How Can Romford Businesses Get Local Links to Improve Their SEO?
January 14, 2026
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If you’re trying to get your business found more often on Google in Romford, Essex and the surrounding areas, you’ve probably already come across the term backlinks.
A backlink is simply a link from another website to yours.
These links can help search engines discover pages and understand relationships between websites. Google also confirms that links can be used as a signal when assessing the relevance of pages.
But that doesn’t mean the answer is to get as many links as possible.
For a local business, the goal should be to build relevant, genuine links from websites that make sense for your business and your area.
A link from a respected local organisation, supplier, business partner or industry website can be far more useful than dozens of links from random directories nobody has ever heard of.
Here’s how businesses in Romford can start building better local links.
A local backlink is a link to your website from another website with a connection to your local area.
That might include:
These links can help strengthen the overall online footprint surrounding your business while also putting your website in front of people who may genuinely be interested in what you offer.
For local search, Google says results are primarily influenced by relevance, distance and prominence.
Local links shouldn’t therefore be treated as a magic ranking trick. They should form part of a wider local SEO strategy alongside your website content, Google Business Profile, reviews and overall online presence.
Business directories are one of the easiest places to start, but quality matters.
Don’t submit your company to hundreds of websites just because they allow free listings.
Instead, concentrate on directories that are genuinely relevant to people in your area.
For example, businesses in Romford can look for directories covering:
There are currently local resources such as the Havering Local Business Guide, which features businesses from areas including Romford, Hornchurch, Upminster, Rainham and Collier Row.
When creating listings, make sure your basic business information is consistent.
That includes your:
Don’t create a completely different description for the sake of squeezing keywords into every directory.
Keep it accurate and useful.
Local business organisations can provide far more value than simply giving you another website link.
They can also introduce you to other businesses, partnerships, events and potential customers.
The Havering Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for example, provides networking opportunities and a members’ directory, while Havering Council also works with the Chamber as part of its local business support network.
Depending on your business, you could explore:
Romford also has its own Business Improvement District, Romford BID, which works with businesses in the town centre and runs initiatives designed to support and promote the local area.
You shouldn’t join organisations purely because you want a backlink.
The best opportunities normally come from actually participating.
One of the most natural ways to earn links is through businesses you already know.
Think about the companies you regularly work with.
Perhaps you’re a builder who works closely with an architect.
A wedding photographer who works with local venues.
An accountant who works with independent businesses.
A restaurant supplied by a local food producer.
Or a web developer working with designers, photographers and marketing specialists.
There may be perfectly legitimate reasons for those businesses to mention or link to one another.
You could create:
The important part is that the relationship is genuine.
A useful backlink often happens naturally because two businesses have actually done something together.
If you’ve completed work for another local company, don’t just put their logo on your website.
Create a proper case study.
Explain:
Then send it to the customer.
If they’re pleased with the project, they may be happy to share the case study or link to it from their own website.
That gives you useful website content while also creating a completely natural opportunity for a backlink.
At HelloScotty, for example, our own portfolio allows us to showcase the websites we’ve created for businesses rather than simply telling visitors that we build websites.
The same principle can work in almost any industry.
A common link-building problem is that businesses want people to link to their website but haven’t created anything particularly useful to link to.
Your homepage isn’t always enough.
Useful content gives other websites a reason to reference you.
That might include:
Google’s own guidance recommends creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, rather than producing pages primarily to manipulate search rankings.
So don’t create a 2,000-word article just because somebody told you long articles rank better.
Create something your customers would genuinely want to read, save or share.
If you operate locally, your knowledge of the area can also become content.
A wedding supplier could create:
10 Wedding Venues Around Essex We Love Working With
A landscaper might publish:
What Plants Work Well in Essex Gardens?
A commercial contractor could produce:
Things Romford Businesses Should Consider Before Refurbishing Their Premises
A photographer might create:
Great Locations for Business Photography Around Romford
These articles naturally give you opportunities to mention relevant local organisations and businesses.
If the companies you’ve featured genuinely find the article useful, some may share or link to it.
Again, don’t force it.
The content needs to be worthwhile even if nobody links to it.
Local sponsorship can also create legitimate link opportunities.
This could include supporting:
Many organisations have sponsor or supporter pages on their websites.
If your business genuinely supports the event, being listed with a link to your website is completely natural.
The key word is genuinely.
Don’t sponsor something you’ve got absolutely no connection with purely because somebody promised you a backlink.
Look for causes, organisations and events that actually make sense for your business.
Supporting community organisations isn’t just about SEO.
It can help strengthen your reputation and establish real relationships in the area where you operate.
If your business already supports a charity, local club or community initiative, ask whether they have a supporter or partner page.
You might also contribute something useful rather than simply donating money.
For example:
If the organisation chooses to acknowledge your support on its website, you may naturally gain a relevant local link at the same time.
Local news websites are another potential source of exposure.
But don’t email journalists asking:
“Can you link to my website?”
Give them something worth talking about instead.
Potential stories might include:
A genuine local story has a much better chance of receiving coverage than a generic press release announcing that your business exists.
Even if the resulting article doesn’t contain a backlink, local press coverage can still increase awareness and introduce your business to new customers.
If you’re an approved supplier, installer, reseller or stockist, check whether the companies you work with have online directories.
