Our mission is to make the world’s code safe, performant and reliable. We’re starting with a tool to catch JavaScript regressions in web applications with zero-effort from developers.
How it works: Insert a single line of JavaScript onto your site, and we record thousands of real user sessions. We then replay these sessions on new code to automatically catch bugs before they hit production. You can watch a 60-second demo at meticulous.ai.
We are a London-based YC company. Our engineering team previously worked at Dropbox, Opendoor and Google. We just raised $4m, and are backed by some of the best founders and technical leaders in Silicon Valley, including Guillermo Rauch (founder Vercel, author next.js), Jason Warner (CTO GitHub), Scott Belsky (CPO Adobe), Calvin French-Owen (founder Segment), Jared Friedman (YC partner and former CTO of Scribd) and a bunch of other incredible folks.
Catching JavaScript regressions is just the start. There is an entire category of products to build on top of replay. This ranges from automatic UI previews to revealing the performance impact of frontend code.
We want to change the way the world develops software, and influence software approaches for decades to come.
We are seeding a London office and hiring an onsite (a few days per week) founding engineer to join our team of two.
You will have autonomy in building out this technology, but here are a few problems you might work on:
– Build a distributed system to concurrently replay thousands of sessions, such that a developer gets a result in seconds.
– Speed up the replay of sessions in a way that retains determinism.
– Derive algorithms to detect sessions that cover differing code paths and edge cases, and ignore sessions that are too similar.
– Help build out a team of world-class, highly collaborative, software engineers.
As founding engineer, you get to shape the company, and build the culture and technology from the ground up.
What we look for:
In a sentence: Technically brilliant, delightful to work with, combined with a self-awareness and strong desire to improve. We also want to make sure everyone is highly supportive of each other; we win as a team.
We’re currently only looking to bring on folks with mid-to-senior level skill sets. You should have strong web fundamentals and a deep love for software engineering. Maybe you enjoy programming books like Clean Code, Designing Data Intensive Applications, Pragmatic Programmer etc. or enjoy hacking on interesting side projects. You value transparency and candid feedback, and are motivated by a strong desire to become the best engineer you can be.
What you get:
Compensation: We pay £100k-£160k+ in base salary, along with top of line benefits and perks. The equity grant will be between 0.5% and 3% (a 2% grant is $600k at last valuation) with employee-friendly terms (10 year exercise window on options). You can read about our values here https://sumptuous-lungfish-609.notion.site/Meticulous-values…
Learning: You will be given the space and time to up-level yourself as an engineer in terms of conferences, reading, or whatever you think will be most valuable. We will also set you up with mentorship, if you desire it, from top engineering leaders (folks running 100-engineer organizations at the world’s leading tech companies).
If this sounds interesting, please reach out to me at gabe [at] meticulous [dot] ai with “HN” in the subject line and 2-3 sentences about what you find interesting about Meticulous and your resume/LinkedIn/GitHub.
Well, if you’re hoping to reach local consumers, then you need to ensure they can find your business online. You need to propel your content to the top of relevant local Google search rankings.
One way to do this is by embracing the power of link building; specifically, link building for local SEO.
Let me show you how local link building works, why it matters, and how you can start building your own link profile.
What Is Link Building for Local SEO?
Link building refers to acquiring links from other websites back to yours. These links are known as “backlinks,” “inbound links,” or “incoming links,” and they help to drive traffic to your website.
Local SEO is the process of optimizing your website to attract customers from a specific region.
Link building for local SEO, then, is the process of securing backlinks from local businesses with two goals in mind:
boosting your visibility in organic local searches
drawing more traffic from local customers most likely to purchase from you
Why Link Building for Local SEO Matters
There are three major reasons local link building matters.
First, Google considers the number of backlinks you have when determining your page rank. The higher the number of quality backlinks you have, the better your chances of securing a page one ranking. Over 67 percent of clicks go to the first five organic search results!
Second, link building for local SEO helps you drive specific, highly targeted search engine traffic to your website. By targeting the right traffic, you’re more likely to draw people who are serious about making a purchase.
Finally, link building for local SEO is a great way to build your brand’s visibility organically. It takes, on average, seven brand impressions before someone takes action (the marketing “Rule of 7” as it’s colloquially known). Better brand visibility helps you nurture prospects.
Link Building for Local SEO Strategies
Are you ready to get started on building your backlinks? Here are my top six strategies.
