Those who are new to building websites for their business may not know that there are both right and wrong ways to go about getting traffic to their sites. If you want to build a great site for your local business, the best – and only – way to go about it is through what are commonly referred to as white hat SEO strategies for local audiences. Here is some information that can significantly improve your website by using white hat link building tips for local businesses.
The Difference between White Hat and Black Hat
If you are unfamiliar with the terms ‘white hat’ and ‘black hat’ when it comes to SEO link building, just think of it in terms of those old westerns we still see on television. The good guy always wears the white hat and rides a white horse while the bad guys wear black. Bringing this imagery forward, Google can be seen as the sheriff that will arrest the black hats whenever they are spotted. If you are looking to build rank and improve your local business’ visibility and traffic, stick with the good guys. Google won’t list the bad guys and that’s what you need to know.
Ranking for Competitive Keywords – Is It Necessary with Local SEO?
No matter where you turn on the Internet, you will always hear that SEO is all about ranking for those keywords with just the right amount of competitiveness for your market. However, this doesn’t always work for local SEO because those keywords are targeting a much larger global audience. You would use keywords within content posted on other sites that link back to yours. For local SEO, you may want to contact a company that specializes in finding locally competitive keywords and other ways to build links back to your site. Local SEO providers are experts in search engine optimization and even more so in optimizing your site for keywords that will work in your local market.
Finding the Best Backlinks for Your Local Market
If you are looking for a way to build great links back to your site, the best way to do so is to scope out the competition and then do a comparative analysis. Are they getting higher rank and more traffic than your site? If so, take a serious look at the keywords they are ranking for in their backlinks and those are where you could begin your challenge for the market share. A local SEO provider will also try to find businesses within your community that will be happy to share a link to your site. Have you considered joining the local Chamber of Commerce? They list links to member sites and that is a really good place to start.
Remember, if you are looking to build a huge amount of foot traffic to your local brick and mortar location by utilizing online methodology, stick with methods approved by Google and not in competition with a global audience. A local SEO provider can help you rank (and of course build traffic) in your local market and the cost is more than compensated by the increase in your ROI. The point to leave you with here is that if you are doing business locally, use local links that utilize approved (white hat) techniques.
