoring charity drives, races, or even sponsoring the youth team from your local college. Rather than receiving medals or awards that are bound to rot on the shelf, ask for a mention on their website.

Local organizations would be happy to link back to you, which could gain you a local backlink on top of the obvious boost to your CSR efforts.

Additionally, this can be picked up by news organizations who will cover the story, leading to more exposure and higher quality backlinks.

You can take to Google to search for such local sponsorship authorities. For instance, you may search for: inurl:sponsors “Georgia” for such opportunities in the State.

#35 Build A Microsite

Microsites are websites that target a very specific subject that is actually a subset of a broader topic. So, for instance, if you are a clothing brand operating in New York, you can consider creating a microsite that is all about New York’s Denim fashion and trends.

The website will still be relevant to your clothing brand as a whole, while catering locally to New York. Some of the most important ranking factors are the number of inbound links from locally relevant domains, and the backlinks that you get from industry relevant domains – this is a way to get both.

A microsite can be an adequate referring domain to your overall website, boosting your SEO. The hard part is the creation of a high-quality and relevant website with content designed to attract attention.

While the primary goal of a microsite is to be a referral site, it can very well grow to become an independent entity in itself; this would be even more beneficial for the brand and SEO.

#36 Arrange Local Writing Contests

Arranging a writing contest allows you the opportunity to put your local connections to use, by contacting press stations and recognized educational institutes.

What will the writing competition be about? Who can take part in the event? There are several questions that can be answered by dedicating a webpage to the competition on your site.

The key is to connect with local institutions, arouse local interest through radio stations, and market the event through social media. All of these factors will combine to ensure that your writing contest is highlighted in the local community and gains enough coverage.

The content will provide you an opportunity to link with the community, gain goodwill, and most importantly, earn authoritative ‘.edu’ links that will boost your local credibility.

Add in sufficient promotion for the winner in the form of a prize – and you should be preparing for a lot more coverage and backlinks.

#37 Provide Free Testimonials To Other Businesses

Every business has to deal with other organizations and commercial entities at some point. From construction companies hiring painting experts, to lawyers having their web designing done through an agency – inter-business transactions occur all the time.

You can leverage these relationships by reaching out to organizations that you have worked with in the past, and offer them a testimonial in exchange for a backlink to your site.

With nearly 70% of online customers looking for social proof before making a purchase, positive testimonials can do wonders for a business. These testimonials can be posted at their site, or on a separate page on your website.

All that is left to do is for them to link back to your page. This is an effective strategy to build relationships and rapport, and gain backlinks from locally relevant organizations.

#38 Enlist In A Free Wi-Fi Directory

Everybody needs a stable internet connection; from students to freelancers and remote workers, free Wi-Fi certainly attracts a crowd.

With 3.3 billion smartphones in use by 2018, everybody prefers a stable Wi-Fi connection over a costlier mobile data connection. And with 52% of employees connecting to open Wi-Fi networks, there are websites that are solely dedicated to informing people about places where there is free Wi-Fi available.

If your office has Wi-Fi capabilities that are deployed for your staff to use, you can extend your Wi-Fi connection for free to those that fall within the range of your router signals. In short, by removing the need for password authentication, you can allow people within range to utilize your internet connection.

The next step is to reach out to such sites and request them to mention your business as a free Wi-Fi zone. This tactic will help you get a valuable backlink from local websites. Here is a list of sites you can use:

1. http://www.wififreespot.com/

2. http://www.openwifispots.com/

3. http://www.hotspot-locations.com/

#39 Reverse Engineer Infographics Into A Text Post

The heading is a giveaway, but still, let me elaborate.

Remember how we created infographics that were relevant to the local audience? Well, you aren’t the only one who is doing it. This tactic requires you to find such local infographics that are rich in information, and provide considerable value.

An easy way of doing this is searching for “city + Infographics” in any search engine. This is bound to turn up at least a few resources that can be turned into interesting reads. For smaller towns, you can increase your search parameters from your suburb, to your district perhaps.

Usually, demographical data can be interpreted and elaborated to make into a compelling blog.

