Local SEO Basics
Do Backlinks Matter for Local SEO?
What the 2026 survey shows
For the map pack, the quality of links to your Business Profile landing page ranked 25th in the Whitespark survey, and the number of links from locally relevant sites ranked 26th. For regular local organic results, the quality of links to your domain ranked third, and links from industry-relevant sites ranked fifth.
The report also says link signals lost a little weight in the map pack from 2025 to 2026. My read: links help your website rank, and your website helps your profile, but a link campaign will not fix a profile with the wrong category or no reviews.
Links worth getting
The good ones are the ones you would want even if Google did not exist:
- Your local chamber of commerce or business association, if you are a member.
- Trade groups and licensing bodies that list their members.
- Suppliers and manufacturers that list approved contractors or dealers.
- Sponsorships of local teams, events, or charities that link to sponsors.
- Local news stories and partner businesses that mention you.
- Customers or businesses you have worked with, when they mention the project on their own site.
Links to stay away from
Packages that promise a set number of links for a low monthly fee are usually networks built to manipulate rankings. Google’s spam policies cover link schemes, and the risk is not worth it for a service business that depends on its listing.
How many links do you need?
There is no number. Look at the websites of the three businesses ahead of you and see where their links come from. If they have chamber, supplier, and local press links and you have none, you now have a to-do list. Five or ten genuine links from relevant places is a respectable start for most small service businesses. That is my rule of thumb, not a study.
Citations are a different thing
Directory listings that repeat your name, address, and phone number are called citations. They help confirm your business details but are not the same as editorial links. I cover them in my guides to local citations and NAP consistency.
How to ask for a link without being awkward
Most good links come from a short, personal message to a person who already knows you. If you are a chamber member, ask whether your listing links to your website and whether you can add a short description. If you buy from a supplier, ask whether they have a page of approved installers. If you sponsored an event, ask whether the sponsor page can link to you.
Offer something useful in return where you can, such as a customer story, a photo from the event, or a short quote. Keep it brief, say exactly which page you would like linked, and make it easy for them to say yes.
A link to a real service page works better than a link to your home page, because it tells Google and visitors what the link is about.
The links you already control
Your own pages linking to each other is the cheapest link work there is. A guide about Business Profile categories should link to the page about your services. A city page should link to the service pages that apply there. These internal links help visitors and help search engines understand which pages matter most.
Before chasing anything new, make sure your best pages are easy to reach from your menu and from related pages. It costs nothing and takes an afternoon.
Want a second pair of eyes on this?
Local SEO for Denver service businesses. We help HVAC, tree service, and home-service companies rank in the Map Pack and turn searches into booked jobs.
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