Unlike general link-building tactics, location has more impact on local link-building. Therefore, you need to get links from local sites which have locational relevance to your website.

In this post, I’ll be showing you 6 ways to find solid local link prospects that will help you rank higher on Google.

How to build local links

Since the goal is to drive more local traffic to your site, here’s how you can improve your ranking with local links.

1. Join your niche-relevant business association

One of the best ways to build local links is through niche backlinks. Niche backlinks are like targeted advertising. They help you reach your target audience and convert them in no time. You can get these kinds of links by joining your niche-relevant business association.

Conduct a targeted search for legitimate business association sites in your city on Google or any other search engine. This is because they have authority and the right local relevance.

Let’s consider the previous example of a pastry chef. To find relevant associations in your niche, type California chef association on Google. With an SEO tool, you’ll see the SEO metrics for each domain and page within the SERP. If you visit the page of any of the listed associations, you’ll realize that they do have URLs with outbound links to their members’ sites.

In the USA, there are trade associations that negotiate with the government, and unions to provide members benefits. These associations have insane link values because they have links to government sites. Becoming a member of one of these associations through an application or subscription can help you get the needed backlinks.

2. Valuable, meaningful guest posts on local websites

One of the best off-page SEO tactics to win high-quality backlinks is guest posting.

What you need to do is to source for local sites in your niche that you can pitch to.

Let’s say you’re a pastry chef, you can use an SEO tool to search through several pages of content. Then you filter prospects by their SEO metrics.

Target those local websites with food and pastries blog posts as they’re likely to accept a guest post pitch.

Afterward, set a word count filter to show pages with at least 500 words along with a domain rating filter. This process will reveal the sites that have reasonable website authority.

With the few blogs left, you can start pitching for a guest writing opportunity. Consider pitching blogs by sending a direct email to the editor.

3. Generate backlinks from social media

Social media is not only to showcase your product but also enhance your website’s visibility. The truth is, with social media, you can generate as many local backlinks as possible by using your profile.

This process involves adding links to your social media profiles, pages, and groups.

Let’s consider Twitter as an example. Statista reported that Twitter had 7.1 billion website visits worldwide this year. The United States currently has the most Twitter users of 77.75 million users. And states like California and Florida are in the top ten of active Twitter users. Then let’s say you’re in California, you’ll be lucky to get enough clicks.

With the statistics above, it’s clear that you can get a good number of backlinks on this microblogging platform by setting up a decent profile.

One of the most suitable places to get backlinks on Twitter is your bio and website field.

Do you know that your profile has an actual field for your website? It does and with its over 100-character bio space, you can share your link in both places. The benefit of having your site link on your bio is not only to appear straight to your profile visitors but also to show up in Twitter search results.

Sites like Klout help to elevate your Twitter bio information but unlike Twitter, it’ll only hyperlink website links with http://.

Other places to include your site link is your photo and video tweets.

4. Local resource page link building

This is one of the most popular link-building tactics that have been around for a while.

Resource page link building is the practice of getting your site featured on web pages that link out to useful industry resources.

Here are some examples of resource pages.

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These are good resource pages because they link out to other related web pages.

To build links with this tactic, you must create a resource that will be of huge value to your local community (shopping guide, travel guide), then you find relevant resource pages. Search for websites with decent domain-level authority. Then visit the pages to check for external links to other websites. After you’ve reviewed the sites based on SEO metrics, scan the remaining prospects and reach out to suggest your resource. For example, Amit Raj got a link for a seafood business from a local university with a resource page.

5. Consider your top organic competitors’ backlinks

The idea behind this is to find backlinks that help your competitors rank well on Google. You’ll need to find common links between your competitors and reach out to those sites. Search for competitors in your niche that are within your city. Then gather a list of those websites domains using SemRush or Map Pack.

Ensure you’re dealing with your real business competitors’ sites and not directories.

Use a tool like Ahref backlinks tool or SEO spyglass to see websites that are linking to your competitors but not you. Look through the lists of sites and you’ll be able to find enough link-building opportunities.

6. Create content that caters to your local audience

This is another great local link-building opportunity. It involves creating relevant local content for a local audience.

Here, the first thing you should target is getting local keywords. For example, if you’re a pastry chef in California, you may search for the most popular cookie recipe in California.

Use keyword planning and research tools like Google keyword planner or SemRush to get the most popular local search queries.

Then your blog posts should be about local events and activities on a local scale.

