Local Links are the Key for SEO for Electricians
Link building is something that most small trade businesses try once, experience confusion and disinterest, and never come back. They hear about acquiring backlinks, list their site with a few random directories they’ve found, and then wait for their rankings to improve. They don’t. So they decide that link building is a fad, or something they just can’t do. But the actual answer is more complicated and more fascinating – because local seo for electricians is a response to a very particular type of link that you don’t read much about if you’re following national SEO advice. Local links. Links built through community relationships, pointing back to your website, from websites that are also located in the same physical area you serve. These links have an importance that a mere listing in a directory on a site in a different country just doesn’t.
Google’s local search algorithm is attempting to answer a key question: is this business a part of this community? Citations help answer that. Reviews help answer that. But local backlinks are probably the best proof of all because you can’t fake them en masse. You can’t use software to get a link from the local newspaper’s website or a resource link from the local community association. You get them by being involved, doing things people might want to link to. That’s why they’re important, and why you want to build them.
Sponsor Things That Already Have an Audience
Local sponsorships are one of the most overlooked link building opportunities for electricians. Little League, school fundraisers, 5K fun runs, local art festivals – these types of organizations all have websites and virtually all of them feature sponsor logos with links to their sites. The quality of the link is dependent on how well established the site is, but topical and geographic relevance is usually good. A link from the Little League in your hometown sends a clear, strong message to Google: this electrician is a prominent local company that’s trusted by other community organizations.
It’s not as expensive as you think. Paying to put a name on a team jacket or donating to an auction at the local school doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune on advertising. It does require asking and a bit of effort. They’re so appreciative of the support from local businesses that they’re often willing to give you a shout out – in some cases with a special sponsor spotlight article on their social media or newsletter, which can earn you some more links from residents who re-share.
Get to Know Your Local Contractors
Tradespeople have been referring each other for as long as trades have existed. The plumber who uses an electrician, the general contractor who has a short list of subcontractors, the HVAC contractor who needs the electrical rough-in to be done before they can do their work – you can find these relationships everywhere and most electricians have at least a couple. But many don’t take the extra step of turning them into clicks.
A page on your website titled “we recommend these local contractors” with a list of the companies you work with and trust allows your client list to be reciprocated on their website. Neither is creating something out of thin air. You really do recommend these businesses. They genuinely do refer you. When you put that connection on both sites it forms a network of locally relevant links that cross link and indicate to Google that your business is part of a local community. It’s not a scheme. It’s just digitalising the offline world.
I’m using home inspectors as an example here because they often provide resources for home buyers. Home inspectors who add a list of local electricians who they recommend to perform follow-up work (and link to the electrician’s website) are providing some very useful local backlinks. Nurturing the relationship, keeping in touch, making it easy for them to recommend you, is a good investment of time.
Get Quoted in Local Coverage
Journalists are always looking for local contacts and electricians have a ton of knowledge that homeowners are interested in. There are a lot of different angles to explore when it comes to electrical safety – wildfires and overloaded circuits, the surge in electric vehicle sales meaning more of us need to install EV charging stations in our homes, the growing trend towards older housing and its risks of unsafe electrical wiring, and generator safety during blackouts. All of these can be the subject of a news story with a local expert to talk about them.
Getting quoted isn’t hard, though. Identify the reporter or editor at your local newspaper who handles stories relating to homes, real estate or the community. Include a short, clearly written email explaining you’re a local electrician and available for comment on home electrical issues. Let them know you’re not pitching an article about your business, but would be happy to provide insight for their stories. Most local media will hold on to the email address and call if they have a story that needs it. And most media sites will link to your website if they mention you. A local news mention is worth a dozen do-it-yourself submissions.
The Value of Slow, Steady, Link Building
A way to smother local link building is to think of it as something with a beginning and an end. An initial flurry of activity, followed by months of inactivity, results in a link profile that looks exactly how it was built – forced activity that quickly died out. The local link profiles that perform well over time and continue to generate authority are those that develop organically, proportionately and in lock-step with a real business that is active in its community.
New sponsorships as opportunities arise. New contractors as you grow your business network. A new piece of local content every couple of months. A rare quote from the press when there’s a newsworthy story. None of these, on its own, is a huge deal. Over the course of two years, that constant effort compounds to build a local backlink profile that’s hard for a competitor to build rapidly, because it represents a business that’s actually been participating in the community it serves.
