Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jeremy Rivera on his Unscripted SEO podcast to discuss my approach to link building and local SEO. The conversation was particularly focused on helping small businesses build effective, relevant backlink profiles. I wanted to share some key insights from our discussion and expand on a few points that I think deserve additional attention.
Listen To The Whole Episode
Watch The Episode
I cover some of the process of link relevance auditing in a screenshare in the video, so it’s worth the watch.
Geographic Relevance for Local Business Success
One of the topics I'm most passionate about is the critical importance of geographic relevance in local SEO. During the podcast, I emphasized that “Local relevance is absolutely critical for small businesses. A link from a respected local business organization or community website can have more impact on your local rankings than dozens of random links from unrelated sources. It's about building your authority within your specific geographic market first.”
In my years of experience with Semantic Mastery, I've consistently seen that local businesses achieve better results when they prioritize geographic relevance in their link building strategy. The most effective local links typically come from:
- Chamber of Commerce directories
- Local business associations
- Area-specific business directories
- Local news websites
- Regional industry organizations
Jeremy had an interesting take on this, doing a “productized a process to do community cleanups. If somebody wants to make a positive difference in the community cleaning up trash and be able to get press release links, some nice social links on Facebook and get a placement on a subreddit for your community.
(This handy because Reddit is super difficult to please. They won't let you in unless you are serving the community or don't seem like you're overly self-promotional.
After testing it seems if this company is doing a beach cleanup, they don't mind that the post says, Sarasota Beach Cleanup by McDougald SEO or other branded text. This is a great way to get relevant links from relevant pages using branded anchors.”
Competitive Link Analysis as a Foundation
When Jeremy asked about where businesses should start with their link building efforts, I emphasized the importance of competitive analysis. As I explained during our conversation: “When you analyze your competitors' links, you're not just looking at numbers – you're uncovering a roadmap of what Google already considers relevant and authoritative in your market. This isn't about blindly copying your competition; it's about understanding the ecosystem of links that Google has already validated as meaningful for your specific niche and location.”
Before starting any link-building campaign, I always recommend analyzing:
- The average number of links successful competitors have
- The types of anchor text they use
- The topical categories of their linking domains
- The geographic distribution of their links
The Power of Relevance in Link Building
One point I particularly wanted to drive home during the podcast was my philosophy on relevance versus traditional metrics. Too many SEO professionals get caught up in chasing arbitrary numbers like Domain Authority (DA) or Domain Rating (DR). Instead, I advocate focusing on three crucial levels of relevance:
- Referring page relevance
- Domain-wide relevance
- Backlink profile relevance
As I emphasized in the discussion: “Stop worrying about Domain Authority, Domain Rating, or any other third-party metrics. These aren't what Google uses to evaluate links.
What matters is the relevance of the linking site to your business and your location.
A link from a local chamber of commerce with a DA of 20 is worth far more than a link from a random high-DA site with no topical or geographic connection to your business.”
Implementing These Strategies in Your Own SEO Efforts

Throughout my career at Semantic Mastery, I've consistently seen that businesses achieve the best results when they take a methodical, relevance-focused approach to link building. While it might be tempting to try to build hundreds of links quickly, focusing on quality and relevance will yield better results over time.
For those interested in diving deeper into these concepts, I encourage you to listen to the full podcast episode. Jeremy and I covered many more detailed strategies and specific implementations that couldn't fit in this summary.
And if you're looking to implement these strategies in your own business, remember that effective SEO is always about playing the long game. Start with a thorough competitive analysis, focus on building relevant links from both topical and geographic perspectives, and don't get distracted by vanity metrics that don't truly impact your rankings.
Want to learn more about our approach to strategic link building? Check out our link building services SEO training program or join our for more detailed guidance.