1. Get Links From Travel and Local Review Websites
In other words, you need positive reviews, and you want them from websites that can help you with your local link building goals. For example, here’s a rundown of nine great new restaurants in Kansas City:
Each listing includes a backlink and contact details:
Kansas City magazine reps visited restaurants based on existing customer reviews rather than accepting cold pitches.
Make it easy for customers to leave reviews on Google, Yelp, and other popular platforms.
Offer incentives e.g., a kayak business might offer a discounted kayaking session for reviewers.
Highlight customer testimonials on your social media platforms—they make great User Generated Content, and often encourage others to leave their thoughts.
Link building for local SEO often means doing some manual outreach, so you can of course pitch local websites and see if they’ll list your business.
Just make sure you send a professional pitch, include relevant business information, and provide links to any customer reviews (if available.)
2. Hold Special Events and Promotions to Get PR Links
Want to build your local presence and increase brand awareness, all while sourcing local link building opportunities?
Consider holding special events or campaigns.
If you need some event inspiration, you might:
sponsor a local sports team
host a charity fundraiser
run a workshop
hold a contest
Or, you could offer promotions like a free product demo or seasonal discounts. It all depends on what makes the most sense for your business model.
Once you’ve chosen an event or promotion, you need to advertise it.
Do some online research to find your local news outlets such as local papers, radio channels, Facebook community groups, etc.
Decide which outlets to target based on your consumer demographic. 96 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds and 87 percent of 55 to 66-year-olds check social media daily, so online platforms are a good place to start.
Draft a short press release. Include key events details and a URL for the backlink.
Don’t forget to include keywords in your press release, too. Ubersuggest can help you find relevant keywords.
3. Get Listed in Local Business Directories
According to research, 94 percent of consumers have turned to a business directory at least once in the last year to learn more about a new company.
For local link building opportunities, target directories and get your company listed. Popular business directories include:
Bing
Facebook
Foursquare
Google
Yelp
Want to find more local or niche directories? Google is your friend. For example, if you search “local small business directory Colorado,” the first link is to the Colorado Business Directory:
When you’re ready to pitch a local directory, follow their instructions closely. Set out your key details like your website and opening times, and include a short description of your business.
Every detail helps a directory verify your business which could improve your chances of acceptance (and acquiring a backlink.)
4. Create a Blog Covering Local Topics
Do you have a blog yet? If not, start one and focus on covering local topics. Sure, this step requires more effort on your part, but here’s why blogging is worth it to build links for local SEO.
Blogging lets you showcase your knowledge and expertise which increases consumer trust and, ultimately, encourages them to choose your brand over competitors.
According to a Demand Gen Report, 60 percent of buyers read blog posts in the early stages of the purchase process.
Blog content is easy to share on social media. Over time, more shares mean more visibility for your brand which draws more traffic.
Once you’re ready to start your local blog, here’s how to get backlinks to your posts.
Backlinks begin with great content. Spend time researching what your audience wants and craft articles to meet their needs. If readers find your content useful, they’ll link back to it.
Pitch your content to link roundups. Roundups highlight great new content in a specific niche, and since the authors are always looking for content to feature, there’s a good chance they could offer a listing and backlink.
Highlight your posts on social media. The more people share your content, the more likely it is you’ll reach bloggers looking for content to link to.
Be active on platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Build business relationships, establish yourself as a local expert, and you’ll acquire backlinks naturally.
5. Use an SEO Tool Like Ubersuggest to Find and Target Competitor Backlinks
Why should you care where competitors get their backlinks?
It’s simple.
These are the types of places likely to link back to you, too, so it’s worth doing some competitor research to find websites to target for local link building opportunities.
Here’s how to use Ubersuggest to target competitor backlinks if you’re link building for local SEO.
Say you run a bakery in Denver. If we run a Google search, we can see one of the highest-ranking local bakeries is Azucar Bakery:
Enter their website domain into Ubersuggest and click “Search” to get started:
From the main screen, go to the left-hand column, scroll down to Backlinks, and click “Backlinks Overview:”
Enter the domain name again and hit “Search” to load the results:
On the next screen, scroll down to the “Backlinks” results. You’ll see a list of the domains that link back to Azucar Bakery:
Once you know the type of websites linking to your competitors, you can target them yourself.
