How Inbound Links Can Help Build Local SEO?

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What are Inbound Links?

You get an inbound link when another website links up with you. In SEO parlance, it’s an indicator of content quality/relevance.
A high number of links to your site increases your chances of showing up high on search engine results. These links, however, should be from reputable websites operating in your niche.

10 Ways in Which Inbound Links Help Local SEO

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1. By Impressing Google

Backlinks tell search engines that others find your content worthy of linking up. Since Google prioritizes quality, this validation encourages it to rank you high.
Not all backlinks will promote your website; some can severely harm you. That’s because search engines have a strict backlink-quality policy. So, if you try to beef up your link profile through link mills, you will attract 'manual action'.
Have a look at this manual action penalty email from Google.
Google's manual action can push your pages down to the bottom of SERPs, leading to a complete loss of revenue.
Note: You may also get penalized if dubious websites link up with you without your knowledge. So, check your link profile once in a while.

2. Building Your Authority

The web holds tones of content for almost every query. And they might appear equally important to Google as they all contain keywords. So, Google turns to human validation to find the best content; this validation is in backlinks.
The more unique backlinks you get, the higher your authority becomes. Think of it as your article getting cited in a research paper. The more citations you get, the more accepted your work is.
You can assess your chances of getting ranked high through the Domain Authority (DA) score. DA is a metric developed by Moz.

3. Increasing Your Traffic

Backlinks are a great way to boost your local SEO. Not only do they help you rank high on organic search, but they can also get you on the prestigious three-pack.
The Google map pack is a set of three businesses shown to the user in a separate section atop a SERP.
Have a look at this local 3-pack section from Google for “Interior designers in Houston”.
Each business name will be accompanied by:

• Star rating
• Location
• Time of opening
• Time of closing
• Distinguishing features

Businesses with physical presence engage in tight competition to get on this list. That’s because users are more likely to click on one of these three packs than to scroll down to the organic result.

4. Making Connections

Jack, the plumber, is quite famous in his locality. Not only does he do a fantastic job, but he also shares his expertise through blog posts and short videos.
The quality of his content is such that local hardware shops have linked up with him. This has given Jack a reservoir of local link juice.
Now, Jack knows who all are linking up with him. He, too, links up with other plumbers, shops, and allied businesses. This mutual respect and reciprocity have created a strong link profile for Jack. And that profile keeps him atop all searches for plumbers from his locality.

5. Being a Reliable Ranking Signal

The 1998 study explaining Google's algorithm listed links as a key ranking signal. Twenty-three years and a thousand updates later, it banks on backlinks.
This indicates that backlinks are here to stay, and their importance won’t wane. It means investment to gather backlinks won’t be subject to the vagaries of updates.
But keep in mind that the links you earn:

• Originate from an authoritative website
• Has your target keyword in the anchor text
• Are you relevant to topics covered on your page

Have a look at this link pointing to a website from USAtoday.com
Pro Tip: Getting a quality backlink improves your traffic two ways:

• By improving your local and organic SEO
• Through referral traffic

6. Attracting More Backlinks

Getting quality backlinks will attract more backlinks. That's because every time you get a top blog or website to link up with you, your authority increases.
With you firmly established as an authority in your niche, people link up with you. And you don't even have to ask them to do that! Yes, the links you thus get may not be very good quality-wise. But they indeed give you a boost to your overall link profile.
Have a look at the backlink profile of a news website from SEMrush - Huffpost.com
Obtaining backlinks will also increase your Domain Rating. More on that soon!

7. Making You More Visible

Apart from signaling your content quality, backlinks also make your content visible. This is by helping Google find you and index you.
You see, public queries make search engine crawlers revisit popular websites. Once these crawlers are on the page, they will run through the content in search of relevancy.
For example, here in this screenshot, as you see, there is an external link from Gizmodo to Cloudflare. This will help search engine crawlers to visit their website and index their content.
Similarly, If you have a backlink from this website, the crawler might pick you up, indexing you. This will help your local as well as global SEO efforts.

8. Being a Trusted SEO Technique

Link building is an effective way to boost your SEO and place your website on Google's Local three-pack. Link building mostly entails creating high-quality content, complete with media elements and infographics.
The creation of the content should be followed by aggressive marketing. You can reach out to reputable websites in your niche through Emails and social media.
If you don’t know who to contact, conduct a competitor analysis to see who links with your top contender.
High-quality content and targeted marketing alone can spearhead your SEO efforts.

9. Offering Brand Recognition

Backlinks that carry your brand name as anchor text can enhance brand recognition. Here's how.
Reputable websites with quality content get thousands of visits daily. Suppose a site links up with you and uses your brand name as anchor text. Users start associating the subject of the content with your brand.
For example, Jack the plumber has a website on which he posts DIY hacks that are quite popular. This prompted a popular tool maker in Jack’s locality to link up with Jack.
As such, those reading the tool maker's content will see Jack’s name as well. So, the users start associating Jack with whatever the topic is in that content.

