Local link building is about securing links from websites in a specific geographical area. Think local newspapers, community blogs, or local event sites.
Securing such opportunities is challenging. There are fewer of them, local business owners aren't used to receiving backlink requests and may not trust cold pitches unless they know you.
But you probably know this already. And that's why you're searching for a local link-building service.
Let me show you three services that can help you get locally relevant backlinks and boost your visibility in local search. You will also discover the most successful local link-building strategies and find answers to frequently asked questions about local link-building.
Let's get to it!
TL;DR
INSERT.LINK is a budget-friendly marketplace with over 50M link opportunities—starting at just $10 per link. Great for small businesses and agencies that need scalable, affordable links fast.
Whitespark and BrightLocal offer done-for-you local SEO services, but they’re pricey and often focus more on citations than true backlinks.
If you want to build links yourself, try:
- Listing in local and niche directories.
- Guest posting on city-specific blogs.
- Contributing to local forums or Reddit threads.
- Sponsoring local events or charities.
- Creating valuable local content, like guides or maps.
Local link building boosts local rankings by signaling trust and relevance to Google.
You can find local backlinks via competitor analysis, citation tools, Google searches, and marketplaces like INSERT.LINK.
Link-building services save time by handling outreach, content, and placements — ideal for resource-strapped businesses.
Costs vary widely — from $10 per link on marketplaces to $1,749/month for premium agency packages.
When choosing a service, look for reviews, relevant link types, transparency, and pricing that fits your budget.
1. INSERT.LINK
Limited opportunities are one local link-building challenge. Limited budgets, averaging $300-$500, are another.
INSERT.LINK solves both.
As a link-building marketplace, it gives you access to a database of 50M+ pages offering link insertions and guest post placements. And the prices start at $10, which is an excellent solution for cash-strapped businesses.
How does it work?
Imagine you run a plumbing business in London.
Start by searching for the keyword and location, so plumbing + london to get a list of relevant pages along with key metrics and price.
As you can see, you get plenty of pages with relevant anchors.
Not all of them are suitable. You want a website from a particular location, after all, so use filters to narrow down the selection to UK websites only with the .co.uk TLD.
If there are still too many opportunities, use the traffic, keyword, and DR/DA/AS filters to further vet the websites, and scan the list manually to pick the most relevant ones, like the business.clickdo.co.uk.
Once you find the website, hit the Buy button.
INSERT.LINK is a new service, but it already has some glowing reviews from satisfied customers, who praise it for:
- High backlink quality
- Responsive and helpful support
- Speed and efficiency (TAT for link insertions is 1-3 days)
- Affordable pricing
- Reliability and consistency
2. Whitespark
Whitespark is a Canadian service specializing in local SEO and link building.
Their services include Google Business Profile optimization, review strategy and management, website SEO and CTR optimization, and link building.
These services come in packages and start at $499 a month, but link building is available only in the most expensive package, costing $1,749 a month. And that's just for one link!
Whitespark uses various link-building tactics, but most come from directories.
In addition, they offer Listings Service, which involves managing your profiles on relevant websites to increase your local footprint. These listings may include links to your website, but don't have to.
Whitespark has some really good reviews on G2 (avg 4.6/5). However, most of these are about their tools, not services. Their citation finder gets particularly good reviews.
3. Brightlocal
BrightLocal is another agency that offers fully managed local SEO services.
They don't offer link-building services as such. Instead, their main focus is on citation building. Again, these citations may include links to the website, but don't have to.
You can also opt for a comprehensive local SEO optimization service. This covers your GBP optimization and management, website and content optimization, citation building, review management, and link-building.
The full Local SEO Service starts at $799 per location per month, while citation building is available on a pay-as-you-go basis and starts at $2/citation.
Brightlocal has enviable ratings on Capterra (4.8/5) and G2 (4.6/5). But just like it was with Whitespark, the reviews are about their software, not their services.