Then, you can reverse engineer the entire content into a text post, and add any updated information and expert insights that you can. The next step is to reach out to the sites that linked to the original infographic, and offer updated content in return for backlink.

#40 Get Social Bookmark Links

Before getting into the details of social bookmarks, it is important to note that social bookmarking is best utilized as a part of a larger link building scheme that involves high authority tactics.

The primary purpose of social bookmarking is to increase page authority. By using social bookmarks, you can increase the page authority levels to somewhere between the range of 10-20 PA.

While this isn’t exactly high authority, it is certainly better than having none, which is the case with brand new internal pages. Once you have researched the social bookmarking sites you want to list on, you need to create an account on each of them.

The new page should include everything like your proper website address and NAP information. Examples of social bookmarking sites include del.icio.us and digg.com .

However, experts advice that you don’t overuse social bookmarking, as there are different levels of social bookmark quality, which means there is a possibility of risk involved.

#41 Indulge In Second Tier Link Building

All tactics that we have discussed in this post pertain to first tier back linking. Acquiring a link on another website that points towards your website – simple, right?

To tier newer links to existing links falls within the domain of second-tier local linking. This tactic can further build up the authority of existing links by ensuring that newer links point out them.

One great example is guest posting; for instance, you posted a guest post (that included a link to your website) on a relevant industry blog. Once you share the blog on social media, you have already entered the arena of second tier link building.

You can also reference other independent places where you were mentioned, or industry collaborations mentioned on third party sites that link back to your site.

A link that is posted on a high-quality site, and further shared by multiple trustworthy domains, is likely to be viewed as very authoritative and valuable – further boosting local SEO.

#42 Create A Local Calendar

What are the biggest events that symbolize your town? Do you have something that distinguishes you from the rest of the country?

Maybe the local college’s basketball team is really popular, and people are eager to know when they are playing, and against whom?

There are several ideas that can go behind the creation of an extensive local calendar which summarizes events that hold significance for the people in your area. You can even include premiere dates for the biggest movies that are about to hit the local cinema.

Once you have created a calendar with important dates, the next step is to reach out to local news sites and influencers who are willing to showcase this calendar.

Not only do you get backlinks from locally relevant sites that are eager to provide value to consumers, but you also benefit from increased traffic that comes your way.

#43 Get Links From Your Local Business Association

Business associations are local industry leaders that operate like the organization of a particular industry, such as the local Bar Association for lawyers.

Such associations are present across different towns, cities, states, or even the country, that allow businesses to join in the exchange of a membership fee. Assuming you can afford the membership fee, your business becomes a part of the association, and gets listed on their website.

Links from such high authority organizational sites are always a welcome boost to your local link building efforts. These links are relevant to your business, locality, and are trustworthy – most importantly, they are easy to acquire.

There are various ways to find such associations, and you can start by searching for the following terms:

· “city” “industry/niche” association

· “city” “industry/niche” society

· “city” “industry/niche” council

· “city” “industry/niche” alliance

You can usually find lists of these associations all grouped together for you with this query:

· “city” “industry/niche” intitle:associations

#44 Donate To Local Foodbanks

Local food banks are not for-profit organizations that are dedicated to ending hunger. However, this is a strenuous task, which is why they are always in need of sponsors willing to contribute to a noble cause.

You can use this opportunity to give back to the community, and earn some goodwill. However, it is worth noticing that most of these food banks have dedicated websites, where amidst the other stuff, there is a specific page for sponsors.

By donating to such charities, you can earn yourself a spot on their sponsor’s page. And remember, food banks and other prominent charities are highly authoritative sites.

By achieving such local links, your website appears high quality and prominent in the local scene to Google, thus affecting your SEO ranking.

#45 Donate To Local Shelters

Continuing from my previous point, local shelters are great resources to donate and acquire important backlinks.

Every locality has different types of shelters – there’s the animal shelter that is the favorite spot for pets enthusiasts and animal lovers, there is the homeless shelter that is a cause of great local work, and there are several other types of emergency shelters.

The great thing about local shelters is that apart from the goodwill and social welfare, local shelter websites hold local significance. From donations to newsletters, these sites experience high traffic and are very authoritative.