10. Improving Metrics

We have already discussed DA, but that’s not the only metric backlinks influence. Ahrefs’ Domain Rating (DR) is another great metric to help your SEO efforts.
Every website has a DR score on a scale of 0-100. The higher the score, the more link juice it will transfer to your website. By obtaining high-DR links, you improve your score, increasing your worth.
Another metric is the URL rating (by Ahrefs). This score, measured on a scale from 0 to 100, varies from page to page. A higher score denotes a robust link profile to the page.

Simple Tips to Gain Local Links for Your Website

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1. Develop an Outreach Program

Remember how Jack developed relationships with related product/service vendors in his area? You can take a leaf out of his outreach program.
For example, suppose Jack often visits households not having rainwater harvesting structures. Now, Jack, as you know, has his blog attached to his website.
He makes posts on topics he encounters daily during his work. So, he wrote an article on the importance of rainwater harvesting structures.
Soon, a local business that installs rainwater harvesting structures shot him a link. This gave a decent link juice booster.

2. Be on the Ground

Gaining local backlinks isn't always an online task. Sometimes, you need to invest on-the-ground efforts to build your local link profile. Here are a few tactics:

• Advertise: If that popularity becomes backlinks, you need to put the word out. One great way is to advertise in your local newspaper.
• Sponsor events: Sponsor a sports club, charity fare, or rights awareness program. These are gestures that put you in good stead with the community.
• Use your alma mater: Now, Jack the plumber is the local high school alumnus. His success is such that he has gained a link from the school. That’s a .edu link!

3. Do Competitor Research

You can always ask someone about the websites linking with them. But while a few might part with that secret, a lot won’t. That's when competitor research comes into focus. Use any of these tools.

• Semrush: It has over 30 tools that you can use on your competitors. These include link profile, cash keywords, and traffic to pages.
• BuzzSumo: It can give you insights into your competitor’s content. You can generate content similar to that on URLs with great backlinks.
• Ahrefs: Go to its Site Explorer and paste the link to your competitor. You will get a detailed picture of their link profile and strategies.

Have a look at this competitor research analysis from Ahrefs.

4. Create Great Content

There might be hundreds of thousands of pieces of content out there in your niche. But there is always room to improve. If you want to ply this path, here is a strategy.
The Skyscraper Method
This strategy is simple: Find the highest quality content. Write content better than that. This might sound intimidating, but you will find an aspect or two that you can explain better on analysis. That itself is an improvement.
You can now run a competitor analysis and reach out to link providers of your competitor. You can tell them what a better piece of content you have!
For example, See how this post from Ahrefs about Skyscraper Method has gained a lot of links from other websites.

5. Make use of Social Media Platforms

If used wisely, social media platforms can give your websites high-quality backlinks. To explain how this works, let’s return to our good friend Jack.
He hasn’t ignored any of the major social media sites. On Facebook, for example, he has a business page on which he posts videos of him in various situations.
These videos have a high viewership (thanks to Jack’s professionalism!). So, Jack has decided to put his website’s link on his page, inviting users to visit and view/read more great stuff. This has earned him a high-authority backlink. Let’s take a cue from Jack!
Let’s take LG, for example. See how LG has added a link to their website from Facebook.

6. Obtain Links From Directories

Online directories play an important part in a buyer’s journey. Many users head to search engines to find businesses offering the products/services they need. And online directories are a great resource. They collect information about such businesses to help you collate them.
For example, Jack’s website has found a place in the local directory of plumbers and electricians. It was an easy catch as the director didn’t hesitate to list him on their website. Also, many pre-qualified leads will come to your site as referral traffic.
Have a look at this backlink from the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce to a plumbing website.
Pro Tip: You can use any of these tools to find directories specific to your industry:

• Google advanced search tool
• SEMrush
• Ahrefs

7. Tap into Influencer Marketing

With the rise of YouTube and Instagram, influencer marketing has taken off. Channels or websites of these influencers often boast hundreds of thousands of subscribers. So, how can you get a piece of their popularity?
Read: YouTube SEO Techniques to Get Increasing Video Views
Here’s an example.
Recently, Jack got a mail from a local faucet maker offering him a guest post on different faucets. Jack was impressed by the article shared by the company and decided to agree.
He gave the faucet maker a high-quality backlink from his blog in return for the high-quality content. Isn't that mutually beneficial?
Here’s another example, Take a look at this influencer promoting a beauty product in Instagram

Key Takeaways

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• Gain Inbound link as it is critical to your local SEO efforts
• Backlinks can help you bring in pre-qualified leads
• Local backlinks are essential to rank your website in Google’s Local three-pack
• Create local content appealing to allied businesses
• Use methods like the skyscraper technique
• Tap into influencer marketing
• Make use of your social media pages