How you use these backlinks depends on your marketing strategy and business goals; in this case, you might make sure you’re listed on Foursquare and also target websites for product reviews.
6. Find Unlinked Mentions of Your Brand and Ask for Links
Unlinked brand mentions can present golden opportunities to secure backlinks from high-quality, authoritative websites.
For one thing, it’s easier to send outreach emails to the relevant contact if they already know your brand.
If they’re discussing your products or services, then it’s reasonable to think you might ask for a backlink, right?
There’s no need to pursue every brand reference, though, especially if it’s on a low-quality website that won’t boost your rankings—so here’s how you might find backlinks worth pursuing.
First, scan the internet for unlinked brand mentions. You can do this by using a tool such as BrandMentions.
Then, identify the relevant contact to send an outreach email. The contact could be the website owner or someone from the marketing department. You can usually find these details using tools like LinkedIn or social media such as Twitter.
Finally, send your outreach email. Compliment their company, and thank them for mentioning your brand. Politely explain why adding a backlink could benefit their company and consider offering them a link in return.
Don’t neglect those unlinked brand mentions. Instead, seek them out, build relationships with other website owners, and convert them into useful backlinks.
Link Building for Local SEO Frequently Asked Questions
How important are links for local SEO?
Links are hugely important for local SEO because they help to boost your local search ranking. With a higher ranking, you’re more visible in search results and customers are more likely to visit your page.
Should I use an agency for help with my local SEO link building strategy?
You might find a digital marketing agency partnership helpful if you lack the time or resources to dedicate to marketing, but it’s absolutely possible to create your own strategy by following the tips I’ve outlined above.
How can I get reviewed by local publications to get backlinks for my business?
Link building for local SEO means liaising with local businesses. You could contact local publications directly, host an event and invite their representatives, sponsor a contest, or even reach out to and sponsor local influencers. It all depends on your marketing budget and what’s most likely to appeal to your target audience.
Is a blog a good way to build local SEO backlinks?
Yes! Blogging is a great way to build links naturally in the long term, so prioritize writing useful, engaging content on a regular basis. Don’t forget to optimize your articles for local keywords.
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Conclusion: Link Building for Local SEO
Local link building is a great way to improve your SEO, boost search engine visibility, and draw relevant traffic to your website.
You won’t see results overnight, no, but you should consider link building as a key part of your longer-term marketing strategy.
While you don’t need to try all the tips I’ve suggested, start with the strategies that make the most sense for your business and, in the meantime, focus on producing regular, high-quality blog content to build your brand’s trustworthiness.
If you need any extra help with link building for local SEO, check out my consulting services to see how I can help you boost your local rankings.
Have you tried any of these local link building strategies? How are they working out for you? Let me know below!
Podcasting isn’t necessarily a stranger in today’s digital world. However, it’s only recently that podcasting gained popularity, especially when the pandemic hit. As a result, people had to remain at home and look for different …
Welcome to Your Guide to Steps to Building Business Credit in 2022
Do you want to know how to build business credit with EIN to get the financing you need to run your business? Your business setup is key. And records consistency matters. The steps to building business credit in 2022 are in this particular order for a good reason.
You Probably Need to Learn the Steps to Building Business Credit in 2022 if…
You’ve ever tried to get credit for your business but were turned down. Or you’ve heard of building business credit with EIN, but you don’t quite know where or how to start. Or you’re tired of bootstrapping your business and want it to start funding itself. And you’re ready to take your business to the next level.
Steps to Building Business Credit in 2022, Fundability, and Your Business
Business credit is credit in the name of a business. It relates to the company’s ability to pay its bills, and not the owner’s personal credit history. It is also a great way to start to get your business to pull its own weight and fund itself.
Your business’s bill-paying behavior is crucial to getting business financing at good terms, and if you can get business funding at all.
Steps to Building Business Credit in 2022 and Fundability
Fundability is the ability of a business to get funding. A lot of this power is in your hands. You can make life easier for your business and yourself, or not. Fundability is all about paying attention to details.
Continue the Steps to Building Business Credit in 2022 by Building For Fundability
A business starts with no credit profile. As a result, what’s on an application is all that’s reviewed for approvals. So your application must be strong. For businesses where the owners have poor personal credit, what’s on the application is also key. These businesses don’t seem Fundable to lenders, so build Fundability from the start. Laying a strong and proper foundation helps your business make it.
