Patrick covers different strategies to build local links such as getting listed on already ranking sites, finding common links for your competitors, competitors in your niche, and other businesses in your own city, reclaiming lost links, unlinked mentions, and internal links.

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@patrickstox
Local Link Building
Presented by:
Patrick Stox

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@patrickstox
Product Advisor, Technical SEO, &
Brand Ambassador at Ahrefs
• I write for Ahrefs blog but have written for many industry
publications in the past
• I speak at some conferences like SMX, Pubcon, UnGagged, TechSEO
Boost
• Organizer for the Raleigh SEO Meetup (most successful in US) and the
Beer & SEO Meetup
• We also run a conference, the Raleigh SEO Conference
• Moderator /r/TechSEO on Reddit
Who is Patrick Stox?

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@patrickstox
What Are Links?
Links take users and bots from one page to another.

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Why Do People Want Links?
PageRank =
“Strength”
“Importance”
Some people think
of these as votes

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Correlation ≠ Causation

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Here’s What I Would Do

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Barnacle SEO
Get listed on sites that already rank
Quick way to get direct business value. You want to be
there when people search.

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Ahrefs
Majestic
Moz
Semrush

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Competitor Links – Local Link Intersect
What links are common between
top competitors?

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Some Of These Sites May Want $$$

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Competitor Links – Niche Specific
Link research scaled.

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Top 50 Cities
https://docs.googl
e.com/spreadshee
ts/d/1_wSRfQyy2D
TucqAfR075hs3U_Z
B1bKV4VLbYhXqzY
e0/copy
Make a copy

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https://ahrefs.com/keywords-explorer

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Keyword URL Country Difficulty Volume Clicks CPS Return RateParent TopicParent Topic VolumeLast UpdateReferring DomainsDomain ratingAhrefs RankTraffic Keywords
accountant seattle https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=tax+accountant&find_loc=Seattle%2C+WAus 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 0 94 50 205 10
accountant seattle https://www.seattlecpaprofessionals.com/ us 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 21 1 51894760 241 49
accountant seattle https://www.indeed.com/q-Accounting-l-Seattle,-WA-jobs.html us 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 11 90 689 356 21
accountant seattle https://www.indeed.com/q-Tax-Accountant-l-Seattle,-WA-jobs.htmlus 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 1 90 689 46 9
accountant seattle https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/seattle-accountant-jobs-SRCH_IL.0,7_IC1150505_KO8,18.htmus 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 5 90 1020 128 32
accountant seattle https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Jobs/Accountant/-in-Seattle,WA us 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 2 85 3800 74 19
accountant seattle https://www.expertise.com/wa/seattle/accountant-cpa us 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 5 86 2890 149 46
accountant seattle https://www.angieslist.com/companylist/seattle/accountants.htm us 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 0 91 516 36 21
accountant seattle https://www.upwork.com/l/us/accountants-in-seattle-wa/ us 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 1 90 1122 12 38
accountant seattle https://www.monster.com/jobs/q-accounting-jobs-l-seattle-wa us 1 250 accountant seattle250 ######## 3 87 2673 44 37
accountant las vegas https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Small+Business+Accountant&find_loc=Las+Vegas%2C+NVus 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 1 94 50 103 17
accountant las vegas https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=accountants&find_loc=Las+Vegas%2C+NVus 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 0 94 50 118 15
accountant las vegas https://www.expertise.com/nv/las-vegas/accountant-cpa us 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 6 86 2890 158 65
accountant las vegas https://llbcpa.com/las-vegas-small-business-accountant/ us 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 11 12 15313035 66 116
accountant las vegas https://www.indeed.com/q-Accounting-l-Las-Vegas,-NV-jobs.html us 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 7 90 689 411 23
accountant las vegas https://www.indeed.com/q-Tax-Accountant-l-Las-Vegas,-NV-jobs.htmlus 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 0 90 689 16 4
accountant las vegas https://clutch.co/accounting/las-vegas us 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 0 87 2766 247 45
accountant las vegas https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Jobs/Accountant/-in-Las-Vegas,NV us 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 2 85 3800 100 18
accountant las vegas https://www.angieslist.com/companylist/las-vegas/accountants.htmus 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 0 91 516 22 39
accountant las vegas https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/las-vegas-accountant-jobs-SRCH_IL.0,9_IC1149603_KO10,20.htmus 2 200 accountant las vegas200 ######## 1 90 1020 123 33
accountant chicago https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=personal+accountant&find_loc=Chicago%2C+ILus 12 200 accountant chicago200 ######## 1 94 50 0 15
accountant chicago https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Tax+Accountant&find_loc=Chicago%2C+ILus 12 200 accountant chicago200 ######## 0 94 50 114 14
accountant chicago https://www.chicago-accountant.com/ us 12 200 accountant chicago200 ######## 38 2 42022825 74 64
accountant chicago https://www.expertise.com/il/chicago/accountant-cpa us 12 200 accountant chicago200 ######## 7 86 2890 257 67
accountant chicago https://cpa-in-chicago.com/ us 12 200 accountant chicago200 ######## 34 2 47994870 131 73
We want to get rid of general directories and focus on
individual businesses.

