Local Link Love at SES Local Search: ILM:07

Sage Lewis (Sage Rock ) - don't put the  cart before the horse.  All link campaigns start with content.  Think win/win - in order to develop a local link campaign you must have some appeal for local sites.  Link-worthy sites are hard to come by, they require time, dedication and commitment.  So what's a linker to do?

• Integrate the community into your corporate events
• Create an offshoot service or product that helps the local community
• Promote the good work you are doing in your community
• Augment the values you have as an organization

You just don't build the site and hope the links will come, ask for the link!

Matt Stoddart (LinkWorth) - How do you get local links?  Where do you find them?  Get the obvious ones - the BBB, Chamber of Commerce links, search for "city/state  + associations" to find relevant organizations. 

Local is Social - local directories, calssified, review communities - citysearch, yelp, local.com, craiglist.  Join region-specific groups within large social sites - facebook, myspace, linkedin.  Find local & niche bloggers and interact - technorati, mybloglog.

Buying local links, search for relevant, non-competing businesses to buy directly from, ask them or offer to buy.  Buy through broker, or buy a link from google - $1995 a year, buy the google mini - they give you a link.

Be creative - donate to local charities and request a link from their site.  Sponsor a youth sports team.  Local restaurants, churches, retailers ... any local businesses with a website - offer specific coupons.

Ian McAnerin (McAnerin Networks) - Seearch engines can be a great way to find links - its what they do!  To find a relevant directory or links page try searching for one using "directory indicators".  Look for "carpet cleaning" + "sumbit.php" or "addurl.asp" - "coffee" + "submit site", "philadelphia add url".

Other places, DMOZ, local associations, charitable work, contests, related sites (ex. Movers < > real estate agents), reciprocal links - stay on topic with these.  How do you ask for a link?  Wrong way - spammy emails to people.  Don't send an email about "Page Rank" or "being important to seo".  Right way - look for invitation (form, outbound links, etc.), stay on topic, get the address and name right - personalize it, explain why you're relevant.

Non-traditional - ratings & reviews, testimonials, press releases, contests, tools & utilities, entertainment.  Evaluating links - don't evaluate just on PR, its not the be all and end all.  Search position, # of other links on the page, context and relevance, neighborhood (good/bad), anchor Text, 302 redirects, cache.  Watch Out For:  nofollow attribute, frames. 

Use the phone!  More personal.