Specialism · Link building
Link building that strengthens the whole brand.
Links from other websites work like recommendations. Google reads them as a sign of trust. We build them for your franchise’s domain, so the brand and every location benefit.
When
Time for link building if…
- your pages are technically sound and have good content, but just miss the first page
- competitors in your sector have far more links from other sites
- locations get mentioned locally, but those mentions never link to the site
- you don’t know what your current link profile looks like
What we do
Map the link profile first, then build with focus.
- 01
Audit
We map your current backlinks and compare them with those of competitors in your market.
- 02
Clean up
We flag links that add nothing or could do harm, and work out where the biggest gains are.
- 03
National links
Relevant mentions on sites in your sector that link to the brand domain.
- 04
Local links
Links from each location’s region to that location’s own page.
- 05
Anchor text
A natural mix of link text, so the profile doesn’t look artificial.
- 06
Measure
Every month you see which links were added and what that does to your rankings.
Why franchising is different
Link building for one domain with many locations.
A franchise has an advantage that independent businesses don’t: every link to the brand domain strengthens all the location pages on that domain. The condition is that locations don’t build their own separate websites. Otherwise you scatter the authority across dozens of small sites.
Locally there are opportunities that often go unused. A location sponsors the sports club, appears in the local paper or works with other businesses in the area. A link from those sites to the location’s own page helps it get found locally.
We handle national link building centrally and give locations a simple way of working for local links, within the brand guidelines.
By stage
Which link building suits your link profile.
The more competitive the market, the stronger your link profile needs to be. So our approach depends on where you are now.
Link building works best when the technical side and content are already good. If a page sits just outside Google’s first page, relevant links can make the difference. If the foundation isn’t there yet, we start with that.
- No backlinks yet: a first foundation of simple mentions, for a relatively small budget
- Early-stage link profile: cleaning up, varying anchor text and links on sites in the same sector
- Advanced link profile: quality over quantity, with links from well-known sites that have traffic and rankings of their own
Part of
Every specialism works for the whole franchise brand.
This specialism is part of Hybrid and On-demand, used for the brand and for every location. Not a franchise, but still have a question? You can also hire us for this on its own.
Other specialisms
Frequently asked questions
About link building.
What is link building?
Link building is getting links from other websites to yours. To search engines, those backlinks act as recommendations and give your site authority. The aim is a link profile that looks as natural as possible, built up in different ways.
Are all backlinks equally valuable?
No. A link from a trustworthy, relevant site in your sector carries more weight than a link from an unknown site. If you have hardly any links yet, less relevant mentions have value too: Google comes across your site more often and finds new pages faster.
What’s the difference between internal and external links?
Internal links point to pages within your own site; external links come from other websites. Both matter for SEO, but only links from other sites to your domain build authority.
Are you allowed to buy links?
Search engines see bought links as manipulation and discourage it. In practice, hardly anyone links of their own accord to a site that isn’t well known yet, and a lot of links are bought. We’ll talk honestly with you about the risks involved, and above all look for reasons why others would want to link to you, such as information that isn’t available anywhere else.
Is link building a one-off job?
No. It’s an ongoing process: finding new opportunities, maintaining existing links and making sure your content stays worth linking to. If you stop, competitors will catch up over time.
A good conversation first, then a plan.
In one hour we discuss where you stand and which opportunities we see. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you.