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Data Cleaning
1. Insert > Table
2. Filter > DR less than 50
3. Filter Type > Organic

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@patrickstox
Much Better, Top Accountants From
Different CitiesKeyword URL
accountant seattle https://www.seattlecpaprofessionals.com/
accountant las vegas https://llbcpa.com/las-vegas-small-business-accountant/
accountant chicago https://www.chicago-accountant.com/
accountant chicago https://cpa-in-chicago.com/
accountant chicago https://www.actgroupltd.com/
accountant los angeles https://www.johnweldoncpa.com/
accountant los angeles https://www.roberthalltaxes.com/business-services/accounting/
accountant tucson https://www.cpa-tucson.com/
accountant tucson https://www.cpatucson.com/
accountant tucson https://www.pinpointeaccounting.com/
accountant tucson https://beachfleischman.com/
accountant san diego https://www.regalgroupcpa.com/
accountant portland https://perkinsaccounting.com/
accountant portland https://www.orcpa.org/for-the-public/find-a-cpa
accountant philadelphia https://accountant-philadelphia.com/
accountant philadelphia https://www.daletaxservice.com/
accountant philadelphia https://taxprofessionalphiladelphia.com/
accountant tampa https://www.waterscpagroup.com/
accountant tampa https://www.rgcocpa.com/
accountant tampa https://www.zachcpa.com/
accountant tampa http://jrosencpa.com/
accountant tampa https://www.taxaccountantsoftampabay.com/

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For Each Site Left, Export Their
Referring Domains Zzzzz

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Combine Files
1. Windows Button + R
2. Type cmd and click ok
3. I open the folder where I saved the files in File
Explorer and click the address bar to copy the path
4. Back in Command Prompt, type “cd “ and then press
ctrl+v to paste the copied path
5. Type copy *.csv whatever.csv

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Data Cleaning
1. Insert > Table
2. Insert Column next to Referring
Domain to add Count
3. In the Count Column, add the formula
=COUNTIF(B:B,[@[Referring Domain]])

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Data Cleaning
4. Copy the numbers in the Count column and paste in
the same place as values.
5. Data > Remove Duplicates based on the Referring
Domain
6. Data > Sort by Count > Largest to Smallest

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Looks Good! Top Referring Sites To Top
Accountants Around The Country
Referring Domain Count
yellowpages.com 58
localbest.com 55
clutch.co 49
topratedlocal.com 48
expertise.com 47
find-open.com 41
goodfirms.co 38
yp.com 31
privatebanking.com 31
owler.com 29
tntcode.com 28
threebestrated.com 28
ucpaa.org 27

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Categorize - Niche
Referring Domain Count
privatebanking.com 31
ucpaa.org 27
findtaxexperts.com 21
advisors.directory 16
cpagrades.com 14
accountingmatch.com 13
bestpayrollservices.com 12
cpatool.com 10
cpaconnection.net 9
findbestcpa.com 9
buildyourfirm.com 8
officialaccountants.com 5
payrollleads.net 5
goodaccountants.com 4
successfulpayroll.com 4

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Categorize – Generic Directories
Referring Domain Count
yellowpages.com 58
localbest.com 55
clutch.co 49
topratedlocal.com 48
expertise.com 47
find-open.com 41
sitelinks.info 41
goodfirms.co 38
site-stats.org 34
freefoto.ca 31
wuchna.com 31
yp.com 31
owler.com 29
threebestrated.com 28
tntcode.com 28
idcrawl.com 26
prlog.ru 26
thecity.directory 26
findabusinessthat.com 25
regionaldirectory.us 25
upcity.com 24

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Categorize – Generic Directories
Most of these are Local Citations
Also called NAP (Name, Address,
Phone Number) listings.
Getting these links: Whitespark, Brightlocal, Yext, Moz
Local, local SEO companies

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Competitor Links – City Specific
Same idea but city specific.