It would be best if you also connected to local influencers and bloggers to get mentions from them either on their websites or social media. With this strategy, you can be sure to get local backlinks and clicks within your area. For instance, after reaching out to a local influencer, you can be listed among the top 10 pastry chefs in California, increasing your reach.

Final thought

Now, it’s over to you to put these strategies in place for your local link-building system. Even if the process seems challenging, take it a step at a time. You can’t predict the algorithm but at least you can try to be as creative as possible in building your brand’s SEO.

By using the tactics discussed in this post, start your journey to gaining local relevance and authority in your niche.

Guy Sheetrit is the CEO of Over The Top SEO, an award-winning marketing agency that provides customized SEO marketing solutions for ecommerce, local, and Fortune 500 companies. He can be found on Twitter @guysheetrit.

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30-second summary:

• App marketing is intensely competitive. There are limited channels to market your app but millions of apps to compete with. It’s important to maximize every opportunity.
• Like SEO, App Store Optimization involves keyword research and optimization. App developers have limited space for their keywords and much competition to face. Hence, precision is highly necessary.
• App ads on Facebook are unlike other types of ads. You need Facebook SDK, in addition to the ads manager, to properly track app downloads and engagement.
• Rewards should turn your app users into customers. When done right, incentives can generate social proof and viral loops.
• There is ASO but there’s also app SEO. Content formats such as blogs, podcasts, and newsletters can make your app website/landing page gain higher rankings on search engines.

Your app is competing for visibility with 1.82 million other apps if it’s on Apple’s App Store, or 2.7 million apps if it’s on Google’s Play Store. That’s tremendous competition. 

Marketing your app almost seems a lost cause. But while making your app stand out is indeed a daunting undertaking, it is possible, as long as you apply the right strategies. 

Effective app marketing involves identifying key types of channels for discovery and engagement (app stores, social media, search engines, and in the app itself) and targeting your audience. 

1. App store optimization/landing page optimization 

Newcomers make up only 8% of apps listed on the App and Play store top charts, going by Adjust’s App Trends 2020 Report. Considering that the app store is your app’s main chance, by far, at organic discovery, it need not be said that your App Store Optimization (ASO) must be on point. 

ASO is to apps what SEO is to websites. And both have their similarities, especially in the on-page/off-page strategy dichotomy. And like SEO, ASO begins with improving visibility. 

The first tip to achieve this is to use an attractive name and logo. Those two are the first things users see when they find your app. But before then, you have to make sure people can find it, right? And not just anyone – the right people, your target audience. 

When optimizing your app store listing, what factors must you consider, keeping in mind that app indexing differs between stores?

• App Name/Title: feature relevant keywords to enable the app store algorithm to properly identify and categorize your app. You have 50 characters for this on Play Store while Apple’s App Store also includes a subtitle, for keywords that don’t fit the main title.

• Apple, unlike Google, allows developers to input specific keywords in a private field on its App Store. For Google, you have a short description field (80 characters) and a long description page (4000 characters) which are both public. 
• Include keywords that are relevant to your app and which accurately describe its features, functionalities, and benefits.

That is as much as you can influence your app’s rankings. Other factors, beyond your direct influence, include reviews and ratings, download and uninstall rates, app updates, etc. 

2. Facebook ads strategy 

ASO has its place and you can’t rely on app stores entirely for app discovery. Not if you’re not a big-name brand. Your marketing strategy should tilt more towards the paid, discussed below. As Christian Eckhardt of Customlytics says,

“The likelihood of a user going to a store to browse or discover new apps has declined significantly, compared to the early days of the stores.”

By creating a page on Facebook for your app, you can run ads with custom call-to-actions to gain publicity for your app and increase downloads. Facebook Ad Manager allows you to set an objective for your app: whether you are targeting app installs or app engagement (traffic). Facebook Ads offer a competitive ROI with an average cost-per-install rate of $1.8, compared to Twitter’s $2.53 and Instagram’s $2.23. 

To run ads for your Facebook app,

• First, set up Facebook SDK. This is necessary to optimize your app for mobile ads, though you can still run ads for unregistered apps using the app store URL. 
• Continue setup in the Ads Manager, where you select your target audience, budget, bid, creative format, and other options. 

• Finally, continually measure your ad performance, track engagement data, and gain analytics insights using Facebook SDK and within the Ad manager.

3. Use a rewards system 

This is a strategy that helps you to convert your app users into marketers. Of course, this assumes that you have an app that delivers value to its users. The next step would be to incentivize app engagement. 

