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When it comes to improving your website’s visibility and authority, building quality backlinks from local and relevant sources is still one of the most effective SEO strategies.
But often, businesses overlook simple, practical link opportunities right in front of them.
Here are 17 link opportunities you should be considering for your business, along with why they matter and how to approach them:
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1. Tourist Directories (Local or National)
- Why? If your business has any connection to tourism, being listed here boosts visibility with high-traffic, trusted sources.
- How? Research national tourism websites and local visitor centres. Submit your business for listing, especially if you offer services tourists may use (hospitality, retail, attractions).
Example: Sunrise Car Rental is a new car rental business in the Bay of Plenty NZ.
Their competition dominates on Google, as they should, due to being around for so long. We’ve recently taken them on as a client, and our team is currently looking for tourism related websites that cover this local area, to find out how to get listed.
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2. Alumni Associations (Schools, Universities, Colleges)
- Why? Alumni networks often highlight success stories and business ventures from past students.
- How? Contact the alumni office and offer to be featured in an alumni success story, or list your business in their business directory if they have one.
Example: Business owners with a strong personal brand, for example Helen Laidlaw Business Advisor, and Michael Anastasiadis Mortgage Advisor, both operate in their local areas, as well as nationwide to some extent.
They have both been in touch with schools and universities attended, to explore this option. Backlinks from a local school or university, to your business, are possibly some of the most powerful backlinks you can obtain.
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3. Local Event Pages
- Why? Event listings are frequently visited and often link back to participating sponsors or businesses.
- How? Participate in or sponsor local events and ensure you’re listed on their website or promotional materials.
Example: My Ride Mount Maunganui, a local bike shop in Tauranga NZ, do a great job at sponsoring local cycling and triathlon events. Another example – Bliss Gift Baskets, based in Tauranga as well, could easily donate gift baskets to events for sponsors, on the proviso that they get a a backlink on the event page.
In the past, not all sponsorships resulted in backlinks to their local store website, so we’ll be ensuring that in the future that’s part of the deal when providing sponsorship, apart from the exposure benefits and mentions on social media and email lists.
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4. Chamber of Commerce
- Why? Chambers are highly trusted by Google and their member directories carry SEO weight.
- How? Join your local Chamber and ensure your business profile is complete with a link to your website.
Example: Google “chamber of commerce (your city)”, and enquire about joining. There are several benefits, including the backlink on the members directory.
Here at Good Oil Digital Marketing we are GUILTY of letting this drop off, but we’ll be rejoining soon, as we just checked out their website authority score, and realised how useful it is!
We recently partnered with Jeremy Pak, of Velocity Capital.
We’ll be advising him to join the local Chamber of Commerce in his hometown of Hamilton NZ, as there are many businesses in that area who need boutique advice around selling their businesses. The backlink from the Chamber website will be useful, as will (moreso), the chance to even present to their members about how to best prepare businesses for selling and maximising owner returns.
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5. B2B Partners (Suppliers or Niche-Adjacent Businesses)
- Why? Backlinks from industry-relevant sites send strong trust signals.
- How? Offer to exchange “Partners” or “Preferred Vendors” listings on each other’s websites.
Example: Life’s Next Stage, decluttering and downsizing, are new but have nailed this idea.
The owner Deanna has met these vendors, negotiated win/win deals for potential clients, and then built a great page for her website, and is already getting listed on the vendors websites as well. Very strong backlink signals early in the business journey. She also works with many property related businesses, that are established (for example Tauranga Property Managers), so featuring them will help her get linked back to as well.
Another example here could be a business like JC Consultants – they provide building reports and asbestos surveys. Offer a large discount for a specific service like Asbestos Surveys, to senior citizens, on the proviso that a link and mention is put on their website for Gold Card Holders.
Thinking again about Older people – Rachel from Gem Culture (quality second hand rings), could offer up a “jewelry advisory” service, once a month, via a local partner, as a community offering but also with a good backlink as well.
Think creatively with these ideas – the backlinks are valuable, but sometimes you’ll get customers directly from these efforts as well.
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6. Local Fundraisers
- Why? Supporting fundraisers can lead to mentions on donation acknowledgment pages.
- How? Sponsor or donate to local charity events and ensure you’re acknowledged on their website.
Example: Evan Tunis from Florida Healthcare Insurance, has been in business for a long time in his local area.
He’s always generously helped fundraising efforts locally, and even though not all have resulted in backlinks to his business, many have. The links were a secondary consideration at the time, but have improved his link profile, and locally he is the most found Health Insurance broker for his area.
Another example: Alaina from Tidy Life Solutions could sponsor a local “car boot sale” type of event run by a school or church. She could write a story for the event website about decluttering as well.
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7. City or Local Government Website Directories
- Why? These are highly authoritative domains.