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Top Niches
https://docs.google
.com/spreadsheets/
d/1YtCs0d-
B65UZq4pXa41crFMY
ThAJgT2_A5RbyEhz
w7I/copy
Make a copy

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Getting The Data
Follow the same steps we used before for the cities.

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Categorize – Colleges/Universities
Referring Domain Count
ncsu.edu 18
thewolfweb.com 18
unc.edu 4
duke.edu 4
waketech.edu 2
meredith.edu 2
• Jobs
• Scholarships
• Club sponsorships
• Discounts

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Referring Domain Count
shoplocalraleigh.org 25
downtownraleigh.org 19
visitraleigh.com 14
thisisraleigh.com 10
dtraleigh.com 8
919raleigh.com 8
raleighspecialstonight.com 8
raleighsearch.org 7
hbawake.com 7
raleighhasit.com 6
yourbackyardraleigh.com 6
visitnorthhills.com 5
raleighwhatsup.blogspot.com 5
ncartmuseum.org 5
downtowndame.com 4
outraleighpride.org 4
raleighbeltliner.com 4
theraleighedit.com 4
raleighweekend.com 4
cityofraleighmuseum.org 3
camraleigh.org 3
northraleighrotary.org 2
midtownraleighalliance.org 2
raleighnc.gov 2
Categorize – Raleigh Specific

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Categorize – Local News & Magazines
Referring Domain Count
wral.com 33
indyweek.com 29
raleighmag.com 25
waltermagazine.com 21
midtownmag.com 16
trianglefoodblog.com 14
newsobserver.com 7
itbinsider.com 7
carycitizenarchive.com 6
northcarolinanewsdaily.com 5
northcarolinaheadlines.com 4
https://carycitizen.news/ 2
northcarolinahealthnews.org 1
http://www.candidslice.com/ 1

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Categorize – State or Surrounding AreaReferring Domain Count
heartofncweddings.com 25
travel-northcarolina.com 15
thecarolinasmagazine.com 12
trianglenace.com 10
visitnc.com 8
bestthingsnc.com 8
caryliving.com 8
triangleonthecheap.com 8
nctripping.com 7
nctriangledining.com 7
thebestofcarync.com 7
north-carolina-bd.com 6
johnstoncounty.today 6
kasteventsnc.com 6
north-carolina-pages.com 5
ncheadlines.com 5
runnc.com 5
funnorthcarolina.com 4
charlottencnorthcarolina.com 4
ncagr.gov 4
ncbreweriesandfoodtrucks.com 4
researchtriangle.org 4
go-north-carolina.com 3
thenorthcarolina100.com 2

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Categorize - Misc
• djs
• wedding
• photographers
• event planners
these link to people involved
• realtors
• apartments
• home communities (HOAs)
these link to things to do

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Categorize - Misc
• Suppliers /Affiliations
• Meetup (hosting, sponsoring)
• Podcasts
• Charities / sponsorships
• Awards
• Coupons
• Directories

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Link Reclamation – Links To Your Site,
But Broken
Websites change over the years
and often there are links going to
pages that no longer exist.
Redirects take users and bots to
the current pages. They reclaim
that lost value.

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Link Reclamation – Unlinked Mentions
Sometimes websites mention
you but don’t link to you.
You can ask them to link.

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Manually
• Google “intext:term –site.com”, where term could
be a brand or a person and site is your website
• Scrape results
• Check if there’s a link
Complex, time consuming, technical

