Link building for small businesses: earning links the safe way

A link from another website to yours tells Google that someone else thinks you’re worth pointing to. For a small business, the best links come from real relationships: suppliers, partners, local organisations, the local press and people who already mention you. Earn them, don’t buy them, and favour a few good links over lots of weak ones. It’s slow, steady work, and it lasts.

Written by Thys du Plooy. I’ve watched link-building shortcuts come and go since the early 2000s, and tried one I regret. This is the approach that has kept working.

What a link is, and why it still matters

A backlink is a link on someone else’s website that leads to yours. Google uses links as one of many signals of how trustworthy and relevant a site is. A link from a respected, relevant site counts for far more than many links from sites nobody reads.

Links aren’t the same as citations. A citation is a mention of your business name, address and phone number, with or without a link, and it’s mainly about confirming your details for local search. Our citation building guide covers those. This guide is about links.

You’ll see tools quote scores such as “domain authority”. Those are estimates made by the tool companies, not numbers Google uses. They’re handy for comparing sites, but don’t chase them.

Step 1: See what you already have

Open the Links report in Google Search Console. It shows which sites link to you and which of your pages they link to. Our Google Search Console guide shows how to set it up.

Write down:

  • the sites that already link to you
  • the pages they link to
  • anything odd, such as links from sites you’ve never heard of

You’re not trying to make the list longer for its own sake. You’re looking for where your real-world relationships aren’t yet showing up online.

Step 2: Start with the people you already know

Your easiest links come from businesses and organisations you already deal with:

  • Suppliers and manufacturers with a “stockists”, “installers” or “approved trades” page
  • Partners you work alongside, such as an electrician and a plumber who recommend each other
  • Trade bodies and associations you belong to, which often list members
  • Local organisations you support: a sports club you sponsor, a charity event, a school fair
  • Clients who are happy to mention you, where it’s natural for them to do so

Ask politely and make it easy: send the exact page address you’d like them to link to and a one-line description of what you do.

Step 3: Turn unlinked mentions into links

Sometimes people mention your business without linking to it, for example in a local news story or on an event page.

  1. Set up a free Google Alert for your business name.
  2. When a mention appears without a link, send a short, friendly note.
  3. Thank them first, then ask whether they’d add a link so readers can find you.

Many people are happy to, especially when the mention was positive.

Step 4: Reclaim lost and broken links

Links get lost when you change your website:

  • Pages you’ve moved or deleted. If other sites link to an old address, set up a 301 redirect from it to the closest current page. You keep the value of those links.
  • Typos in links to you. If a site links to a misspelt address, ask them to correct it, or redirect the misspelt address yourself.
  • Links that disappeared. If a site that used to link to you no longer does, a polite note asking why sometimes brings it back.

Step 5: Make something worth linking to

People link to useful things. For a local business, that might be:

  • a genuinely helpful guide that answers a question your customers ask all the time
  • a local resource, such as a list of things to check before hiring a tradesperson in your area
  • your own data, from your own work, presented simply. Only publish figures you can stand behind.

Then tell the people who’d find it useful: local groups, partners, the local paper. A good page that nobody knows about earns nothing.

Step 6: Local press and media requests

Local newspapers, radio and community websites need stories and expert comment.

  • Send them genuine news: a new service, a local milestone, a community project.
  • Offer yourself as an expert for stories about your trade.
  • Journalist request services, where reporters post requests for expert comment, can earn you links from genuine news and industry sites. Check each service is still running before you sign up.

Don’t expect every story to include a link, but the good ones often do, and the coverage helps anyway.

Step 7: Resource pages and broken links on relevant sites

Some sites keep lists of useful resources, such as a council’s business directory or a hobby club’s list of suppliers.

  1. Search for pages like that in your field and area.
  2. Check whether they include a link that’s broken, or a gap your page fills well.
  3. Write a short, polite note suggesting your page as a replacement or addition.

Only suggest pages that genuinely fit. A relevant link on a small local site is worth more than an unrelated link on a big one.

What to avoid

Google’s spam policies define link spam as “creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings”. That includes:

  • Buying or selling links that pass ranking credit. Paid links are fine if they’re marked with rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored".
  • Excessive link exchanges: “link to me and I’ll link to you”, done at scale.
  • Automated link creation: programs or services that build links for you.

Other shortcuts to stay away from:

  • Link networks: groups of sites set up to link to each other. I learned this one the hard way; the story is in our local SEO guide.
  • “Second-tier” links: building low-quality links to the pages that link to you, to boost them.
  • The same exact-match wording on every link. Natural links use your name, your address or ordinary phrases.

If a deal sounds quick and cheap, it’s almost always one of these.

How long it takes

Earning good links is slow, and that’s normal. A few relevant links a year from real relationships can make a noticeable difference for a local business. Keep a simple list of who you’ve asked and what happened, and check Search Console’s Links report every few months.

DIY or get help?

You can do all of this yourself. It mainly takes time, persistence and good manners. Getting help makes sense when your competitors are well established and the gap is large, or when you don’t have the hours to follow up. Earning links is part of our SEO service, done the safe way described here.

FAQs

How many backlinks do I need?

There’s no set number. A handful of relevant, trustworthy links can matter more than hundreds of weak ones. Compare yourself with the businesses that rank above you, not with a target figure.

Can I buy backlinks?

Paid links meant to boost rankings break Google’s spam policies and can harm your site. If you pay for a placement, such as a sponsored article, the link should be marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".

Are citations the same as backlinks?

No. A citation confirms your business details and may not include a link. A backlink is a link from another site to yours. Both help a local business in different ways.

Next steps

Want to know which links would make the biggest difference for your business? Book a free discovery call and, within 48 hours of the call, you’ll get a free audit of your site, so you can spend your outreach time where it counts. Or let us do the asking, the safe way: see what’s included in each package.

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