Backlinks for Small Businesses: Are They Really Worth Chasing?

For years, backlinks for small businesses and their websites have been treated like gold in SEO.

Many business owners assume that getting more websites to link to theirs will improve their Google rankings and bring in more customers.

Unfortunately, it rarely works that neatly.

What Is a Backlink?

A backlink is simply a link from another website to yours.

For example, my window cleaning company joined a local Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber has a page listing its members, including a link to my website. That’s a backlink.

Google uses links as one of many signals to understand websites and pages. But that doesn’t mean every backlink is valuable.

I’d rather have a few links from good websites than hundreds of links from websites nobody has ever heard of.

Where do you get good backlinks?

For a local business like mine, useful backlinks might come from:

• A local Chamber of Commerce
• A professional or trade organization
• A local news website
• A supplier or manufacturer I actually work with
• A community organization I’ve sponsored
• Another reputable local business

These links make sense because there’s a legitimate reason for them to exist.

There’s a difference between getting a link because your business belongs to a local organization vs. paying someone to create 200 links on websites you’ve never heard of.

I Wouldn’t Buy 500 Backlinks Just Because Someone Emailed Me – Or Called Me For That Matter.

Your business has probably received an email promising hundreds of “high-authority backlinks.

Be skeptical.

Google has long warned against link schemes designed primarily to manipulate search ranking, including paying for links.

A backlink should ideally exist because there’s a real connection between the two websites, not because somebody sold me a package.

I Like Backlinks I Don’t Have to Chase

Some of the best backlinks can happen naturally because you’ve done something worth mentioning.

Maybe you’ve sponsored a local event, joined a business organization, or helped a reporter with an article. Perhaps you’ve created a useful guide or partnered with another local company. Those are legitimate reasons for another website to link to yours.

You’re just doing normal business activities that occasionally produce links.

So, Should a Small Business Website Still Care About Backlinks?

Absolutely.

Just don’t make backlinks the be-all and end-all of your SEO efforts.

Look for legitimate opportunities to earn links from relevant local and industry websites. Avoid buying piles of questionable links just to make an SEO report look impressive.

For a small local business, a handful of relevant backlinks can be worth more than hundreds of questionable ones.

Google can be difficult enough to understand without trying to buy its affection.

How to Get Backlinks in 2026: 10 Tactics That Actually Work – Semrush.com

Summary by ChatGPT: How to Get Backlinks in 2026 (Semrush)

The article explains 10 practical ways to earn backlinks that can improve website authority, search visibility, and potentially visibility in AI-generated answers.

The 10 recommended strategies:

Find unlinked mentions: Ask websites already mentioning your business to add a link.

Fix broken backlinks: Repair existing links pointing to pages that no longer work.

Replace competitors’ broken links: Offer your relevant content as a replacement.

Use business relationships: Earn links through partners, suppliers, customers, and professional organizations.

Get listed on resource pages: Find reputable websites recommending businesses or resources in your industry.

Help journalists: Provide expert opinions or information in exchange for possible mentions and backlinks.

Appear on podcasts: Participate in interviews that link to your website.

Write guest articles: Contribute useful content to reputable industry websites.

Create valuable original content: Publish research, statistics, or resources others want to reference.

Study competitors’ backlinks: Identify worthwhile linking opportunities your competitors have already discovered.

The Main Takeaway

Quality, relevance, and credibility matter more than the number of backlinks. Focus on earning legitimate links from trustworthy websites that serve a relevant audience.

The article also emphasizes that brand mentions and backlinks may help AI systems discover and understand your business, although AI visibility is not guaranteed.

For small local businesses: I would prioritize local business relationships, chamber of commerce directories, relevant industry websites, and reclaiming broken backlinks before spending money on elaborate link-building campaigns.

Are backlinks worth chasing?