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Backlinks are not like magic little golden tickets that will make your business suddenly found everywhere online that will sell them by the hundreds, if not thousands. And that does not work well. When Google made those significant core updates over the summer of 2025, they got rid of the cheat codes. Hello everyone and welcome back to the Kate Show. It is episode 296 and today I'm talking all about background backlinks. Backlinks are becoming more commonly talked about and it seems like by and large nobody really knows what they are. So I am going to break it down for you today and help you understand what to do with the backlinks you might already have and how to get new ones or how to get more of the right ones. And also just want to top off this episode first with saying backlinks are not like magic little golden tickets that will make your business suddenly found everywhere online. There is a misconception going around that you have to have all these backlinks, you have to have so many backlinks. But it's like with most things in life, quality is better than quantity. So let's just go over that. Now obviously we know the home industry is kind of competitive. Even if you don't feel feel like you personally have competitors, you do. But I'm glad you don't feel that way. I'm speaking to, you know, a lot of my clients who have told me, well, I don't know who my competitors are. Everyone is a colleague and that's great. A lot has changed in the design industry for people to be able to say that now because a decade or, you know, even 15 years ago that was not the case. People were very much closed off in like a bunch of little islands not wanting to help each other out. Now we link to each other, we give each other those backlinks, we refer clients to each other like we have a relationship based industry. Now let's start with the very first thing. Backlink. What is a backlink? Well, it's a link from a different website that takes people to your website and it's helpful for getting more of the right website traffic long term. But like I said, backlinks are not the end all, be all to having good SEO. They are one tool in the toolbox that you can use for your online success. And I want to explain why backlinks matter, why they do have some relevancy for the design and staging and organizing industry and what you personally should do about it. Essentially, backlinks are hyperlinks from one website to another. They act as a signal to search engines that your site is credible and relevant because other people are linking to it. For people like you in the home industry, backlinks are vital because they directly influence your visibility in search results and help establish your brand's authority. And at this point, you might be tempted to go buy a bunch of backlinks because there are companies out there that will sell them by the hundreds, if not the thousands. And, and that does not work well because you need to get backlinks from trusted sources that actually make sense. There's actually a real reason why they're linking to you. So in your local area, getting a backlink from a trusted source, like a reputable news outlet or a chamber of commerce or industry directory, or even one of your business colleagues can help get your site higher in the rankings because those links confirm that you are legitimate in your community and it makes it easier for potential clients to find you. Moreover, it also strengthens the EEAT profile your business is inevitably building online. And that is the experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness profile. I'm sure that's going to eventually be called a score, but basically it means if you're a person out there in real life, in the offline world, and you've got two or three well respected people who are like, hey, that person's a great person, you should work with them, you should get to know them, I highly respect them. Well, that's going to make you and everyone else who hears that think, okay, wow, that must be true. I think that person is, must be great because other people are saying they're great and I respect those people. Now if you had a hundred people tell you, go follow this one person, go get to know this one person, you might get a little suspicious and so does Google. So it really does matter that you have quality backlinks, not quantity. All right, so with that being said, your website probably already has several dozen backlinks, several dozen instances of other websites linking to yours, and it's time to find out what they are and get more of the right ones. So how do you audit your backlinks? Like I said, a backlink occurs when website A links to website B. If you are website B, that's incoming value. If your website A, you're linking to someone else's site, that's outgoing value. It's all valuable. But not all links are created equal because like I said, they should come from relevant, legitimate sources in your industry with content authored by real people. Again, the EEA standard set forth by Google earlier in 2025 that prioritizes genuine, high quality material over AI generated or spammy output. Not that you can't use AI, but you shouldn't be using it. To write something from start to finish, there has to be human oversight. It has to meet Google's standards or it's not going to fly anymore. Now how do you