How do you assess the SEO value of a local backlink?

[calmicrobio]

Hi all, I could not find the "backlinks" thread and guess citations is the right place. If not, can someone direct me? Thank you.


How do you assess the SEO value of a local backlink, especially for improving Google Business Profile rankings? For example, if a site is highly relevant and local but has very low traffic, is it still worth paying for? What factors do you look at to decide if the cost is justified?

For Example, the city directly adjacent to my client's home city has a local Chamber of Commerce offers a backlink in their online member directory, but their site only gets about 10 visitors a day. The cost is $275/year. I’m mainly focused on improving my Google Business Profile (GBP) rankings — is a low-traffic but high-trust, hyper-local backlink like this still worth it purely for SEO? This also carries the assumption that I am trying to extend the reach of their GBP to adjacent cities.

BTW - I usually find that chamber of commerce links cost ~$500/year. This is not so much about the price as to understanding what links are worth the spend and how to assess that. I generally do not trust DR of a site without taking look at their own backlink profile and making sure it is not full of junk backlinks. I also will assess top ranking pages and keywords to also similarly assess it is not random sellout junk (eg CBD, casinos, crypto, feet pics, or topics that are unrelated to the site's topics).

 

[fisicx]

@JoyHawkins - whilst links building does still work, you need to have a decent target site to begin with. No point in building links if your site doesn't tick all the boxes.

As an aside, I been ranking sites for years without doing any link building. I've got one niche site that ranks globally. I don't need lots of traffic, one lead per week is sufficient.

 

[calmicrobio]

@JoyHawkins - I have been going through your youtubes under "links" (thank you and there are quite alot). Can you point to the one where you test out the impact of (solely) locally relevant backlinks on GBP rankings?

I saw that you did work on niche relevant backlinks and this primary boosts organic rankings, and less so to local rankings. But I am not clear about the impact of locally relevant links. What would happen when for example, lets say a PI law website gets a link from a dentist site (in the same city) highlighting a page on the PI law site about "recommended dentists in the (city) who can help you after an accident".

 

[JoyHawkins]

Can you point to the one where you test out the impact of (solely) locally relevant backlinks on GBP rankings?

I've done a recent test on this with a big franchise who had us get them local sponsorship links. The results were pretty typical with what we see with link building - the impact to organic results was way stronger than the impact to local pack results.

I have not published a video on it.

 

[fisicx]

What would happen when for example, lets say a PI law website gets a link from a dentist site (in the same city) highlighting a page on the PI law site about "recommended dentists in the (city) who can help you after an accident".

Google would regard this as a manufactured link and probably just ignore it.

However, if the PI law firm wrote a blog post about how one of the partners used the local dentist and wrote a glowing testimonial it might have some value.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Google would regard this as a manufactured link and probably just ignore it.

Are you saying this in theory or have you actually seen sites do this and not get any benefit from it?

 

[fisicx]

Are you saying this in theory or have you actually seen sites do this and not get any benefit from it?

Seen sites do this and not gain any benefit.

Google has a number of patents about assessing the value of a link. The key is about adding value.

A PI law firm would not naturally link to or recommend a single dentist on their website. It's the sort of thing you might discuss with a client. If the PI law firm had a directory of recommend dentists, doctors, opticians, chiropracters, plastic surgeons and so then the links would add value but carry very little weight.

But one link to a single dentist from a blog post without any other links to similar providers stands out like a sore thumb. It feels contrived and probably paid for.

A link from a local doctor to an affiliated dentist would be a much more useful link. And one going in the other direction reinforces the relationship.

 

[Jessica C]

(especially when combined with city page interlinking on the site).

hello! just asking for clarification. when you say this, do you mean you are linking the BBB profile to the city/service page on the website?