Business Name
We start with your steps to building business credit in 2022 with your business name. This is because it leads to so many other details. Check with your Secretary of State—a business name may have to be unique. Make sure your SOS has all necessary information for your company, and that it’s up to date and correct. You want to be in good standing with them, and your entity must be active. You must file annual reports and pay a fee each year to stay active.
Keep the name of a high-risk or restricted industry out of your business name. Your business can be Juan’s rather than Juan’s Consulting. There is nothing underhanded about this—it is open and honest. It can help prevent a denial from a lender.
Records Uniformity
A common reason for loan and credit card denials is the lender can’t find a business offline or online. So make it simple for lenders and credit issuers to find your business.
This means the business name on your application must match what’s online and in your Secretary of State listing. Yes, you’re going for a perfect match. Make sure it matches corporation papers, licenses, utility statements, and bank statements. Also make sure the business name and all other information is the same on every online listing you find.
This even includes using the word ‘and’ or an ampersand (&). Pick one and stick with it! Why? Lenders and credit issuers interpret differences as fraud. Keep records of where your business name is, to be sure you catch everything. And if you ever change your business name, make sure to change it everywhere.
Business Address
Your business address must be a real brick and mortar building. That is, it has got to be deliverable physical address. This can never be a UPS box or a PO Box. Some lenders don’t approve and fund unless this criterion is met.
If you want to look like a larger business than you are, use a virtual address. This can also be a good idea to hold meetings or interviews. It’s a lot more professional than doing this on your front stoop. We like Regus, Davinci, and Alliance Virtual Offices. But at least one credit issuer doesn’t accept virtual addresses.
EIN
Get a free EIN for your business at IRS.gov. Much like you have a Social Security Number, your business has an EIN. Use your EIN to open a bank account and to build a business credit profile. Take the time to verify all agencies, banks, and trade credit vendors list your business with the same Tax ID number.
Business Entity
To get financing or credit for your business you must have a business entity. Often, a corporation or LLC business entity gives you more credibility. And corporate entities by default reduce your personal liability. Other entities (like partnerships) don’t. This is because incorporating creates a separate legal entity. You must file this with the Secretary of State for your state. Make sure your entity is set up in the same state as your business address.
Industry and Risk
An early step to Fundability is setting the industry your business is in. Some industries are riskier than others. With traditional funding sources, added risk can mean stricter underwriting guidelines or even no funding at all. Risky industries tend to be where chances of personal injury or property damage are high. Or there are a lot of cash transactions, or the revenue stream is unstable. Or there’s a low barrier to entry (so owners may not be skilled or experienced). Weapons manufacturing, gas stations, and consulting all fill the bill.
Why Risk Matters
The biggest reason why risk matters has to do with funding. Lenders may hesitate to do business with high risk businesses. So, those businesses must find other solutions for financing. These can include crowdfunding, angel investors, venture capital, building credit for business and more. Still, a lot of businesses would rather work with lenders.
NAICS Codes
Choose NAICS codes for your business at the IRS website. Federal statistical agencies use these codes to classify business establishments. This is to collect, analyze, and publish data, on the American business economy. NAICS codes also identify businesses which are high risk. The IRS, lenders, banks, insurance companies, and business CRAs use them. Note: the NAICS list of high risk industries is old and there are no plans to update it.
Of course you want to be honest when choosing your NAICS code. But if more than one can apply, you need not choose the one that’s higher risk. So it pays to check and be careful when choosing. If only high risk codes work, you can change your business, to match a related but lower risk code. There is nothing underhanded or dishonest about doing this.
Business Phone and 411 Listing
Toll-free phone numbers are best. Lenders see them as a sign of business credibility. For a single owner with a home-based business, this makes the company seem bigger. It’s easy and inexpensive to set up a virtual local phone number or a toll free 800 number. Use VoIP (voice over internet protocol) to have the number ring on any cell phone or landline.
If you don’t want customers calling your home all day, don’t use a personal cell or residential phone as a business phone number. It also helps with Fundability to have a dedicated business phone number. Your phone number must have a listing with 411 for most credit issuers and lenders to approve you. Check if your record has a listing and make sure your info is accurate. No record? Then use ListYourself.net to get a listing.
