I am not a Local SEO expert, but I am friends when some of the worlds best and I’ve still seen my fair share of success ranking family and friends businesses.
Local link building isn’t just about profiles and citations anymore, though they are still a part of it. It’s about dominating hyper targeted SERPs in your city, county, or service radius with link signals that scream “I’m trusted here.”
And that means building local links, aka backlinks from geographically relevant sites, pages, and properties that reinforce your local authority in Google’s eyes.
These aren’t just random links. These are links that move:
- The Map Pack ✅
- Organic Service Keywords ✅
- Local Brand Queries ✅
- CTR and Engagement Signals From Actual Local Users ✅
And as we move closer and closer to AI Overviews being rolled out across 50%+ of SERPs, the strategies I’m about to share for link building for local sites become more and more important!
Let’s go deep into what works now, and how you can build local links without wasting time begging for reviews or submitting your NAP perfectly to 500 outdated directories…
Why Local Link Building is Different
Forget DR and link count for a second, those should always be secondary anyway, but metrics often don’t matter at all.
That’s because local link building is about proximity + authority + trust.
Google now runs on entity recognition, machine learning co-citation patterns, and real world relationship signals. A link from a DR18 city blog that ranks for “best Thai in Bristol” will likely outdo your DR72 national citation in terms of impact and power all day long now.
The takeaway?
Build context.
Local backlinks say:
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This business is known in this community
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Other trusted locals refer to this business
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This site is mentioned in the same neighborhoods as these other brands
Google doesn’t just see links. It sees patterns.
The Best Local Link Building Strategies That Still Work
Here’s how to build links that move your rankings, not just inflate meaningless vanity metrics.
1. Get Featured in Local Roundups (The Easy Wins)
Start with the obvious:
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“Top 10 [Industry] Businesses in [City]”
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“[City]’s Best New [Type of Business]”
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“Family Owned [Industries] in [State]”
If these lists exist already and get updated, then you NEED to be on them! This is especially important as we move more towards AI Overviews.
Find them using Google search footprints like:
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intitle:best [niche] in [city] -
site:[city].gov inurl:resources -
"featured in [city] blog"
Example:
Pitch them.
You don’t need a novel, just a simple email that says:
“Hey, just saw your [post/page] on best [niche] spots in [City]. We just opened up and would love to be considered, here’s our link + what we do + why locals love us.”
Boom. Easy feature. Solid link. High relevance. Long term contributor to your entity + AIOs.
💣 Pro Tip: Use Ahrefs Content Explorer + Geo filters to find hyper-local blogs with low DR but high trust flow.
2. Trade Event Links, Not Just Services
Local often = linkable assets.
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Sponsor a local charity event → get a .org, local news link and a free press release syndication
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Host a community cleanup → get featured by a nonprofit blog
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Provide a discount to firefighters/teachers → get mentioned on city benefit roundups
But here’s the trick…
Instead of just paying and hoping for a link, ask for it, often upfront if you can!
“Can you add us to your supporter page? Happy to include you on our partners list too.”
That’s a safe, contextual swap. Zero spam. Maximum trust.
3. Use Entity Stacking with a Local Twist
Don’t just claim your Google Business Profile.
Build a network of structured local mentions:
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Facebook Page
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Yelp
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Chamber of Commerce
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Better Business Bureau
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Local forums, Reddit threads, Quora answers
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Localized Web 2.0s (WordPress, Medium, Blogger)
Then… interlink them where possible.
That’s a local entity stack.
It’s not just link building, it’s Google trust signaling at scale. You’re reinforcing your business’s name, address, phone, brand, and category across multiple local nodes.
If you want a full run down, I did a video on entity stacking here:
💣 Pro Tip: Use schema markup to include all of these so Google correlates them 100% of the time (you’d be surprised at how bad it is otherwise) – In local you should almost always be using LocalBusiness, Organization, and SameAs.