By donating to a local shelter, you can acquire a high-value backlink by being listed on their ‘sponsors’ page. Such backlinks are of great local relevance, as a link from a local shelter helps Google ascertain where you operate and which area you cater to.

#46 Utilize The Power Of Unstructured Citations

Simply put, unstructured citations are mentions of your business’ name, address, and phone number (NAP) on non-listing and directory sites. These include social profiles, databases, government sites, industry associations, blogs etc.

The real value of these citations does not only come from the backlink to your site, but the NAP info, as this is an important signal for the local search algorithm.

Additionally, this visually unstructured NAP information also reinforces your brand reputation, and has the potential to increase your traffic – especially if the site/platform is relevant to your business.

For example, if you’re offering landscaping services in NJ, then an incoming link from your local gardening magazine or group is likely to boost brand awareness, plus your bottom line.

For this technique, you can use local classified ads, and free and paid directories. Just run a search for “city + business directory” or “free business listings in city” and you’ll find numerous options to choose from.

#47 Lend Authority To Your Site With Wiki Links

Wiki links not only lend authority to your website, but they are also a great way to build a diverse backlink profile.

It’s not as simple as adding a link to your blog from Wikipedia; you first need to curate and publish credible documents on your site such as industry whitepapers, peer-reviewed articles, research papers etc.

Once you have such content on your site, you can then cite yourself on a high authority Wiki page with the following template: {{cite web | url=URL |title=TITLE | publisher=PUBLISHER | date=PUBLISHING DATE | accessdate=ACCESS DATE}}

Now, the real challenge is to keep the backlinks alive, as moderators usually remove links/citations if they do not contain more in-depth information about the subject.

Hence, the only solution is to ensure that the page you’re citing on Wiki adds some real value to the topic at hand.

#48 Create Local Meetups To Gain More Exposure And Links

It’s no secret that local meetups are the best way to network – and spread some brand awareness.

But did you also know that they are an excellent way to obtain valuable backlinks for your business?

You can start by creating your own group, or join existing groups, related to your niche/industry. Simply add a link to your site on the group’s profile, and viola, you’re all set.

Another way to go about this is by sponsoring meetups around your area. Just look up a list of groups, attend the next meeting, and pitch to the leader/owner about getting a valuable partnership link in exchange for sponsorship.

You can find many local groups on sites such as meetup.com that are divided by interests, topics, industries etc.

#49 Approach Local Charities For Valuable Backlinks

You can get a backlink from a high authority local site for as low as $5 – but don’t confuse this with a paid link.

How this works is that you offer to support, or donate to a local charity, and in return ask them for a valuable backlink.

A good way you can go about this is by offering to sponsor something specific for the local charity. This can include their website expenses for the year such as their hosting and domain, or even new t-shirts for their volunteers.

As a result, the charity will likely mention your site or business somewhere – if you’ve sponsored their site, they might write ‘sponsored by xyz’ at the footer, or they could post a blog about their new t-shirts, and mention that they were donated by your business.

It’s a total win-win: Google will give additional weight to the backlink since it’s coming from a site in the same location as yours, thereby boosting your domain authority, trust score, page authority etc.

#50 Get Featured On Local Clubs/Organizations Sites

A simple search on Google will yield a number of local organizations and clubs, such as the Rotary Club, Lions Club etc. These exist in almost every community, and have state and chapter sites.

Here’s a search pattern you can use to find these clubs: “city intitle:sponsors” (Example: New York intitle:sponsors).”

Here, you have two options: You can join the club and have them put in a link to your business in your member profile section, or you can offer to become a sponsor.

Since most clubs and organizations have a list or panel of sponsors on their site, they will automatically add your logo or business name – thus, giving you a quality backlink.

And don’t just stop there, promote the fact that you’re a sponsor on your site as this is a great way of building trust in the local community.

Wrapping up

Local link building is a key part of SEO, particularly for smaller businesses that rely on local leads to survive the competition.

The link building tactics in this guide allows a local businesses to acquire high-value backlinks to help increase their rank for locally targeted searches.

By using these tactics, hopefully you can look to gain hyper-local relevance in your niche, and increase your local SEO authority.