How Many Backlinks Does a Local Business Really Need?
If you’ve read anything about SEO, you’ve probably heard the advice: “You need backlinks to rank”.
That’s true, but how many does a local business actually need before it starts seeing results? The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all. For a local café, plumber, or accountant, the backlink “magic number” is very different from what a national e-commerce brand would need.
In this post, we’ll break down what backlinks are, why they matter for local SEO, and how many you realistically need to compete in your area.
What Are Backlinks (and Why Do They Matter)?
A backlink is simply a link from another website to yours. Search engines see them as “votes of confidence”.
If a trusted local blog, directory, or news site links to you, then Google sees that as a trust signal.
More high-quality backlinks mean higher chance your site appears in local searches.
For local businesses, backlinks help with:
Building credibility in your area.
Showing Google you’re relevant to your community.
Outranking competitors who don’t have strong link profiles.
Do Local Businesses Really Need Lots of Backlinks?
Here’s the good news: you don’t need hundreds of backlinks.
Local search is less competitive than national search. Google puts more weight on local signals (like your Google Business Profile, citations, and reviews) than on sheer backlink numbers.
For most small businesses:
5–20 quality backlinks from relevant, trusted sources can make a big difference.
A single backlink from a strong local site (like your chamber of commerce or local newspaper) can outweigh dozens of weak links.
Quality Over Quantity
It’s better to have:
A backlink from a local news site (very strong)
A backlink from a supplier or partner site (strong)
A backlink from a niche blog about your industry (good)
Than dozens of low-value links from random, irrelevant sites. Google can actually ignore or even penalise spammy backlinks.
How to Check How Many Backlinks You Need
Look at your competitors. Search your target keyword (e.g., “plumber in Southampton”), then check how many backlinks the top 3 results have.
Compare to your site. If they each have 20 quality backlinks, you don’t need 200, you just need enough to get close or slightly above.
Prioritise local relevance. One link from a Hampshire business directory is worth more than 10 links from a blog in the US.
Where to Get Easy Backlinks as a Local Business
Local directories (but only trusted ones, not spammy link farms).
Chamber of Commerce or business association listings.
Sponsorships or local event pages.
Guest posts on community blogs.
Suppliers, partners, or industry associations.
What Matters the Most?
For a local business, the number of backlinks isn’t what matters most, it’s the quality and relevance of them.
You don’t need to chase hundreds of links. Instead, focus on building a handful of solid, trustworthy backlinks from sites that matter in your community.
Combined with good content and an optimised Google Business Profile, that’s usually all it takes to climb local search rankings.
Want a quick win? Check out our £10 backlink service, where you can sponsor a contextual backlink in one of our blog posts, giving your site a relevant, trustworthy link that helps boost your SEO without the hassle.
Do backlinks still matter for SEO?
Backlinks remain a top ranking factor, but for local businesses, quality and relevance matter far more than sheer numbers.
Can I rank locally without backlinks?
It’s possible if competition is low, but backlinks usually give you the edge you need to move up.
Are directory backlinks worth it?
Only from trusted, relevant directories. Avoid spammy ones that exist solely to sell links.
What’s better: one strong backlink or many weak ones?
One strong backlink from a local authority site usually outweighs dozens of weak ones.
How do I know if a backlink is “good”?
Ask: is the site relevant to my business or area? Is it trusted? If yes, it’s probably valuable.