4. Reverse Engineer Competitor Links (With Local Filters)
Forget guessing, start actively looking at links that have powered competitor success – Especially if you multiple competitors have the same referring domain, it means Google is likely associating it on the linkgraph.
Use Ahrefs or Semrush, plug in your top local competitors, and filter by:
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Dofollow
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DR5–DR50 (the local sweet spot, but higher if you are in major cities like NY/LDN)
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Traffic from your country
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Referring domains that include your city or state
Then go after those exact links! Whether it’s business listings, blogs, .edu , or local business awards, they’ve already been tested and will almost always contribute to your rank.
You don’t have to guess what works, and you should always be trying to build into associations Google has likely already made.
💣 Pro Tip: Create a “Local Link Swipe File” per city you serve. Every time you win a new link? Drop it in there for future re-use across other locations, clients etc…
5. Buy Micro Expired Domains with Local Link Profiles
This is a dirty secret few talk about in local SEO, and it is black hat – Some may not be comfortable with this, but it is a quickfire authority and ranking hack.
Buy expired, dropped or aged/auction domains of former local businesses in the same city, state, country or at least industry.
Then:
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301 them to your homepage
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OR rebuild them as niche microsites → link back
Use tools like:
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Odys (premium but filtered)
What you’re looking for:
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Domains with past links from city blogs, newspapers, .gov, .edu, etc.
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Clean anchor profiles (no pharma or payday)
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Already indexed by Google
This is how you get 10–20 solid geo links in one move.
Warning: Do this strategically, do NOT redirect 10 domains at once! Drip them over time and only if they align with your niche/location.
6. Guest Post for Local Blogs (But Avoid The Obvious)
Most people treat local guest posting like it’s still 2011. They’ll fire off a templated email to a random blog called “[City] Gardening Tips” and beg for a backlink to their landscaping service homepage with an exact match anchor.
Stop that!
If you’re going to land killer guest posts on local blogs, publications, and niche content hubs, then you need to position yourself like a local authority with value to share, not a backlink beggar trying to shoehorn your homepage into an article about community composting…
Step 1: Find Actual Local Publications (Ideally, With Real Readers)
Use search footprints like:
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site:.com inurl:blog "write for us" + [city] -
site:.org inurl:contributors + [niche] + [town] -
"
You’re looking for:
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Real blog content (not product spam or SEO filler)
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Sites ranking for geo keywords
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Posts with comments or shares
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Editorial links (not sidebar or footer junk)
💣 Pro Tip: Use Google’s “Tools” → Past Year filter. Dead blogs = link graveyards.
Step 2: Pitch Smart — Local Angle or Nothing
Don’t pitch generic “5 Tips for [Topic]” crap.
Pitch something like:
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“Why 78% of Homeowners in [City] Are Wasting Money on This Common Plumbing Mistake”
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“How [City]’s Aging Infrastructure Is Driving Demand for Emergency Repairs (And What You Can Do)”
That’s localized topical authority on top of the localized domain, which will contribute a lot more than generic 500 word posts.
But be ready to end up having to pay for 90% of the links, most sites won’t give them out for free anymore – Which is why a lot prefer to use our guest posting service instead.
Step 3: Link Properly (The Right Way to Juice Your Rankings)
When you land the post:
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Link to whichever page you are trying to rank first
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Use branded or partial anchors, not “best plumber + city”
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Add a link to a legit local .gov, .org, or news site for trust padding
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Write a locally anchored author bio that sounds real
Example:
“John Smith is the owner of [Business Name], a [City]-based HVAC company helping locals stay cool during Phoenix summers. Learn more at [URL].”
That’s a trust signal (E-E-A-T) builder.
Bonus: Guest Post Cheat Codes for Scaling Like a Demon
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Use GPT to draft 80% of your article → fill in with real stats and case studies from deep research AI.
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Offer a series of posts, not just one — builds rapport and more links.
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Spin core article ideas across every service city you target.