Many manufacturers and suppliers have pages such as:
If you’re genuinely authorised to appear there, this can be a very relevant backlink.
It’s also useful to customers.
Someone already looking for that manufacturer or service can discover your business through the directory.
That’s exactly the sort of link worth having: one that can potentially send you actual customers, not just satisfy an SEO spreadsheet.
Think about companies you genuinely buy from.
If you’ve had a particularly good experience with a supplier, software company or professional service, consider sending them a testimonial.
Businesses often publish customer testimonials or case studies on their websites.
If they include your business name and website alongside your review, that can provide another natural link.
Don’t turn it into:
“I’ll give you a testimonial if you give me a backlink.”
Simply provide useful feedback.
If they choose to feature your business, great.
Sometimes another website may already be talking about your business without linking to it.
Perhaps you’ve:
Search your company name occasionally and see what appears.
If you discover a legitimate mention without a website link, you can politely contact the website owner and ask whether they’d be willing to add one.
Don’t demand it.
A simple request is enough.
When deciding whether a link opportunity is worthwhile, ask yourself:
Is this website relevant?
Does it relate to Romford, Essex, your industry or your customers?
Is it a real website?
Does it contain genuine content and appear to have an actual audience?
Would somebody realistically click this link?
Could the link introduce a potential customer to your business?
Does the link make sense?
Would it still be useful if Google didn’t exist?
That final question is particularly important.
If a backlink only exists because somebody is trying to manipulate rankings, it’s probably not the type of link you should be chasing.
You’ve probably seen offers promising things such as:
500 backlinks for £29.99
or
Guaranteed page-one rankings with high-authority links.
Be very careful.
Google specifically identifies link-related practices designed to manipulate search rankings as potential spam. Its policies include buying or selling links for ranking purposes, excessive link exchanges and automated link creation.
That doesn’t mean every paid placement on the internet is forbidden.
Advertising and sponsorship links are perfectly normal, but Google provides specific ways for websites to identify sponsored links appropriately.
What you want to avoid is paying somebody to generate hundreds of artificial links purely to influence rankings.
Quality beats quantity.
Linking to another local business isn’t automatically a problem.
Neither is somebody linking back to you.
The issue is when link exchanges become artificial.
For example:
“You link to my website and I’ll link to yours.”
Repeated across dozens or hundreds of unrelated sites, this starts looking less like genuine recommendations and more like an attempt to manipulate search rankings.
Link to websites because they’re genuinely useful to your visitors.
If they happen to link back because you’ve got something worth referencing, even better.
Backlinks can support your SEO, but they won’t fix everything on their own.
You should also make sure your website has solid foundations.
That includes:
If somebody offers you backlinks but hasn’t even looked at your website, that’s worth questioning.
There’s little point sending authority to pages that are confusing, broken or don’t clearly explain what your business provides.
There’s no magic number.
Ten genuinely relevant links can be far more useful than hundreds of poor-quality ones.
Instead of asking:
“How many backlinks do I need?”
ask:
“Where would I genuinely want my business to be mentioned?”
That changes the way you approach link building completely.
You start thinking about your customers rather than search engines.
If you’re starting from scratch, don’t overcomplicate it.
Begin with your existing relationships.
Link building is usually most effective when it grows out of real business activity rather than existing as a completely separate SEO exercise.
You don’t need thousands of backlinks to build a strong local presence.
What matters is creating a website and online profile that consistently demonstrate who you are, what you do and where you operate.
For businesses in Romford, Havering and across Essex, that can mean combining good website content with local relationships, directories, reviews, partnerships and genuinely useful resources.
At HelloScotty, we build and manage WordPress websites for businesses that want a stronger, more professional online presence.
From affordable starter websites through to larger growth-focused builds, ongoing hosting, website management and SEO foundations, we make sure the technical side of your website is set up properly before worrying about SEO shortcuts.
No mass backlink packages.
No unnecessary jargon.
Just practical improvements designed to give your business a stronger foundation online.
Local backlinks are links to your website from other websites associated with your local area, such as business organisations, local directories, suppliers, community groups, news websites or other nearby businesses.
Google confirms that it uses links as one of the signals for understanding the relevance of pages and discovering content. However, backlinks are only one part of SEO and should be combined with useful content, good technical foundations and a strong overall website.
Avoid buying links specifically designed to manipulate Google rankings. Google lists paid links intended to manipulate search results among the practices that can violate its spam policies.
They can be useful when they’re genuine, relevant directories that people actually use. Prioritise local and industry-specific directories over submitting your website to hundreds of generic listing sites.
Yes. If there’s a genuine reason for another company to reference your business, such as a partnership, supplier relationship, project or useful resource, a link can be perfectly natural.
Create things people genuinely want to reference. Useful guides, research, local resources, case studies and free tools can all create reasons for other websites to mention and link to your business.
Yes. HelloScotty can help make sure your WordPress website has the right SEO foundations in place, including page structure, content, performance and technical setup, giving your business a stronger base from which to build its search visibility.
Scott Hardy-Bachan is the founder of HelloScotty, a Romford-based WordPress website development studio helping businesses build, improve and manage websites that are clear, reliable and designed to generate results. With a practical, straight-talking approach, Scott specialises in WordPress development, Elementor websites, hosting, website management and ongoing support.
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