However, you can find some reviews of their citation-building service on Trustpilot.
Generally, their clients are happy with the support, customer service, and educational resources.
5 Local Link Building Strategies
While using a local SEO or link-building service is the easier option, you don't necessarily need one. If you'd like to take care of your local link-building needs yourself, here are five strategies you must try.
List your business in local directories
Business directories are normally the first place to look when building local backlinks.
The reason? Most of them are free, and listing your business requires relatively little time compared to other tactics. Sure, these aren't the strongest links you can have — many of them are nofollow. And they won't give you a competitive edge because they're easy for competitors to replicate. But they will still increase your business visibility.
If I were you, I'd start with local directories. You can easily find them on Google, just search for "business directory" your city. For example, here's the SERP for "business directory" London.
Next, go after the big nationwide directories like Yelp or Yell.
Finally, move on to sector-specific business directories. By searching for "tradesman directory," I was able to find a number of directories for trades (plumbers, decorators, etc).
You want to be listed in as many of them as possible because that's where people head when they need specific services.
As such, they're arguably the most valuable directories for your business, so you may be wondering why I'm not suggesting you start with them.
Getting these listings is harder. Many of them are paid, and some of them run accreditation schemes for their members. For example, to become a Check-a-Trade member, you need to pass rigorous background checks and pay a monthly membership fee.
Local guest posting
Guest posting offers greater rewards than directory link-building. You get a contextually relevant link, usually dofollow, have complete control over the content and anchor text, and can reach new audiences.
For example, the London Daily News accepts guest post pitches, and it lets you place dofollow links in the content.
Guest posting is a resource-intensive tactic. You've got to find local sites that accept guest content, pitch them, and create the content, which often includes multiple revisions.
Here are a few tips:
1) Use advanced Google search operators to find guest posting opportunities. For example, these are the results I've found by searching for "write for us" and london. Look for as many websites in your area as possible. Local relevance trumps topical relevance.
2) Start with websites that don't require a draft with your pitch. Otherwise, you can end up writing an article that never gets published. Yes, there's always that risk with guest posting, but it's lower when you establish a relationship with the editor and gather your ideas before diving in.
3) Research their existing content to find topics their audience would be interested in.
4) Pitch three different guest article ideas, not one, to increase your chances.
5) Follow the website's guest posting guidelines.
Local forums
Forum links are experiencing a kind of comeback thanks to Reddit dominance in SERPs and AI search growth. The links may not pump lots of link juice because they have a UGC or nofollow parameter, but they bring referral traffic and get your business mentioned in AI overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity.
Finding relevant forum threads is easy in Google:
In the Forums mode, search for your niche + location. For example, wedding photographer london.
Start forum link building by adding links to your profile.
When commenting with links, make sure they're relevant. Forum moderators often remove spammy content, so you'll be wasting your time.
Sponsor a local event or organization
Sponsoring a local event or organization can pay off with multiple links. You normally get links on their website and often coverage from local news outlets or local blogs.
For example, businesses sponsoring the Teddy Rocks Festival (Dorset, UK) get a link on the organizer's website.
In addition, some of them get mentions from Bournemouth Echo, a local newspaper.
Mind you, the above newspaper article doesn't include a link.
It doesn't need to.
It gets the business in front of thousands of readers (around 228K readers visit their website every month). That's much more valuable than a link on a DR75 website, which you could get for a fraction of the sponsorship costs.
Create local linkable assets
Linkable assets are one of the most effective link-building tactics.
The principle is simple:
You create a guide, infographic, or free tool, and people link to it organically because it's valuable to their audiences.
For example, if you're running a boutique hotel, you can create a guide to local attractions. If you're a bike shop owner, an interactive map with cycling routes in the area. If you offer guided nature walks in the area, create a free mobile app that will help visitors identify local flora. You get a drift!
Local Link Building FAQ
To wrap up, here are answers to questions people frequently ask about local link building.
