Local SEO
Local link building, done as local authority work
Google says prominence is part of how local results are ranked, and it names links to your website as one of the inputs. Local link building is how those references get earned. The awkward part is that a good share of what gets sold under that name falls inside Google's own definition of a link scheme. We work on relevance and standing in your market instead of volume.
Earned, or bought
Google publishes a list of what it treats as a link scheme. It is short, specific and worth knowing before you hire anyone, because the tactics on the right of this table are still sold every day as local link building.
None of this makes paid promotion wrong. A sponsorship is a normal thing for a local business to do. The rule is that the link is qualified, so it is not read as a payment for ranking.
Links given because a page is useful
Buying or selling links for ranking
Local press covering something real
Excessive link exchanges
Partner, supplier and association pages
Automated link building programs
Sponsorships marked sponsored or nofollow
Paid advertorials with unqualified links
Community pages you are genuinely part of
Low-quality directory and bookmark links
What is included
The authority work, by scope
- 01
Competitive authority analysis
Who already has standing in your market, where it came from, and which of it is reachable for you.
- 02
Local content strategy
Pages worth referencing. Nothing gets linked to if there is nothing there to link to.
- 03
Citation opportunities
Listings that belong to your trade and your area, coordinated with the citation work rather than duplicated.
- 04
Mention and link opportunities
Specific, named places a reference could reasonably come from, with the reason it would be published.
- 05
Industry-relevant opportunities
Suppliers, manufacturers, trade bodies and partners already connected to the business.
- 06
Local relevance strategy
How the whole set adds up to a business that looks established in one market rather than scattered across the internet.
Prominence is broader than links
Google describes prominence as how well known a business is, and names links to your website, your review count and your review score among the inputs. Read that as one idea rather than three tasks. A business that is genuinely part of its market tends to pick up all of them.
So the work is not a hunt for anchor text. It is finding the places where your business already has a real connection, and making sure those connections exist publicly. Association membership, supplier pages, community involvement, coverage of something you actually did.
Reviews are the other half of the same picture, and they have their own page in reputation management.
Source: Google Business Profile help, how local results are ranked.
Where local references actually come from
Almost always from something the business is already doing. The job is noticing it and making it public.
Trade and professional bodies
Membership pages
Directories of members that exist for the trade. Relevant by definition, and usually already paid for.
Chambers and business groups
Local membership
The same idea, anchored to a place instead of an industry.
Local press and community media
Coverage of something real
Coverage follows events, not requests. An expansion, a hire, a piece of community work or a genuine local story.
Suppliers, manufacturers and partners
Dealer and partner listings
If you are certified to install a product or stock a brand, the manufacturer often already has a page for that.
Sponsorships
Teams, events and charities
Legitimate and normal. The link should carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", which keeps it honest without costing you the visibility you actually sponsored for.
What we will not do
Buy links
We do not buy links, sell links, or place paid links without the sponsored or nofollow qualification Google asks for. That holds even when a competitor is getting away with it.
Promise placements
Specific rankings and third-party placements cannot be guaranteed. Somebody else decides whether to publish, mention or link to you, which is exactly what makes the reference worth something.
Local link building questions
How is this different from citation work?
A citation is a record of your business details, and it is judged on accuracy. A link is a reference someone chose to publish, and it is judged on relevance. Listing cleanup and consistency are handled on the local citation management page.
Do you buy guest posts or paid link insertions?
No. Google's spam policies name buying links for ranking and paid advertorials with unqualified links as link schemes. Where a placement genuinely is paid, such as a sponsorship, the link should carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
How many links will I get?
Nobody can tell you that honestly, because the decision belongs to the person publishing. We work on the opportunities that exist in your market and your trade, and we report what was actually earned.
Does a big national website beat a small local one?
Not automatically. Google describes local prominence in terms of how well known a business is, and a reference from a trade association or a local organization in your market can say more about that than a general mention somewhere larger.
Related work
See what authority you already have
Take the free growth assessment. We will look at your market, your competitors and the references your business could reasonably earn, then tell you where to start.