figure out what your backlinks are? Well, you can start by reviewing them in Google Search Console. And Google Search Console is a free tool and if you don't have it yet, it is actually very easy to set up. But you're not going to have a bunch of data available for probably 30 days. So the sooner you get it set it up, the better. If you already have it set up, go log into it and then click on your website and then in the left hand sidebar you're going to navigate to the links section, which is under Legacy Tools and Reports. Might also be directly in the main menu for you. It just depends. So look around. So go to Links and then go to External links, click on more and then go to Top Linking Sites. This will show you the top websites that are linking to you and you can click any of them to view more details. Now what if you check your backlinks in Google Search Console and you realize that a lot of really weird websites are linking to you. You have no idea who they are or why they're linking to you. You want it to stop. You can't really do anything about it, unfortunately. But you also don't need to freak out because Google's algorithms are smart enough to ignore most of those spammy backlinks. They understand you can't control all of that. We can't control who links to us, it's just a fact of the Internet. But let's say you're like, okay, well I have a few backlinks, that's great. How do I get more? Well, the question should be how do I get more high quality back backlinks? Because quantity is not the goal. So we have to prioritize getting people to link to us who have websites that are relevant and trustworthy, because Google emphasizes that. So start with low hanging fruit. Revisit every online magazine article that ever featured your business or mentioned you and make sure they're linking to your site. If they're not, then reach out to them and say, hey, could you please hyperlink to my website in the article that you wrote, blah, blah, blah, here it is. And then you can also set up Google alerts for your brand name to catch unlinked mentions and then reach out to whomever to add one. So literally, Google how to set up a Google alert. And then you'll put in your business information and then every time someone on the Internet mentions your business name, you'll be notified and you can verify they're linking to you. And if they're not, you can say, hey person, can you please link to me? Or if you don't want to be linked, then just forget it. But that's a really handy, smart, free way to take control of your backlink situation. But how do you encourage more of the right backlinks? Well, for some proactive seed planting, you can start with some very simple and free tasks. Number one, write glowing reviews for your favorite vendors. You can write detailed testimonials for products or services you use. Maybe you use these things for client projects, maybe you use it internally in your own business. Companies often feature reviews like that on their websites with a backlink to your site. Or at the very least, it boosts visibility via Google reviews. It's all important, it's all helpful. The second thing you can do is get listed locally. So make sure that you're joining relevant directories and associations. Um, for the home industry, that could be NARI or the WCAA or the NKBA or ASID or RISA or ihosp. Now these provide authoritative, niche specific links. But for long term cultivation, because again, that was just planting some seeds for long term cultivation of your own. Backlinks produce really good content on your own website that people will naturally want to link to. So an in depth guide in a blog post, a case study, which could also be a blog post, you could analyze trends, you can reference other people's articles. Actually that's a really important part of this picture. Backlinks shouldn't go one direction. You shouldn't expect everyone to backlink to you without you also wanting to backlink to them. So incorporate links in your blog posts that go to partners that you work with, like subcontractors or your sales rep. You know, the company they represent, manufacturers you love, that enriches your content. And it also shows that you're well connected in the industry. It builds trustworthiness by associating you with reputable professionals. And it highlights your hands on experience managing real projects. And, and most importantly, it offers that reciprocal gesture, you know, a backlink to them. Maybe they'll return it, maybe they won't. Either way, it is a great way to establish your credibility. Now, pro tip here to keep your backlinks authentic. Make sure that when you're linking out to other people, you link naturally within context, such as we partnered with such and such manufacturer for, for custom cabinetry on this project. Click here to check out their innovative designs. So it doesn't read like an ad, it's just like a, hey, by the way, here's who we partnered with and you can check them out. All right, so let's touch a little bit more on creating content that other people want to link to. They want to give you that backlink that happens organically. You don't have to ask them to do it. It's, it's something that people genuinely want to do because you're putting out good content. Well, the best backlinks, in fact do come organically when others cite your work or your blog post or whatever it is. So you need