Before we dive into how to get quality backlinks for your website, let me take a minute to explain what backlinks are. First of all links is the term used to describe how all the web pages on the internet are connected to each other. Backlinks are those links from other web pages into your website.

Backlinks are important because search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, search for them to find new content and to also determine how to grade or rank your website. That brings us to the quality of your backlinks. Search engines look not only to the quantity of backlinks to your website from other websites (which they use to determine if you seem to be an authority on a topic), but they also look at the quality of those backlinks to judge the worthiness of your website. This second point is why it is important to build back links to sites which search engines deem reputable and high-standing. As I have often mentioned before, the basic principles that work in everyday life also work online. Poor quality backlinks shows the search engines that your website hangs out with the wrong crowd!

I would recommend the following sites to boost the quality of backlinks for your local business:

1. Directories relevant to your business niche and locality.
2. Social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Technorati, YouTube etc.
3. Professional Associations relevant to your business/industry and location.
4. Government Directories especially if you work as a supplier or contractor for federal contracts (ending with .gov).
5. Educational websites for alumni, fraternities, sororities etc (ending with .edu).
6. Non-profit sites if your business is involved in community projects (ending with .org).
7. Local community websites.
8. Influential Blogging sites related to your niche.
9. Business websites that complement yours. For example if you are a golf coach, you would link to businesses that sell golf clothing and equipment or to golf course sites.
10. Your clients websites, blogs and social media accounts.
11. Online newspapers, magazines, trade publications, professional journals related to your business and to your location.
12. Article Directories. Make sure you include an author resource box with your business website link.