Why is local link building important?
According to Whitespark, inbound link quality and quantity are the 3rd most important local ranking factor.
Links pointing to your website from local websites are trust and relevance signals for Google (and for potential customers). The more websites link back to you, the more established and reliable you appear in their eyes.
External links also bring qualified referral traffic to your website. For example, people visiting your site via a local directory are likely to need the services you offer and be from the local area.
How to find local backlinks?
Competitor analysis is an easy way to find local link placement opportunities.
Start by x-raying their link profile with Ahrefs Site Explorer.
Here's what it looks like for a local plumbing service:
There are lots of spammy links there, but if you scroll down, you'll find a bunch of directories where you can list your business.
You can take this one step further and use the Competitive Analysis feature to find links that your competitors have but you don't.
Filter the results to include domains linking to at least one competitor. In this case, there are only eight domains, and none of them link to all three competitors. These are all great opportunities that can help you outcompete them all.
You can also find local link-building opportunities using Google Search.
Start by searching for your sector and location, for example, “plumber in london”.
Lots of the results are for business directories, like My Plumber London.
Another trick: Search for local directories, newspapers, online services, community blogs, and Reddit threads where you can plug in your link.
Finally, you can find local backlinks via link marketplaces, like INSERT.LINK.
How do local link-building services help?
Local link-building services can help you find and secure relevant placements in local directories and on blogs and news sites.
By doing so, they increase your visibility in local search results. Which more and more people use to find local goods and service providers.
Could you do it yourself?
Sure. But it's extremely time-consuming. For example, to secure a link in a local blog, you need to find it, contact the owner, ask if they're open to collaboration, negotiate the terms, and so on. With a link-building service, you will be able to streamline the process.
And if you choose a fully-managed service, they will take it off your plate completely and ensure you don't miss any important placements (which you can't afford when competition is fierce).
How much does local link building typically cost?
The cost of local links varies based on multiple factors.
As mentioned above, fully-managed local SEO services start at around $500/month. In contrast, securing links via a marketplace is much cheaper. For example, you can easily get 4-7 solid backlinks for 300-400$ on INSERT.LINK.
Another factor? Your niche.
In competitive verticals, like legal services, healthcare, or gambling, links are more expensive. One local link of average quality can set you back by $200-400.
On average, expect to pay $400–$600 for a decent local backlink package.
What should I look for when choosing a local link-building service?
With so many link vendors and link-building agencies around, choosing the right service is no easy task. To avoid costly mistakes, make sure the service you choose checks these five boxes:
1. Reviews and testimonials: Start with social proof. What do real clients say? Look for verified reviews that mention reliability, communication, and actual results—ideally from companies in similar industries or locations.
2. Link types: You want more than generic directory listings. A good service should land links from reputable local sources—like news sites, blogs, chambers of commerce, or event pages in your area.
3. Relevance: Relevance is key for local SEO. Links should be both geographically and topically relevant, not just any backlink with a decent domain rating.
4. Transparency and guarantee: Do they let you approve link opportunities before placement? What happens when the link disappears? Look for services that offer link pre-approval and replace or restore lost links for free.
5. Pricing: Cheap links often come with a hidden cost—low quality. But high price doesn’t always mean high value either. Make sure the pricing reflects link quality, niche difficulty, and expected impact.
Final words
A fully managed local link-building service, like Whitespark or Brightlocal, can help you find opportunities and build links faster and without the hassle of research, outreach, and content creation. Which is priceless for small businesses with limited marketing resources and short of manpower.
If you have a bit more bandwidth, you can go with the DIY approach and source links from a marketplace, like INSERT.LINK. This is a strategy used by marketing and SEO agencies that have to provide links to their clients by the dozens but have the know-how to choose the right placements.
Whichever approach you choose, always check the service before you spend any money. Pay particular attention to their reviews and testimonials, as well as transparency and guarantees.
