5 Backlink Building Pro Tips for Faster SEO Results

Don’t bother with a bunch of spam backlinks. You’ll only end up penalized. The algorithm is smart.
– Bryan Driscoll

5 Backlink Building Pro Tips for Faster SEO Results w/ Keith Sant & Bryan Driscoll

Part four in our SEO series came from feedback we received from Carrot users who wanted to know exactly what to do if they were only putting in an hour a week on their sites.

We brought in two of our favorite guests, Keith Sant and Bryan Driscoll, to dive into using valuable backlinks and creating consistent content for your website. (Pssstttt… it’s easy with our SEO Tools add-on.)

So listen in or read on to find out how to get the most out of your website in just a couple hours a week!

Learn How to Rank #1. Watch the full Series:

Part 1: Why The Best Time to Get Started in SEO is Yesterday | 3 Steps to Start SEO

Part 2: The 5 Most Important & Most-Overlooked SEO Secrets for Real Estate You’ve Never Heard

Part 3: SEO for Multiple Markets

Part 4: 5 Backlink Building Pro Tips for Faster SEO Results

Read the Full Show Notes Below…

I am super excited to share this installment of our SEO series. After customizing your website, creating content, and getting everything dialed in, the next step is to send out some signals to let Google know you’re there. You can do this by utilizing backlinks, which will help to drive your rankings forward.

What Are Backlinks and How Many Should You Have?

Backlinks are when your website is mentioned on another person’s website, with a link directling them to your URL. This is crazy important to Google as it enhances your credibility. If other people are talking about you, then you must be good.

The number of backlinks you will need will vary depending on the size of your market. Some small towns may not need any backlinks to do well, whereas larger, more competitive markets, will need quite a few.

You don’t want to go from zero to 1,000 backlinks. Keep it natural because the algorithm is smart. A few places to get backlinks are…

Local places to list your business – your local chamber, business directories, etc.
Yelp, YellowPages, and other, larger, directory sites
Vendors and other businesses you’ve worked with in the past
You can create strong, useful content and distribute it to relevant sites
Guest post on other relevant blogs and websites
Check out what your competition is doing – there are many tools out there that can help

Doing outreach may seem like a lot of work, but it will be worth it. A little effort now can offer rewards for years to come.

How Much Time and Money Will You Spend?

Again, this will depend on the size of your market and how many links you will need to see results. If it is a competitive market, you may want to spend an hour a day for a couple of months on outreach, creating content, and building relationships.

For those who simply want to understand it, but not actually do it, you can hire an SEO firm to help. You can also pay to have your content listed as a guest post on a relevant website, typically paying somewhere around $150 for the post.

The Basics of a Good Backlink

You want your links to be real, to offer value, and to be on relevant websites. It is better to look for something local and highly targeted, as opposed to larger sites that may be more generalized. You want the links to be high quality.

Buying 5,000 links from Fiver can have an adverse effect, which could get you blacklisted completely. Avoid spam, and make sure your links offer value to your potential clients.

The Importance of Internal Links

Internal linking is linking to other pages that are in your domain. While Carrot sites come with many of these in place, it is a good rule of thumb to go in there and mix them up a bit. If you are using our automated content, be sure to add some internal links within your website where appropriate.

In addition, it can be a good idea to add some external links to your different pages. This shows Google that you aren’t trying to get all of the focus on you, rather you are trying to help your reader get the best information possible.

Keith likes to add a hyperlink to Google Maps when he is showing off properties he has purchased in the past. He has seen great results from this small trick.

What to Avoid With Backlinks

There are a lot of mistakes people make when it comes to backlinks. The biggest is buying fake links that will make your site appear spammy. Adding these links can drop your rankings, which is the opposite of what you want.

Avoid anything spammy, where you are just coping and pasting. Just like your business, your links should be there to add value for the reader.

All of this may seem like work, and it is. However, stacking these evergreen bricks now will offer you rewards for years to come. You can either spend your time running on the hamster wheel or refocus some of your time on creating great content and building those links!