The Backlinks You're Overlooking

Let's talk backlinks. It's one of those techy things that feels like the impossible item in your checklist. What the heck are they anyway and what do you do with them?

Well, a backlink is just another website linking back to yours. Simple as that. But to Google, every one of those links is a little vote of confidence — "hey, this site is legit, other people trust it too." Enough of those votes, from the right places, and your site starts ranking higher. Which matters a lot, especially for solopreneurs like us that don't have a marketing department to support us.

The good news: you probably already have backlinks! They likely just need you to check in.

Think about it. Industry associations you belong to. Producers and coaches you’ve left reviews for. Facebook, Instagram, You Tube, BlueSky and Twitter. Don't forget your  LinkedIn profile. All these are valuable links! Right there, that's at least a half dozen different entities that can vouch for your credibility.

So here's your actual to-do list, for making backlinks work:

• Ask your demo producer or coach if they'd add a link when they mention you (a testimonial page or a "clients I've worked with" list — anything).

• Look at any industry group or association you're part of. Member directories are backlink gold and usually just require you to fill out a form.

• Make sure your social media profiles compliment your website and that links are working. And post valuable content on those sites to boost your credibility.

• Check your own "About" or "Press" mentions anywhere online — sometimes a link exists but it's broken or pointed at an old URL.
  

This can be tedious, but it's a couple hours that will definitely pay off!

Now, before you go hunting for brand-new backlinks everywhere: not all of them are worth having. A link from a random directory nobody's heard of does very little. A link from a site Google already trusts — an industry association, a well-known publication, a legit business — does a lot more. So before chasing a new link opportunity, ask yourself three quick things:

1. Is this site actually relevant to voice over or my industry?

2. Would a person land here and trust what they find?

3. Is this a site Google would already consider credible?
   

If you can't say yes to at least two of those, skip it. Quality beats quantity, every time.

The honest truth is most of us are sitting on easy wins we've simply never gone and collected. Start there before you go chasing anything new.

In a few months you should see increased traffic and better visibility, all because of backlinks.