In-app rewards that can facilitate engagement include unlockable customization options, discounts, push notifications, in-app currency (points, coins, etc.), vouchers, and other freebies Many apps (especially games) already feature these. But here, motivation is important. What kind of behavior does/should the reward system encourage?

1. Retention 
2. Publicity
3. Reviews

Beyond app retention, your in-app incentives should encourage actions that publicize your app. For instance, you can offer a discount or some other benefit to people who share the app or refer users (using referral codes). We know this works since old research by Google showed that people find new apps through friends and family than by any other means. Likewise, incentivize app users to rate and write reviews of your app on the store. Apart from promoting the goodwill of an app, positive reviews drive up app store optimization rankings, increasing the visibility of your app.

But app retention is important too. Only 32% of users would return to an app at least eleven times, a six-point reduction from last year’s rate. And app stores consider high uninstall rates as signs of a low-quality app. Such an app would get lower rankings and may even be removed from the store eventually. Incentives keep people using the app and create viral loops.

4. Content marketing strategy 

Search engines are a great place to gain publicity for your app. Think about it. Someone hears how great your app is and immediately searches the name, only to find scanty or no relevant results at all. You need a creative and consistent content marketing strategy to convert search engine users. 

You can use a blog to highlight the benefits of your app, inform users of updates, and teach them how to maximize the features of the app. If businesses that blog gain 126% more leads than those that don’t, why not apps? The popular investing app Robinhood’s marketing strategy features a blog where they teach people the basics of investing and finance.

But there is more to blogging than just posting articles. You need to research keywords to find the ones that will help you convert the most. That’s what enables search engines to effectively rank your blog posts. 

In addition, content marketing is not limited to blogging. You may also take advantage of newsletters, podcasts, and YouTube videos, as Robinhood does. Called ‘Robinhood Snacks’, it delivers a daily newsletter with financial news to subscribers (irrespective of whether they use the app or not) and breaks down business stories via podcasts as well. 

Content marketing is broader though. You also need backlinks to rank. And that means getting your app featured on ‘top apps’ listings, external reviews, guest article mentions, all of which should contain backlinks to your landing page. Of course, it need not be mentioned anymore that you need a highly-engaging landing page with a clear call-to-action that takes visitors to the app’s store page.

A simple content marketing checklist for app optimization will look like the following:

• Research ideas that are related to your app and relevant to your audience. 
• Craft topics from these ideas and develop engaging content around them. 
• Use mediums that your audience uses the most. For instance, podcasts are a great idea if you are targeting millennials. 
• Feel free to repurpose content. Your blog post can be repurposed into a YouTube video. You can transcribe a podcast interview and convert it into an article, etc. 
• Always include a call-to-action 

Conclusion

If you implement the strategies discussed above, you can rest assured of steady app growth. However, the most important factor is that the app is indeed valuable. The best apps are those that advertise themselves. But virality does not happen overnight. Its the result of the consistent application of the right strategies.

Guy Sheetrit is the CEO of Over The Top SEO, an award-winning marketing agency that provides customized SEO marketing solutions for ecommerce, local, and Fortune 500 companies. He can be found on Twitter @guysheetrit.

30-second summary:

• To convert bottom-funnel prospects, must combine data-backed remarketing with product experience demonstrations, exclusive offers, and relevant upsell opportunities. The first one determines who you should target while the rest three explain how to target them.
• Dynamic remarketing on (Facebook and Google) allow you to target prospects who have previously visited your website or app with a call-to-action to make an immediate purchase.
• Product demos, customer reviews, testimonials, etc. work best when they are personalized, showing how your product can help a prospect overcome similar problems that they may be facing.
• Use special offers and discounts as last-minute nudges to convert prospects.
• Pre-purchase cross-selling/upselling can work well if you apply non-aggressive strategies.

The toughest prospects lie at the bottom of the marketing funnel. The lowest rung is the stage where prospects take the action of conversion. That makes it a hot battleground. At that stage, the prospect is already aware of all their options. Marketing to them is a matter of conviction, giving the last nudge that leads them to make a purchase decision in your favor. There are no sales if you can’t convert bottom-funnel prospects.

Source: Pixabay

The further down the funnel a customer goes, the more you should position your product as the utmost solution that they need. For this, you must combine remarketing with product experience demonstrations, exclusive offers, and relevant upsell opportunities. The first one determines who you should target while the rest three explain how to target them. 