7. Build Local Lead Magnets (That Others Want to Link To)
Forget infographics.
Create geo specific assets that bloggers and businesses want to link to.
Examples:
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“[City] Small Business Toolkit”
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“[Industry] Safety Checklist for [City] Homeowners”
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“[City] Festival Survival Guide”
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“Map of [City] Dog Friendly Cafés (Updated 2025)”
- “Top 10 Facts About [State]”
And if you can, niche it down even further (landscapers could make posts about trees, leaves, seasonal changes or even locally made chainsaws!)
Then:
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Email the people/places mentioned
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Ask for a share or a link
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Reuse the template in every new city you target
💣 Pro Tip: Build it once, swap out the location. Scale your outreach with merge tags + GPT content personalization.
8. Get Featured in “Local Experts” Pages
You know those pages like:
“Local Experts on Plumbing in Austin”
“Business Coaches in Manchester Worth Listening To”
They exist. Everywhere!
Find them. Pitch them.
Better yet, create them on parasite SEO pages!
Then offer a trade:
“We just featured you in our ‘Top Local Resources for [Niche] in [City]’, any chance we could be included in yours?”
Perfectly safe link exchanges. No shady A↔B footprints. Just local mutual value.
9. Leverage Charity & Nonprofit Mentions
We already talked about charity events, but there’s another way you can get great links too! And this is still one of the easiest .org link wins.
What you do:
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Donate product/service to a fundraiser
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Offer “matching gifts” or “community giveaways”
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Sponsor a local school, PTA, or little league team
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Partner with a shelter, food drive, or church group
Then ask for:
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Link on their partners/supporters page
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Mention in their newsletter
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Shoutout on their events calendar
These aren’t just great links. They’re additional trust signals in your local SEO stack.
Pick the anchors wisely, and depending on where the link is placed, e.g. contextually, go more aggressive but sidebar go 100% branded only.
Make Sure You Track Every Link
One of the most overlooked parts of link building comes after the link is put live; Most people sit and forget it ever happened, moving on to the next one.
Do not be most people… Track your links, see where you got them from, how you got them, how long it took, if the link is still live (VERY IMPORTANT) and routinely review every quarter
Your sheet should look something like this:
I prefer Airtable, but you can use Google or Excel sheets.
Local Link Building = Long Term SERP Control
Now that you have the best strategies, you can begin building a fortress of location relevant authority.
And Google? Google eats it up!
Because local SERPs are no longer just about citations and reviews. They’re about relationships, references, and relevance.
If you control those? You control rankings across that geo, and that can translate out across a lot more than just one business or site.
In fact, I know a lot of business owners that saw so much success from their local SEO strategies that they rolled it out into additional business investments in our industries, or in some cases even went on to open their own agency!
My Final Thoughts on Local Links
Local SEO isn’t about who has the most backlinks, it’s about who has the right ones. The ones that show up on the radar of Google’s local algorithm and scream:
“Hey, this business is known and trusted by actual people in this area.”
You can have 2,000 DR60+ links and still get crushed by a guy with 35 hyper relevant local links from city blogs, .gov pages, church directories, school fundraisers, and mom blogs talking about their cracked driveway.
Because contextual relevancy beats metrics, in local at least!
And here’s the honest truth no one tells you: Most local niches are still WIDE open. Even in 2025, in markets like roofing, plumbing, HVAC, pest control, dental, legal… Most businesses are running on outdated SEO advice, only rank because of the domain age and buy cookie cutter link packs sold by agencies that have never ranked anything remotely competitive.
So if you can execute entity stacking along with even 2 or 3 more of the strategies above, properly, you’ll outpace them. Not by building thousands of links. But by building 100 links that actually matter.
Local link building stacks insanely well with a good review strategy, citations done properly, and consistent branding across all your properties. If you’re not syncing that up with schema + entity stacking + links, you’re missing out on multipliers that make the difference between “ranking” and “dominating.”
