A backlink is when another website links to yours. That's it. When the local chamber of commerce has a member directory on their website and your business listing includes a link to your website, that's a backlink. When a local news site writes an article mentioning your business and includes a link, that's a backlink. When an industry association lists certified contractors on their website and your company is on that list with a link, that's a backlink.
Each backlink is essentially a vote of confidence from another website saying "this business is worth referencing." Google counts those votes and uses them to help determine how authoritative and trustworthy your business is relative to competitors.
Here's why this matters for your local business, how it actually affects your rankings, and what you can realistically do about it.
Why Google Cares About Backlinks
Google's job is to recommend the best, most trustworthy businesses for any given search. But Google can't visit your shop, test your work, or interview your customers. It needs proxy signals — indirect evidence that your business is legitimate and reputable.
Backlinks are one of the strongest proxy signals available. If the local newspaper links to your website, that tells Google a credible local institution considers your business noteworthy. If your state trade association lists you as a member, that tells Google an industry authority has verified your legitimacy. If a home improvement blog recommends your services, that tells Google someone in your space considers you worth mentioning.
The more of these votes you accumulate — especially from reputable, relevant sources — the more prominent your business appears in Google's evaluation. Prominence is one of the three core factors (alongside relevance and distance) that determine local search rankings.
How Backlinks Affect Local Rankings
Backlinks influence your rankings in two ways: through your overall authority and through locally relevant signals.
Overall authority is a broad measure of how trusted your website is across the internet. A website with links from 50 different domains has more authority than one with links from 5. This authority affects your organic search rankings — the regular website listings below the map pack.
Local authority is more specific. Links from locally relevant sources — your city's chamber of commerce, local news outlets, community organizations, local business partners — carry extra weight for local search because they establish your business as part of the local community. Google puts particular value on links from sources that are geographically relevant to the area where you're trying to rank.
For the map pack specifically, backlinks are less directly impactful than your Google Business Profile and reviews — but they still contribute to the prominence signal that determines who shows up. For organic local results (the listings below the map), backlinks carry significantly more weight.
The businesses that dominate both the map pack and organic results are typically strong on all fronts — GBP, reviews, and backlinks. Backlinks alone won't get you to the top, but weak backlinks can hold you back even if everything else is strong.
Not All Backlinks Are Equal
A link from the New York Times and a link from a random blog nobody visits are both technically backlinks. But they're not worth the same thing.
Google evaluates backlinks based on several factors:
Authority of the linking site. A link from a high-authority website (a major news outlet, a government site, a well-known industry publication) carries more weight than a link from a low-traffic personal blog.
Relevance of the linking site. A link from a home improvement blog is more relevant to a roofing company than a link from a cooking website. Google considers topical relevance when evaluating how much weight a link carries.
Local relevance. For local businesses, links from locally relevant sources carry extra weight. A link from the Houston Chronicle is more valuable for a Houston business than a link from a national publication with no local connection.
Whether the link is followed. Some links include a "nofollow" tag that tells Google not to pass authority through the link. Most directory listings and social media links are nofollow. "Follow" links (the default when no tag is specified) pass the most authority.
For most local businesses, a handful of high-quality, locally relevant backlinks from reputable sources is far more valuable than hundreds of low-quality links from random directories.
Where Local Businesses Actually Get Backlinks
This is where many guides go off the rails — they describe link-building strategies designed for national brands or tech companies. For a local service business, the realistic and effective link sources are much more practical.
Local Business Organizations
Your local chamber of commerce almost certainly has a member directory on their website with links to member businesses. Joining and getting listed is one of the easiest and most valuable backlinks a local business can earn. Similarly, local business alliances, downtown associations, and networking groups often maintain online directories.
Industry Associations
Your state plumbing association, roofing contractors association, HVAC association, electrical contractors association, or whatever trade organization applies to your industry typically offers member directories with backlinks. National associations like ACCA, NRCA, or PHCC often have member locator pages too.
Manufacturer and Supplier Programs
If you're a certified installer or preferred contractor for a major brand — GAF, Carrier, Trane, Rinnai, Owens Corning, Kohler — those manufacturers maintain dealer locator pages or certified contractor directories that link back to your website. These are high-quality, industry-relevant links.
