If you’re looking to raise your site’s search engine rankings and increase site traffic, consider learning the art of building links. A little well executed link building, you see, enhances your digital reputation and makes it more likely that people will find your site. As with many other SEO tactics, you need to be strategic when building links to promote your small business.

1. Claim Mentions Without Links
Do some poking around online, and if you happen to see your business listed on various websites, request each site to include a backlink to your site. Remember to request backlinks only in positive mentions and references. Easy as that.

2. Be a Community Player
Do you or any of your team members volunteer with a local nonprofit or community event? Do you or your business donate to any local schools or charities? It’s very possible that your local nonprofits will mention your support, and you can then politely ask them for backlinks.

3. Offer Scholarships
This can be pricey, so you’ll want to budget accordingly, but explore offering a local scholarship through your small business. You should most certainly receive backlinks from the local educational institution, which can have a lot of impact (especially when the backlinks come from .edu sites). It would make sense to limit applicants to your local area, and you may even wish to set parameters for your scholarship so that it pertains to your specific industry.

4. Befriend the Bloggers
Chances are, there are several influencer bloggers and social media posters in your area. Try pinpointing a couple that are aligned with your brand story, and see if you can create a partnership. Maybe they write a piece about your business (or you write a guest post for them) in exchange for a free product or service. Many influencers love these kinds of partnerships, as they’re constantly looking for new content ideas.

5. Hustle Hard
Every time you write content for your website or blog, share it on social – but also share it on LinkedIn. Share it everywhere you can possible share it. If you’d like to take this concept one step further, pitch compelling blog post/content ideas to local websites that accept guest content. If they like your idea, you (and your business) are off and running to getting in front of a whole new audience. And if you’d like to take it even another step further, consider offering testimonials to other websites that are aligned with your brand. You read that right. You’d be the one offering the testimonial, not vice versa. Because backlinks.