E1109: Local backlinks do not have to come from guest posts, national websites, or expensive digital PR campaigns.
In this episode, Ellen Sartin and Garrett French explain how local businesses can build backlinks through community sponsorships, nonprofit partnerships, chambers of commerce, local events, schools, youth sports teams, and other organizations operating in their area.
They break down how to find sponsorship opportunities, what these placements usually cost, where the links should point, how many links a business may need, and how to make sure the sponsorship produces more than just a backlink.
We cover:
- How local businesses can find sponsorship opportunities themselves
- Why local relevance can matter more than domain authority
- How to approach nonprofits and community organizations
- What information to prepare before beginning outreach
- Why personal emails and phone calls work better than mass outreach
- How much local sponsorship links typically cost
- Why businesses should start with organizations they already support
- The difference between a sponsorship placement and a paid advertisement
- Where local backlinks should point on your website
- Why location and service pages are often stronger targets than the homepage
- How to think about anchor text without making it look forced
- Whether businesses should build links directly to their Google Business Profile
- How chambers of commerce can provide links, articles, press releases, and local visibility
- When local directories are worth joining
- How newsletters, social posts, event banners, and offline placements can generate additional exposure
- What makes a local backlink valuable
- Which sponsorship and directory links businesses should avoid
- How to measure whether local link building is improving rankings and visibility
- Why businesses should create a page highlighting the organizations they support
- How one plumbing company earned 43 local links, ranked for 86 new keywords, and improved its average position by nine spots
The main lesson is simple: the strongest local backlinks often come from being genuinely involved in the communities where your customers live.
Instead of only paying for links on unrelated websites, local businesses can sponsor real organizations, earn relevant links, reach new customers, build brand recognition, and support causes in their area.
⭐️ Ellen Sartin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-sartin-zipsprout/
⭐️ Garrett French on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettfrench/
⭐️ Contact Ellen Sartin directly - ellen@zipsprout.com and 470-250-0670
⭐️ Book a call with Ellen - https://meetings.hubspot.com/ellen-sartin-zipsprout/discovery-call-zipsprout
⭐️ DIY Sponsorship Guide - https://zipsprout.com/diy-sponsorship-link-building-for-local-businesses-on-a-budget/
⭐️ Dial One Case Study - https://zipsprout.com/texas-plumbing-company-ranks-higher-with-sponsored-link-campaign/
⭐️ AI Visibility with Community PR - https://zipsprout.com/building-local-trust-and-ai-visibility-through-community-pr/
⭐️ Survey Study: How Businesses View Local Sponsorships - https://zipsprout.com/local-nonprofit-sponsorship-report-business/
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 Local Link Building Kickoff
01:01 Meet The Guests
02:54 Community Sponsorship Strategy
06:42 Sponsor Outreach Process
08:03 Dentist Example Planning
17:07 DIY Sponsorship Links
23:14 Results And AI Visibility
25:19 Press PR And Chambers
31:30 Directories Local Relevance
33:39 Anchor Text Guidelines
36:28 Links To Google Business Profile
37:22 Testing Lessons Learned
38:47 Local Relevance Basics
39:31 Best Pages For Backlinks
41:40 URL Structure Debate
43:31 Pricing And Pilot Plans
46:09 How Many Sponsorships
47:45 Good Vs Bad Links
49:05 Newsletters And Lead Gen
54:38 Sponsorship Perks Catalog
59:45 Proving It Works
01:02:31 Community First Link Building
01:07:23 Wrap Up And Resources
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#localseo #linkbuilding #localmarketing #searchengineoptimization