Business Licenses
Contact state, county, and city government offices. See if there are any necessary licenses and permits to operate your type of business. Licensing requirements differ, depending on state, town, and industry. Being licensed builds credibility in your business. This can help you get more customers.
Web Domain and Professional Website
Lenders and credit issuers research your corporation on the internet. It is best if they learn everything straight from your corporate website. Not having a company website can hurt your chances of getting corporate credit. It should be professional, with helpful info for anyone finding your business online.
Buy web hosting from a hosting company. Your domain should be your business name, if possible. You need a company email address for your business. This email must be on the same domain as your website. Use a professional email address like yourname@yoursite.com. This is professional and helps your chances for approval from a credit issuer. Do not use Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, or similar kinds of email.
Business Bank Account in the Business’s Name
This is one of the more crucial steps to building business credit in 2022. You must have a bank account devoted to nothing but your business. The IRS does not want you commingling funds. Make accounting easier and reduce the risk of audit at tax time. Keep personal and business funds separate. A separate bank account makes it easy.
Being able to offer more bank account records helps you get larger business loans. It helps to increase your borrowing potential.
Business Merchant Account
Opening a business merchant account is a smart way to help your business. Now your business can accept credit and debit cards. Studies show that customers spend more if they can pay by card. This also increases your finance options. It tends to be more secure, too.
Get Set Up with Business Credit Reporting Agencies
To start really establishing business credit, go to D&B’s website and look for your business. If you can’t find it, get a free D-U-N-S number on the D&B site. A D-U-N-S number + 3 payment experiences leads to a PAYDEX score. You need a D-U-N-S number to start building business credit. Once in D&B’s system, search Experian and Equifax’s sites for your business. Now that your business is all set up, it’s time to start building business credit.
Steps to Building Business Credit in 2022 from the Ground Up
The steps to building business credit in 2022 lead directly here. Start with vendor accounts. This is a proven way to start building business credit. Each of these steps to establish business credit, and every credit issuer can help your business. It’s meant to help you qualify for business credit cards with EIN only that you’ll want to use. This isn’t building for the sake of building or to increase a number. These credit issuers have what your business needs to succeed. Keep building–your time in business helps.
Starter Vendor Credit
Starter vendors are open to working with most businesses, even startups. Make sure vendors report to the CRAs—many do not. Vendors that report do so within 60 days. They help you build your business credit profile and score.
Terms vary depending on the vendor, but they tend to be Net 30. This means you have 30 days to pay in full. At least one doesn’t accept virtual offices. And you often need a D-U-N-S and an EIN at least. But you don’t need collateral, good personal credit, or cash flow.
Business Credit Building with Vendor Accounts
One of the best things about vendor credit is that it’s often not from a bank. As a result, 31 CFR § 1010.230 (a 2018 federal regulation) does not apply. It requires that anyone in a business with at least a 25% stake or control must provide their Social Security number on a loan application. No Social Security Number means issuers must decide on your credit application with EIN instead of SSN. For any SSN field if you’re not including your SSN, don’t put ANY other number in there. That violates two federal laws!
Add payment experiences from three vendors. Once they report to business CRAs like Dun & Bradstreet, you start qualifying for more credit. But keep in mind, any cards issued by banks fall under federal regulations.
For starter vendors, check out our starter vendor research. And for the most up to date info, confirm on the vendors’ sites.
Business Credit Cards with No Personal Guarantee
As you build exceptional business credit and pay your bills on time, credit issuers trust you more. You get higher limits and better terms, and start to get business credit cards with no PG.
Retail Credit
Retail credit comes from major retailers like Staples. Buy everything from office supplies to power tools. Retailers check if business info is uniform everywhere and if your business has proper licensing.
There can be a time in business requirement. You may need to have at least a certain number of employees. You may have to meet a minimal annual sales amount. Terms can be revolving. You need at least 3 accounts reporting to business CRAs.
Fleet Credit
Use fleet credit to buy fuel, maintain vehicles of all sorts, and repair vehicles. Even businesses which don’t have big fleets can still benefit. These are often gas credit cards.
There may be a time in business requirement. But if your business doesn’t meet it, you may be able to instead offer a PG or give a deposit to secure the credit.
Business Credit Cards
Business credit cards are more universal-type credit cards, like MasterCard. Use them almost anywhere. These cards may even have rewards programs or offer other valuable perks.
