A backlink is when one website has a link to another website on their page. Not only do backlinks help drive traffic to your website, but they also are recognized as a recommendation in the eyes of Google from one website to another. When authoritative websites or high-quality websites are linking to your page this can result in boosting your keyword position for particular keywords and increase the likelihood that you show up on the search engine results page (SERP).
If you are a customer with OneLocal, OneLocal leverages Listings Management to ensure your business information is accurate on local business directories and links back to your website. This is a valuable form of a backlink and will help increase your ranking on Google and drive more traffic to your site over time.
If you are interested in also contributing to the strength of your link profile, you can also focus on collecting backlinks from other valuable local sources. As a local business in your community, you likely already have business relationships or partnerships that you could be leveraging in your own community.
Opportunities to think about could include:
Charity organizations you’ve contributed to
Local events you participate in
Any promotional partnerships you may have with other nearby businesses
The vendors you source your materials/resources from
Any business awards or recognition you have received
Your local Chamber of Commerce website
Your local government website
Any nearby educational institutions that you have connections to
Backlinks should be something you are regularly keeping top of mind and leveraging when the opportunity arises. When having the partner website linking your page, we recommend having them hyperlink the business’s name, this will offer the most value.
For example:
OneLocal is a Canadian company headquartered in downtown Toronto.
Please keep in mind that backlinks should only be leveraged in situations that are relevant to your business. If Google recognizes low-quality websites or irrelevant websites linking your page, this can actually have the reverse effect and instead of improving your SEO, it can negatively impact it.
If you have any additional questions related to backlinks or any other SEO strategies, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your dedicated Marketing Specialist! If you are not yet a LocalSEO client but are interested in learning more about this service, you can get in touch with us here: https://www.onelocal.com/book-a-demo/
Happy Backlinking!
An email template is available for you below to help you get started, be sure to fill in the italicized sections (in parentheses).
Subject line: Would you link to our website?
Hi there!
This is (Your Name) and I am the (Your Role, Ie. owner) at (Your Business Name). I am reaching out to you in the hopes of obtaining a backlink from your website! If you aren’t familiar with what a backlink is, it is a link placed on a website that links another website online, Google recognizes these as a sort of “recommendation” for the linked website and it helps with SEO and bringing customers to a website.
I chose to reach out to you because (state why you feel this business is a good fit, are you friends with the owner? Do you have a business partnership in place? Do you actively support/promote their business?). I think this would be a great opportunity for both of our businesses, I would even be happy to have your website linked on my page if you are interested!
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Best,
(Your email signature)
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