Local News and Media
Getting featured in a local news article — about a community project, a storm response, a business milestone, or as an expert source on a home improvement topic — generates high-authority local backlinks. This takes more effort than directory listings, but local journalists are always looking for local business sources, especially during weather events, housing trends, or seasonal home maintenance stories.
Community Sponsorships
Sponsoring a little league team, a school fundraiser, a charity 5K, or a community festival often results in a link from the organization's website. These are locally relevant, community-focused links that strengthen both your authority and your local presence.
Complementary Local Businesses
Real estate agents, insurance agents, property managers, home inspectors, interior designers, and other businesses that serve the same customers you do are natural partnership opportunities. A page on their website that says "Recommended Service Providers" with a link to your business is a locally relevant backlink and a referral channel.
Local Directories
Beyond Google, Yelp, and Facebook, industry-specific directories like Angi, HomeAdvisor, Houzz, and the Better Business Bureau provide backlinks. While many of these are nofollow links, they still contribute to your overall web presence and citation profile.
What Not to Do
The backlink landscape has a long history of manipulation, and Google has gotten very good at detecting and penalizing artificial link-building. For a local business, certain practices will hurt rather than help:
Don't buy links. Services that sell packages of hundreds of backlinks are almost always selling low-quality, spammy links from irrelevant websites. Google detects these patterns and can penalize your entire site.
Don't participate in link exchanges. "You link to me, I'll link to you" arrangements between unrelated businesses look artificial and carry minimal value.
Don't submit to hundreds of random directories. Being listed on every obscure directory on the internet doesn't help and can look spammy. Focus on the directories that customers actually use and that have genuine authority.
Don't use private blog networks. Networks of fake blogs created solely to generate links are a well-known manipulation tactic that Google specifically targets. The risk of penalty far outweighs any short-term benefit.
The right approach for local businesses is straightforward: earn links from real organizations, real publications, and real businesses that are genuinely relevant to your community and your industry.
How Many Backlinks Do You Need?
There's no universal number. Like reviews, the right target depends on your competitors. Check how many referring domains your top three competitors have (using a free tool like Ubersuggest or Ahrefs Webmaster Tools) and use that as your benchmark.
In many local markets, the difference between the top-ranked businesses and everyone else isn't thousands of backlinks — it's dozens. A business with links from 40 to 60 unique, quality domains has a significant advantage over one with links from 5 to 10. And research has shown that the vast majority of web pages have zero backlinks — meaning any backlink-building effort puts you ahead of most of the competition.
For most local businesses, building five to ten new quality backlinks per year from locally relevant sources is a sustainable pace that compounds into a meaningful authority advantage over time.
The Long-Term View
Backlinks aren't a quick fix. They're a long-term investment in your website's authority that compounds over time. A chamber of commerce link you earn today continues to pass authority for years. A manufacturer directory listing stays active as long as you maintain your certification. A local news feature remains indexed and passes value indefinitely.
The businesses with the strongest backlink profiles in your market didn't build them in a month. They joined organizations, built relationships, participated in their communities, and accumulated links gradually over years. Each one added a small amount of authority. Together, they created a competitive advantage that's difficult for newcomers to replicate quickly.
You can't catch up overnight. But you can start earning quality local links today, and every one you add narrows the gap between your authority and your competitors'.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I see who links to my competitors?
Yes. Free tools like Ubersuggest (limited daily searches) or a Google search for "competitorwebsite.com" -site:competitorwebsite.com will show you many of their link sources. Paid tools like Ahrefs and Semrush provide more comprehensive data. The link sources you discover are often opportunities you can pursue for your own business.
Do social media links count as backlinks?
Technically yes, but most social media links are nofollow, which means they don't pass direct ranking authority. Social media profiles are still valuable for citations, brand visibility, and driving traffic — but they shouldn't be your backlink strategy.
How long does it take for a new backlink to affect my rankings?
Google doesn't process new links instantly. It can take weeks to months for a new backlink to be crawled, indexed, and factored into your rankings. This is why backlink building is a long-term strategy, not a quick fix.
My competitor has way more backlinks. Can I still compete?
Yes — especially in local search where reviews and GBP optimization carry significant weight alongside backlinks. Focus on closing the gaps you can close fastest (GBP, reviews, website content) while building backlinks steadily over time. Many businesses rank well locally with moderate backlink profiles when their other signals are strong.