The very best link building campaigns out there are only going to be successful in the event that they use proper prospecting. This is really important because it will offer the foundation you need for all that follows, including relationship building and outreach. The SEO specialist needs to always uncover and then vet the best possible opportunities while working on the local backlink building campaign. Always start a citation audit and then use proper strategies to get really good local links that can increase local SEO ranking results. Learning how to improve Google rankings is not as hard as people may think but it is also not difficult.
Prospecting Guiding Principles
Links are never created equal. One is better than another. In local SEO, many of the links that simply look worthless are of an incredible value. Authority will be very important in local SEO rankings. You should not think about Page Rank and Domain Authority as the main factors to consider. Those that are so much more important are connected to how the site is seen in the local scene.
Think about the following when you analyze any backlink opportunity:
- Is the link you receive highly relevant for the niche, industry or locality?
- Will links offer value to the audience?
- Will links make sense when placed on websites?
Where Should You Start Your Research?
The first thing that you have to do is understand what you are building links for. It does not matter if you want local links or simple citations. The relevance of what you get is something that will count a lot. How can you understand if a link is relevant if you do not know details about the site you work on?
Think about the business partnerships that exist, whether or not someone is an alumni of an organization, if donations are done and if there is involvement present in the local community. All these can help you to identify the best possible local link building opportunities.
Find Unlinked Brand Mentions
This is the very first thing that you should consider. It is possible that the business was already mentioned in the past. Find the options and contact the site owners or the editors. They may be willing to add the link without you doing anything except sending an email. There are normally countless such options available. The result is basically an almost immediate set of backlinks that you take advantage of and an increase in local SEO rankings.
Looking For New Linking Opportunities
We are sure that you already know many different ways in which you can find various different linking opportunities. The main idea is to basically keep looking. You want to use every option available from search engines to social media websites.
Make a list of the local businesses that are relevant to your promoted site and check authority rankings. You want to directly contact and see how you can get a link. In some cases you will need to write an article or to offer something in return. Negotiate and you will end up with some pretty wonderful opportunities even when you thought that this was impossible.