1. Remarketing/Retargeting ads 

The entire idea behind remarketing is to recapture the interest of brand-aware sales prospects and convert them the next time around. It’s the perfect BOFU strategy, and it works best for ecommerce stores. It’s not as easy as it seems, though. BOFU remarketing should aim at straightforward conversion and not just to make the prospects learn more. 

For instance, if you have an ecommerce site, your retargeting strategy could include a call-to-action with a direct link to check out (if the prospect already has products in their cart) or to quickly add products to their cart (if they had previously only browsed your store). Those are called dynamic ads by Facebook (or dynamic remarketing by Google) and used by many ecommerce stores to display ads that include products that people have viewed on their website or app. 

Source: Facebook Dynamic Ads formats

When setting up remarketing ads with Google Display Network or Facebook Ads Manager, you can set goals based on actions you want customers to take, such as buying on your website or calling your business directly (customers may require support to complete a purchase, particularly in B2B marketing). 

2. Demonstrate implementation

The BOFU is your ultimate chance to argue your case for your product and show, not just why it’s better than its competitors, but primarily how it can help the prospect. 

In displaying testimonials and video demos, personalization remains sacrosanct. Show each prospect a review or a demo that matches their particular needs. This works best if you have previously collected some information about the prospect (at the TOFU and MOFU stages). 

If your product addresses customers across multiple industries, for instance, display industry-specific use cases, demos, customer stories, and reviews. A prospect will be more encouraged to convert when they see how your product has helped other people who had similar needs to theirs. You must show them. 

Source: A Hubstaff demo video runs on its landing page

Mind you, demonstrating implementation for B2B products is not limited to content. It can also come as an offer for consultation. Consultations allow you to collect valuable data and understand your prospective customer while also giving you a direct chance to break down how your product helps them solve their specific problems in a way that online ads can’t.

3. Offer a discount or special offer

BOFU marketing aims to make a prospect at the decision stage one irresistible offer that tilts the balance of their conviction towards your product. Special offers can help you achieve this. For instance, offering free delivery or free installation when your competitors charge for the same service may win you many more customers/clients than otherwise.

Customers love discounts. According to the 2020 Valassis Consumer Intel Report, 60% of customers claim that coupons lead them to try new products while 53% admit that coupons can make them choose a brand they would typically not patronize. More so, 72% prioritize saving money by using coupons/discounts. 

Source: Valassis

While incentivizing prospects to make a purchase is perhaps the most common strategy, it’s not always effective. Especially during times like the holiday season when there is no shortage of discounts. You need a distinct plan to get ahead and convert bottom-funnel prospects. 

Discount pricing is not just about throwing offers around indiscriminately. It requires careful strategizing. To make discounting successful, you need to know the kind of special offers that work for your audience best. A/B testing comes in handy here. It can help you determine if free shipping works better than, say, a 10 percent discount or a freebie for your audience. 

4. Pre-purchase cross-selling or upselling

It seems counterintuitive to offer a prospect an additional (even more expensive) item when they are not yet convinced to purchase the main product. Marketers usually wait until a lead is converted before upselling to them. Pre-purchase cross-sells/upsells are tricky, which is why many marketers avoid them, you don’t want to scare off an already convinced customer by asking them to shell out more money for an expensive addition. On ecommerce websites, pre-purchase cross-sells/upsells are usually displayed on the product page, cart page, or checkout page. 

Doing it right requires tact. Pre-purchase cross-sell/upsell opportunities must be:

• Relevant – They work best with complementary products.
• Easy to turn down – You want to appear as non-aggressive as possible to avoid turning your prospects off.
• Easy to accept – When a prospect is only one click away from conversion, extending the process may make you lose the prospect. Ecommerce companies are now opting for one-click upsells that add no extra step to the purchase journey.

See the examples below. Both are cross-selling/upselling offers for relevant products. While the first one elongates the purchase process but makes declining very easy, the second one is more optimized with its one-click checkout options either way.

Source: DigiSmoothie

Source: Zipify

Conclusion

Creativity matters more than intensity when you aim to convert bottom-funnel prospects. It’s all about the nudge. That’s the time to make use of all the information you have gathered about the prospect throughout their customer journey to determine what moves them. Perhaps a 5% discount would work for a certain class of your audience, while another demographic must be convinced via video demos. It all boils down to the type of product you are offering and the type of audience you are trying to convert.

Guy Sheetrit is the CEO of Over The Top SEO, an award-winning marketing agency that provides customized SEO marketing solutions for ecommerce, local, and Fortune 500 companies. He can be found on Twitter @guysheetrit.