Geographic Links for Local SEO

Did you know that links with geographic/local relevance have a significant influence on Google Maps? Semantic Links provides competition analysis reports to all of our subscriber clients for every location we manage, and therefore we have vast amounts of backlink data for the top-ranked pages for hundreds of local search queries. I focused on building links with topical relevance during most of 2022, but through my analysis of competitor link profiles, I began to recognize a commonality between top-ranked competitors depending on where they were ranked in Google. What I discovered is the top-ranked pages in the organic section of the search results typically have topically relevant link profiles, while the top-ranked businesses in the Google Maps section (the Maps 3-pack) often have link profiles with poor topical relevance but have backlinks with LOCAL or GEOGRAPHIC RELEVANCE. 🔥🔥 This discovery revealed that: ✅Links with TOPICAL RELEVANCE have a significant impact on ORGANIC ranking with a slight impact on maps. ✅Links with GEOGRAPHIC RELEVANCE have a significant impact on MAPS ranking with a slight impact on organic. What makes a link have local/geographic relevance? When the source is another local business; from a website associated with a local entity. Some common examples of local link sources are: 1. Local Chamber of Commerce 2. Local News and Media 3. Sponsorships of schools, little league sports teams, parks & recreation sports, local charities 4. Link exchanges with other local businesses in the same geographic region Links with local relevance don’t have to be topically relevant to produce a ranking benefit. Here’s a real-world example: ➡️A Culpeper, Virginia attorney calls Genesis Tree Service in Culpeper to remove a tree in the law firm’s parking lot. After the job is completed, the lawyer publishes a post on their blog thanking Genesis Tree Service for the job well done and links to their website. The link is in the Society / Law Topical Trust Flow (TTF) category, which isn’t topically relevant to a tree service company, but it has LOCAL RELEVANCE, thus influencing Google Maps. ➡️A less common example is when a link is secured that has both topical AND geographic relevance. Like when a local landscaping company links to a tree service company in the same general area. We call these “Unicorn Links.” 🦄 ⚖️ What this means is in order to rank well in both organic and maps search, we should be balancing a mix of topically and geographically relevant links. Our Geographic Link Building service provides up to three links within each post: 1. The Money Site or Location Landing Page 2. The Google Business Website (link or embed) > [subdomain].business.site 3. The Google Business Map (embed or link to SHARE URL) Each post counts as only one link! 🤯 Meaning you get up to 3 links/embeds per post for each link purchased. 🤯 SEE CURRENT LIST OF LOCAL SITES HERE 👉 https://blog.semanticlinks.io/local-sites 👈