How can small businesses build backlinks effectively?

Building backlinks can definitely be challenging for small businesses with limited resources and brand recognition. However, there are some effective strategies you can employ:

One great approach is local link building by getting listed on online local business directories like Google Business Profile, Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc. You can also reach out to local bloggers, community sites, newspapers and organizations to try and get mentioned with a link.

Creating high-quality, share-worthy content that provides value to your target audience is another backlink builder. This could be guides, how-tos, tools, original research - anything that others will find useful and want to link to as a resource.

Guest blogging on relevant industry blogs and sites allows you to get a backlink in author bio sections. Just make sure your guest posts are informative and disclose you're an industry professional.

Don't overlook relationships you already have - vendors, suppliers, partners. Reach out and ask if they'd be willing to link to your website from theirs. Existing connections can be low-hanging fruit.

If you have any awesome linkable assets like infographics, videos, or original data research - promote those to bloggers and journalists in the space to try and get backlinks when they reference those assets.

Finally, broken link building can work by finding broken links on relevant sites and letting them know while suggesting they replace it with a link to a similar resource on your own site.

The key is to focus on building relevant backlinks from authoritative sites through outreach, creating great content, and promoting linkable assets you have. It takes sustained effort but can really pay off for improving SEO over time.