In a city of nearly one million people, businesses in Edmonton have stiff competition. What can you do to stand out in a city so diverse and innovative?
Edmonton is one of the fastest growing cities in Canada, so you’ll want your business to keep up. SEO can help with that; it consists of a variety of strategies all designed to increase your website’s ranking in search results.
One pivotal part of any SEO strategy is link building. Just as you can’t visit Edmonton without going to the West Edmonton Mall, you can’t do SEO without building links.
So, what is link building? Put simply, it’s the process of acquiring backlinks from other sites. Each time another website posts a link to your website, it counts as a backlink.
These backlinks act as votes of confidence. They signal Google that your site can be trusted, especially if the site linking to it has a high DA (domain authority).
Backlinks may not be the only ranking factor that Google considers, but they are one of the most important ones. For that reason, you need to focus on link building for your business in Edmonton.
But first, you might be wondering: why is it beneficial to build links? We’re going to answer that, and more, in this article:
The Benefits of Link Building for Local SEO
Now that you know a bit more about link building strategies, you might be realizing how much work goes into this process. Is it worth your time and effort?
In our experience, we have to answer that question with a resounding yes. Here’s why you can’t skip on building links when you’re improving local SEO:
Increases site authority
When Google bots are crawling your website and determining where to rank it, one signal they weigh heavily is authority. A large number of high-quality backlinks increases the credibility of your website, meaning that Google is more likely to rank it on the first page.
Generates more traffic to your website
You’re always looking for ways to attract more users to your website; higher traffic is good for your sales and your site authority.
To illustrate this, let’s say you own an electronics store in Edmonton. If you write a piece of content for an IT support website, your products will be shown to readers who are already interested in technology. This can encourage users to click through to your website, which may result in a sale.
Outranks your competitors
If you’re the only plumber in Edmonton with an outreach and link building strategy, you’ll sail to the top of search results in no time. Building backlinks will make your website more authoritative than other plumbing businesses in Edmonton.
Ways to Build Links in Edmonton
Ready to implement a diverse and effective link building strategy? We’ve put together a few actionable tips you can use:
Write content that other websites can link to
If you establish your website as an authoritative resource on a topic, other sites will take notice. When they write articles about similar subjects, they’ll refer to your articles and include links to cite the source.
To do this, you can post content like:
- Studies. Conduct a mini experiment or survey that provides valuable data to others.
- Infographics. Compile useful information into cohesive and visually appealing graphs, charts, and images. It’s easy for others to share these pictures, and easy for you to get a backlink from them.
- Blogs & long-form content. Writing that is captivating, original, and offers a fresh perspective will catch the attention of others. Not only will it set you apart from other Edmonton websites, but it will inspire others to reference your content.
Before you can expect others to link to your site, you need to post content that’s worth linking to. This will look a little different depending on your industry and branding. A dentist in Edmonton might write blogs about caring for teeth, while an Edmonton graphic designer may choose to share pictures of their work and the inspiration behind it.
Reach out to other high-traffic websites
You don’t want just any link—you want links from websites in your industry that post high-quality content. When you’re vetting which websites to contact, prioritize these three things:
- Quality. Does this website post any link that comes their way? If so, it might look like spam in the eyes of Google. Links from these sites won’t do much to help your rankings. Instead, focus on finding websites that post high-quality, well-researched content.
- Relevance. Look for sites in similar industries to your own. If you reach out to a boating website with a high domain ranking, the link probably won’t be very useful if your website focuses on cosmetic services in Edmonton.
- Authority. The more authority that a site has, the bigger impact a backlink will have on your rankings. What makes a site authoritative? It has to do with the domain age, traffic, and (of course) the number and quality of backlinks it has.
Need Help with SEO?
Running a business doesn’t leave you with a lot of free time. You might not have the resources to conduct the link building strategy that your website needs. That’s what we’re here for.
At First Rank, we offer Edmonton search engine optimization. We’ll take your rankings from zero to hero. You can depend on us for all your content generation, outreach campaigning, and link-building needs.
Jacob Kettner is the owner and CEO of First Rank Inc., a digital marketing agency based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He currently sits on Manitoba Chamber of Commerce Small Business Advisor Council which assists people grow their small businesses in Manitoba.