to invest in consistent, high quality content on your website that could look like a detailed blog post, case studies, resources and things that provide unique value and depth. Because again, that's also what Google wants to see. Remember now, doing this takes time. But that's how you get ahead. There's no cheat code for this anymore. When Google made those significant core updates over the summer of 2025, they got rid of the cheat codes. They are not messing around anymore. We can't keyword stuff. We can't use black hat SEO tactics and expect it to work out in our favor anymore. You will get penalized. And that might happen very quietly. You'll suddenly look at your website analytics and see a huge drop off. Let's get ahead of that. All right. Create content that is worth reading. Create content that people want to link to. Create content that is genuine, authentic and relevant to your ideal client. Because even if people aren't linking back to you, you're still creating content that helps your potential clients find your website. Because ChatGPT, Gemini, other AI models, as well as you know, good old fashioned search engines will still be indexing that content and it will help you out tremendously long term. All right, so let's just run through a summary of what we talked about. What is the backlink? A backlink is a hyperlink from one website to another. It's a vote of confidence that boosts the site's credibility and search rankings. How do backlinks affect local SEO for interior designers, organizers and stagers? Well, they signal community legitimacy. They help you rank higher in local searches, especially if you are also listed in local directories. Should you worry about bad backlinks? Generally, no. Google ignores most spam but if you ever see in Google Search Console that you're getting a penalty, which might be called a manual penalty, it's probably because they believe you've been engaged in link buying and you are getting in trouble for it. So don't buy links. Okay? It's kind of like buying email lists. Don't do it. That is so 15, 20 years ago. It doesn't work. And then what's the best way to get started with backlinks? Well, audit your current ones in Google Search Console and then get your low effort wins, like requesting links from people who are already mentioning you and joining industry directories. And then of course, create your own great content. So that brings us to the last question. How does creating my own blog posts lead to more backlinks? We've talked about this, but I like to repeat it because there are people in the back who spaced out for a second. You need to create valuable blog content that others will naturally want to reference. They will see it as superior and they will want to link to it. You'll get that link backlink juice, if you will, and you have to earn that. It doesn't just happen. So remember, buying backlinks will lead to penalties and result in website traffic that isn't what you're looking for anyway. You might buy backlinks and you might get traffic from it. None of that traffic will be a potential client that wants to actually hire you and pay you. So then there's no point, you know, you have to have genuine content. I've created a lot of podcast episodes about what a blog post needs to look like in this post eeat Google Core Update era. So if you want more on that, please go listen to a couple of my past episodes. I think the past two or three have talked about that to various levels and I will of course be putting more information out as it comes out. But the age of messing around online is over and it's time to get serious. So if you're like, oh crap, how do I create these blog posts and meet all these standards? I am one person or I can't afford a custom writer. What do I do? Well, guys, the Socialite app is launching in January and I am so excited for you to check it out. You can actually get a sneak peek if you go to Kate the Socialite.com, look under Services and click on the marketing app. All right, guys, it's Christmas. Have a Merry Christmas. And for those of you who celebrate the birth of Jesus, I know this is an incredibly special time for all of us. Even though. Even though he actually was not born in the winter, I believe he was born in September. Why do we celebrate Christmas at this time? I have no idea. But it's still really a special time. My kids are excited. They ask me a lot of hard questions about Santa Claus that I am not able to properly answer because I like for them to believe in the magic of Santa Claus. But I also did not grow up believing in Santa Claus. So when my 6 year old is like, so how does Santa Claus know I wanted this, that and the other thing, if I didn't send him a letter and I'm like, I don't know. Or sometimes I slip up and I'm like, oh, yeah, well, your dad and I got you that last year for Christmas. And she'll be like, no, you didn't. Santa did. Like, oh, can't even get credit for that. So anyway, I hope that you're having fun navigating the holidays and that you are able to step away from work and decompress, because 2026 is right around the corner and it's gonna be one heck of a year in so many good ways. I know 2025 was rough for a lot of you. It was an interesting year for sure. But that is just about behind us. And I'm excited for what the new year will bring. So Merry Christmas, happy New Year, and I'll see you in 2026. Sam.