Link Building Tips for Small Businesses in Northampton

It’s not easy to build links. Most companies are aware of the difficulties even with an SEO in-house team. No doubt, many small business owners would have second thoughts tackling such a task. 

However, size doesn’t matter in link building as long as you’re willing to put the time and effort. Also, since your resources are limited, you’ll want to ensure that all these efforts pay off. 

Here are seven tips that can help your business.

1.   Provide support to your local community

Are there charitable organisations in your town? Perhaps you can sponsor or host one of their fundraising events. It doesn’t have to be traditional charities. Schools and for-profit events are also acceptable. Virtually any group that needs a sponsor is a prospective backlink candidate.  

You shouldn’t sponsor something for the sole purpose of obtaining a simple link. Instead, support a cause that will appeal to your target audience. Remember, earning links is useless unless they can generate traffic.

It’s an option that will require money, but it entails less effort compared to other link building strategies. You don’t necessarily need a strong relationship with the event organisers or have to persuade them into providing you with a link. Simply set up your event and naturally benefit from the links that you’re going to produce.

This is a tactic not covered by most SEO services. Northampton business owners, however, can consider community sponsorship as part of their local SEO. 

2.   Make connections with bloggers in your community

It’s normal to run out of new ideas when writing content for your blog. Fortunately, local and niche bloggers can fill the content gap. Consider reaching out to these people by following them on social media or subscribing to their blogs. Comment or re-share their pieces and build a sincere relationship with these writers. First, however, pay attention to what these people are writing and check if it makes sense to include your business.

For example, if you offer accounting services, it makes sense to connect with personal finance bloggers.

Don’t forget that the primary purpose is to share pieces that provide value to your customers. So contact bloggers who can influence your audience through their content.

Since finances are generally limited, it’s better to connect with smaller bloggers or micro-influencers. Their reach may be limited, but their niche focus makes the backlinks more relevant to your website. 

 3.   Offer scholarships

College scholarships are a great way to obtain those .edu backlinks that are relevant to your company.

For example, if you’re an accounting practice in Northampton, you can ask students to write essays or blogs regarding the benefits of your services.

Afterwards, you can connect with the school financial aid offices and ask them to share the content with the students.

You’ll undoubtedly need a budget. However, it’s an effective link building campaign that also helps the students in the process. Limit the scholarship to the local region where your business is operating or match it to a college or university that’s relevant to your industry.

Once you have selected the lucky institution or students, you can produce a press release with the potential backlinks. 

4.   Write guest posts for industry-related websites

Many SEO experts recommend this strategy because it’s very useful for link building. However, it’s a strategy that requires more effort than most of the tactics in this article. Here are the steps you need to take.

•       Search for websites willing to accept guest posts
•       Contact the website editors or owners
•       Come up with a compelling topic
•       Be persuasive when you pitch in the topic
•       Write the blog or article

The guest posts provide more than backlinks. If your guest article lands on a website that potential customers go to, it will drive traffic to your site. In addition, the byline will improve your site’s status and brand as an industry expert.

Small business owners may have difficulties pitching their guest posts with popular and big websites. You can instead propose the blogs to smaller sites but still relevant to your industry. 

If you’re a local accounting firm, for instance, write about your pieces, but pitch them to personal finance blogs with a dedicated and engaged audience. You’ll obtain better results than with giant publishers, such as the Financial Times. 

You can also offer guest posts to your business partners. The trick is to create a blog that provides value to readers without appearing too ‘salesy’. Write the piece in a way that makes it natural for them to visit your website and contact you.

For example, your accounting office could partner with a real estate agent. That real estate agent can write a guest blog that offers advice regarding the taxes involved in the transaction. 

5.  Provide case studies or testimonial

Ironically, many SEO professionals don’t use this easy link building tactic. For example, you can offer a testimonial or take part in a case study regarding the use of accounting software.

However, don’t do this for the link, but only for brands that you trust. Contact your vendor and let them know how their product has helped you. 

6.   Return to your unlinked mentions

Now, this is the easiest link building tactic available to you. It’s a shame not to take advantage of it. If a website mentions you or your business but without a link, consider reaching out to them.

You already have an attentive audience. This makes it easier to request a link to your site, and their audience will know more about you. 

7.   Content promotion

You have written the blogs and shared it on your website and social media. However, that’s not enough. There are many online sites, such as LinkedIn or Medium, where you can syndicate your content. Their massive size and influence make it easier for you to rank with your target keywords. You can also share links to your blogs through online message boards, such as Slideshare or Quora.

Monitor the threads that are relevant to both your business and industry. Provide value to all your responses to showcase your business knowledge. Afterwards, you can then point them to your website, which contains more information.

Do this tactic regularly, and your brand will soon be regarded as an authority in your industry. 

Take Away

Link building is an SEO strategy that works for even small businesses in Northampton. It works so well that you can even outrank and outsell bigger competitors in your area or region. Since your resource is limited, you need to ensure that any link building tactic you implement is well worth the effort. Start with the easiest ones or the most likely to succeed first. If it’s not enough, you can work on the next tactics on the list. 

At Springhill Marketing, link building is just one of the many strategies we use to help our clients rank well on Google and other major search engines. Our team of highly experienced SEO and link building experts can create a digital marketing blueprint tailored for your business. Speak with us today to get started.