- How? Check if your city council has a business directory or small business support page and request a listing. We suggest you Google “free business listings (your city name)”, and see what comes up.
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8. Youth Sports Sponsorship Listings
- Why? Youth clubs often list their sponsors online, which builds community goodwill and backlinks.
- How? Sponsor a local team and request a logo/link placement on their website.
Example: Beel Plumbing in Australia, has done this well.
Here is the example https://www.mountelizasoccerclub.com.au/partners-and-discounts/beel-plumbing/
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9. Local Influencers
- Why? Influencers can provide valuable mentions and traffic.
- How? Partner with micro-influencers to review your products/services, and ensure they link to your website.
Example: Simply Organic sells organic food products nationwide. Giving products to prominent health influencers is something that helps them get social mentions, but also links on websites.
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10. “Best Of” Listings
- Why? “Best of [city]” or “Top 10” articles rank well and can drive traffic.
- How? Nominate your business for local awards or reach out to list authors suggesting your inclusion.
Example: Better Trees Bay of Plenty, appear on this best of page: https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/arborists-tree-surgeons-tauranga.html – as soon as they appeared on that “best of” page, their Google rankings improved.
Search Google and ChatGPT for these opportunities, including awards that are often “pay to play”, but still have link and credibility value.
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11. School / College Directories for Career Opportunities
- Why? Offering internships or work experience can earn you a mention on career resource pages.
- How? Contact local schools/colleges and offer placements; request to be listed as an employer partner. Obviously you are doing this for the reason of actually providing jobs, but if you can also get a backlink from a school, bonus! Remember, links from schools are very powerful.
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12. Job Boards
- Why? Local job boards often link back to company websites in job listings.
- How? When posting job vacancies, ensure your business website is linked.
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13. Local Newspapers & Business Journals
- Why? Local media sites are trusted, authoritative backlinks.
- How? Send press releases or pitch story ideas that highlight something newsworthy about your business.
Example: Hexagon IT Solutions are very proactive in their backlink acquisition. This link HERE, was obtained via the “Featured.com” website, which we recommend you use.
The other media brand that Featured own is HARO – a site where journalists reach out for comments and input. The NEXT level of this game is building relationships directly with local journalists.
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14. Community Centres & Libraries
- Why? These are trusted local resources and often link to relevant local services.
- How? Offer workshops, presentations, or resource contributions that get you listed on their website. It could even be worth offering sponsorship to local community centres.
Example: I personally have done marketing and business training several times in my local area.
The credibility and trust gained from these experiences, as well as personal relationships, has well been worth it, and the backlinks have helped too.
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15. Local Directories for Services
- Why? Still valuable for niche and location-specific SEO.
- How? Ensure your business is listed in relevant directories (plumbing, electricians, cafes, etc.) and that your listing is up to date. ChatGPT is your friend here, use this prompt “my business (name), is in the (niche that you are in) space, are there any local directories or citations that we do not appear in?”
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16. Local Blogs
- Why? Blogs focused on local content can provide high-quality, relevant backlinks.
- How? Connect with local bloggers and offer collaboration ideas (guest posts, interviews, product reviews).
Example: Chris Mathews from Building Surveying Services, who talks to many builders, real estate agents, and developers, would look to provide expert comments or even interviews on blogs in NZ in the property and finance space, from a “opinions from the field” angle.
Even paying to get on some podcasts, with the associated links and media mentions, would be worth the expense.
Another example would be Vicky from Elodie Bridal. They are a wedding dress business and would benefit from any form of collaboration with anyone in the wedding scene space in their hometown of Wellington NZ. Blog inserts, social media mentions, it all helps.
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17. Non-Profit Organizations
- Why? Partnerships with non-profits can lead to valuable community-focused backlinks.
- How? Support local non-profits through donations or services and request to be acknowledged on their supporters or partners page. The domain authority of these websites is often very high, meaning that links from them to you carry significant power.
Example: ZR Decorating, a painting service in Wellington NZ, likewise Go 1 Day Painting, would approach their local Salvation Army stores, there are several, and offer to paint their locations for free or greatly discounted, with links back to their website, and possibly a sign or logo on the premises as well.
Likewise – Vida Landscape Solutions could find a local Retirement Village, offer up lawn maintenance services for free, in exchange for a sign on the property and a link from the website.
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Final Thoughts:
Local backlinks are often overlooked but they are among the most natural and effective ways to boost your SEO authority, while also genuinely contributing to your community and professional network.
Make a habit of revisiting these opportunities regularly, or engage link building services from SEO professionals to help you do this.
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Our other SEO | Rank better on Search Engines Tools:
➡️ YouTube Videos (step by step guides, easy to follow)
➡️ Substack Articles (news, updates, systems to help improve your business)
➡️ GumRoad Courses (courses, mostly free, that will elevate your business)