1. Sponsor a local meetup group
Meetup.com is a popular site that allows people to connect to other people their share a similar interest or hobby. You can offer them an office space for their meetings. Most of them link back to their sponsors, not to mention that they also have websites and wouldn’t mind putting your link under sponsors. Example of a sponsored link from Meetup Group: http://www.meetup.com/Queens-NYC-Runners/sponsors/
2. Attend Local conferences
If you’re looking to further grow your business locally, you need to network and find people who share the same interests. Attending local conferences is one way you can use to get to know people in your niche. What’s great about this strategy is that you can create links for anything. For example, you can compile a list of places that would be of interest to the people attending the conference and you can use this to link out. These could include historical landmarks, coffee shops, breweries, restaurants and more.
3. Speak at local schools
Another great way to get your name out there is by speaking to a group of college students. You don’t have to lecture for hours, a 30 minute engagement is enough. Additionally, you could get a link from the events page, course or even a lecturer page. This links may be state or city themed, helping to promote your local business.
4. Regional directories
Regional directories provide information about businesses in your particular region. If you run a local business in Brooklyn, you could list your business on the New York business directory.
5. Industry directories
If you are in the service industry, for example digital marketing, you’ll find different directories. Some are free and others require payment. What’s great about industry directories is that they have lots of traffic and other niche businesses could link back to you when they search on the directories.
6. Local directories
When directories are mentioned, a lot of people are quick to dismiss them citing irrelevance. Local directories can still help with your local business’ SEO efforts. Every city has a directory that lists information of local businesses in all industries. You can find directories by searching your city name, the type of business you operate and the directory. Getting your business listed with local directories is an excellent way to get valuable links as search engines value and more so trust their information. Renowned directories include Yellow Pages, Yelp and Manta. For instance, TempaGoGo, an online temp recruitment marketplace, successfully used local directories to generate hundreds of quality backlinks.
7. Career and job pages
As a business owner, you are likely to expand and grow as your brand expands. A great way to acquire links is to have a careers page on your site. These sections are most appealing to .edu sites and can be an awesome link building resource.
8. Sponsoring local charities and events
Giving back to the community is not only fulling, it can also add value to your local SEO efforts. You can support nonprofits, high school athletics, activism groups or even auctions. These organizations mention their sponsors and will link out to your site. Some sites will put a company’s logo.
9. Interview an expert in your niche
Another great way to acquire links is by interviewing a famous person in your niche. It doesn’t have to be the likes of Apple’s CEO, but someone well known in your field. Remember to only ask relevant question that no one has asked before. This will get people flooding to your site to know what the person said during the interview.
10. Create a community resource page
For business owners struggles with their local link building strategies, creating a community resource guide or page is one way to interact with people locally. The resource pages could be a guide to cultural attractions, must visit spots, best coffee shops in the city or things to do. You could also create a map of local outdoor attractions, Wi-Fi hotspots and notable sites.
11. Guest blogs
One of the most inexpensive, yet effective ways to acquire links for your local business is by guest blogging on local sites. Look for a trusted local website and find out if you could write a blog as a guest contributor. Avoid reaching out to different sites to only get links. Build a relationship and with time, they will be happy to link back to your site.
