Optimize Your Website – Part Two: Building Local Links.

OK it is time to get in the pool and I know it is almost November and it is really “Novemburrrr” for parts of the country but here in our design studio in Phoenix we have the windows open and enjoying the wonderful morning. By the pool I am referring to the pool of knowledge regarding how to build credible links to your website and not resort to buying 1,000 links on Fiverr.com for $5.

While we do have some clients out of state most of our web design, social media management and video production clients are local. So for us the importance of local link building is critical. When you start to drill down into the subject of local link building and how to do it, there are some obvious results.

Join: Check out the local Chambers of Commerce in the area. They usually will let you attend a few meetings for freebefore putting the squeeze on you to join. Just don’t join because they ask you, really take a look at the quality of the membership, number attending and the general vibe you get from the leadership.

Also meetup.com is a good place to sort out the many networking groups in the area. These local organizations and groups will usually link to your website from theirs and this will assist the search engines in qualifying you as a trusted local resource.

Post: Use the resources that you most likely use every day and that is social media. I use what I call the ‘Trinity: Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn and within these communities there are search functions which will help you connect with like minded folks who if asked nicely might agree to linking to your site.

Let me say something here are reciprocal linking: BE CAREFUL. Google has caught on to link trading and if your URL ends up on a link farm then you could be banded from ever showing up on a results page. The only thing to do then is the Nuclear Option.

Ask: If you live in a metro area I am sure there are thousands of great local sites and blogs that you can tap into. Many times all you have to do is ask. Remember that if you link back to them or mention their website in one of your posts then this helps them too. Search engines like local links and this will further establish that local relevance that they search for. Visit these sites, read their blog posts (this is critical – don’t fake it) and make intelligent comments with links back to your site.

If their site seems to have a decent following then offer to write guest post for them. Bloggers do go dry and it is nice to have an informative guest post to go to when their deadline is at hand. To find more sites then you need just Google the name of your city or zip code with the word blog.

Submit: Get your site listed in directories by searching for your city and the word directory and if that is too many then narrow the focus by using zip code or geographical quadrant. Every site that you visit you should leave a comment and a link back to your site. Review sites like Yelp are amazingly helpful and there are many others too.

My last comment is that many gurus have said that “Content is King” but I disagree. Content that is garbage will produce rotten results. Great content rules but relationships are King. You build those relationships by writing and posting authentic content that will attract attention and that people will want to link to, repost and retweet. You do that at the search engines will be parked at your door.

Now if you think this is some usable information why not share it with others or put a link to it on your Face Book or Twitter page.

Love to hear your thoughts on this so leave a comment below.