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Ahrefs
Semrush
BuzzSumo

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Links Without Mentions,
Lots Of News Articles
Content Title Content URL Author
Elmiron drug linked to vision problems in women https://www.wral.com/elmiron-drug-linked-to-vision-problems-in-women/193138
How Giving Tuesday impacts the Triangle https://abc11.com/society/how-giving-tuesday-impacts-the-triangle-/5732175/Michael Perchick
5 Best Divorce Attorneys in San Antonio 🥇 https://kevsbest.com/divorce-attorneys-in-san-antonio/
Elevating Others Scholarship at Pennsylvania State University Fayette, Eberly Campus (Penn State Fayette) | Uloophttps://fepsu.uloop.com/scholarships/view.php/1079951447/Elevating-Others-Sch
Whitley law firm new bern nc http://myphamsandy.com/cne0zhw/whitley-law-firm-new-bern-nc.html
‘Air hunger’ opinion a factor in $1.5M settlement – North Carolina Lawyers Weeklyhttps://nclawyersweekly.com/2014/03/18/air-hunger-opinion-a-factor-in-1-5m-seDavid Donovan

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Internal Links
Links from one page on your site to
another page on your site.
These also pass PageRank.

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My Old Process For A Single Page1. search site:whatever.com term
2. Settings > Search Settings, change to 100
3. Inspect > go to Console tab, see attached code and change the domain to your own
copy and paste the results and you have a list
4. Screaming Frog: In Configuration > Spider > Advanced tab click "Always Follow Redirects"
5. Screaming Frog: In Configuration > Custom > Search, choose ”Contains" and add in your targeted
term or phrase to make sure it exists on the pages.
6. Screaming Frog: Paste URLs and run to get the list of pages that contain the keyword
7. Screaming Frog: When finished, copy these URLs from the custom tab for your filter, now we
check if the link already exists.
8. Screaming Frog: In Configuration > Custom > Search, change to ”Does Not Contain" add the end
part of the URL/URLs that you want to build the links to.
You probably don't want the whole URL because we use relative paths sometimes. This supports
regex, so you can match multiple pages.
Upload your URLs to crawl them, then export that final list when it finishes the same as you did
previously.
9. Optional, but you probably want to connect GSC, GA, Ahrefs, etc to get data on traffic and
strength of the page to prioritize which ones you want to do first, which you can do all within
Screaming Frog.
Code snippet for 3:
urls = $$('a');for (url in urls) {
var string = urls[url].href,
domain = "whatever.com",
google = "google.com",
search = "search?",
cache = "webcache";
if ( string.indexOf(search) <1 &&
string.indexOf(cache) <1 &&
string.indexOf(google) <1 &&
string.indexOf(domain) >=0 ) {
console.log ( string );
}

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@patrickstox
My Old Process For A Single Page1. search site:whatever.com term
2. Settings > Search Settings, change to 100
3. Inspect > go to Console tab, see attached code and change the domain to your own
copy and paste the results and you have a list
4. Screaming Frog: In Configuration > Spider > Advanced tab click "Always Follow Redirects"
5. Screaming Frog: In Configuration > Custom > Search, choose ”Contains" and add in your targeted
term or phrase to make sure it exists on the pages.
6. Screaming Frog: Paste URLs and run to get the list of pages that contain the keyword
7. Screaming Frog: When finished, copy these URLs from the custom tab for your filter, now we
check if the link already exists.
8. Screaming Frog: In Configuration > Custom > Search, change to ”Does Not Contain" add the end
part of the URL/URLs that you want to build the links to.
You probably don't want the whole URL because we use relative paths sometimes. This supports
regex, so you can match multiple pages.
Upload your URLs to crawl them, then export that final list when it finishes the same as you did
previously.
9. Optional, but you probably want to connect GSC, GA, Ahrefs, etc to get data on traffic and
strength of the page to prioritize which ones you want to do first, which you can do all within
Screaming Frog.
Code snippet for 3:
urls = $$('a');for (url in urls) {
var string = urls[url].href,
domain = "whatever.com",
google = "google.com",
search = "search?",
cache = "webcache";
if ( string.indexOf(search) <1 &&
string.indexOf(cache) <1 &&
string.indexOf(google) <1 &&
string.indexOf(domain) >=0 ) {
console.log ( string );
}
Complex, time consuming, technical

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@patrickstox
What I’d recommend
Link Opportunities – Free as part of Site Audit in Ahrefs
Webmaster Tools (AWT)
Link Whisperer – Paid, WordPress

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We’re Not Talking A Ton Of Links
Look at your competition. Most local services have less
than 150 Referring Domains.
Many are less than 30 and still on the first page.

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@patrickstox
What Comes Next
• Content
• Data
• Creative
• Public Relations

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@patrickstox
Slides are available here: https://patrickstox.com/local-link-building