Terms can be revolving. Often you need at least 14 accounts reporting to business CRAs. There can be longer time in business requirements. You may need to have at least a certain number of employees. Qualifying for bank credit cards means you can meet most if not all the requirements for other kinds of financing.
Beyond the Steps to Building Business Credit in 2022: A Quick Look at Business Financing
Incurring debt and then paying it back on time helps you build business credit. Startups tend to not qualify for bank loans or most SBA loans. But they may qualify for loans from alternative lenders. For startup owners with good personal credit, our Credit Line Hybrid is an excellent choice. You can build business credit and finance a business at the same time.
Our Credit Line Hybrid
A credit line hybrid is a form of unsecured funding. Our credit line hybrid has an even better interest rate than a secured loan. Get some of the highest loan amounts and credit lines for businesses. Get 0% business credit cards with stated income. Many report to business CRAs—build business credit at the same time.
You need a good credit score or a guarantor with good credit for approval (FICO score of at least 680). No financials necessary. Loans go up to $150,000. Note: some cards may report on your personal credit.
Monitor Your Business Credit at D&B, Experian, and Equifax
Yet another aspect of the steps to building business credit in 2022 is monitoring your business credit reports. Know what is going on to spot trends and put on the brakes if you must. If there are errors, you can dispute them. And you’ll stay focused on the process because business credit building never ends. But monitoring can get pricey fast.
Monitor Business Credit at D&B, Experian, and Equifax for Less
But there’s a solution! Did you know you can get business credit monitoring for all 3 of the big business CRAs, and all in one place—for less? Credit Suite offers monitoring through its Business Finance Suite (through Nav). See what credit issuers and lenders do. So you can improve your scores and get the business credit and funding you need.
Improving Your Reports
Paying off accounts on time always pays dividends, as does avoiding bankruptcies. Avoid lawsuits if possible. It’s always wise and helpful to be correcting errors as you spot them.
Use Your Business Credit History to Get Higher Credit Limits
Not every cardholder gets a credit limit increase if they ask for one. Credit issuers want to know you’ll pay them back. A good payment history assures a credit issuer that you’ll pay your debts. You’re less risky to them, so they feel they can extend more credit to you.
As you qualify for credit limit increases, you’ll get new offers for more credit. And as you continue to show how responsible you are in paying business debts, approvals will come easier. Credit issuers trust an ever-increasing business credit score.
Get the most favorable funding by paying all bills on time. This gets your business a PAYDEX score of 80. You’ll also get an Equifax Credit Risk Score of 90 or better. And you’ll get a good FICO SBSS score, driven (in part) by on-time payments and business credit history. For Experian, historical behavior (payment history) is 5—10% of the total score.
Steps to Building Business Credit in 2022: Takeaways
Business credit building is a process. Performing the steps in order saves time, money, and aggravation. Get the best scores by paying your bills on time, every time. And monitor your reports to spot errors and fix them ASAP.
Brex is a money management tool for businesses. They offer many services, but the big draw for startups and small businesses is the option for a business credit card that reports to Experian and Dun & Bradstreet, thus helping them build a strong business credit score.
Who Is Brex Really For?
They offer a number of services that can help many businesses manage their finances in a more streamlined, efficient manner. But, what types of business do they work best for? Will they work for your business?
What Brex is Meant to Do
This is a business money management system that integrates with your accounting software. It allows you to track expenses and, depending on the level of service you choose, can also help with paying bills and controlling spending. This is the purpose.
Start by opening a Brex cash account. This is not a bank, but they do have a partnership with the FDIC to ensure your funds are secure.
Everyone that opens a cash account gets a corporate card. It works similar to how a debit card does, drawing from your cash balance daily. However, unlike a debit card, they report these draws as payments on your account to Dun & Bradstreet. In turn, your business credit score grows. This is, assuming your business is set up properly to have an established business credit profile.
Since this card is secured by the balance in your cash account, and limited to that balance, you do not have to worry about underwriting. However, since the balance in the cash account is money you already have, it cannot really be an option for funding your business. Rather, it’s a way to manage the funds you already have and use them to build business credit.
Brex for Funding
There is also another option if you qualify. They do offer a more traditional card. This option offers limits that will go up to 20x higher than that of a typical corporate card. Instead of checking your personal credit score, they base approval and credit limits on business financial information, including available cash, spending patterns, and more. This means it may be more accessible to those that do not have a great credit score.
If you qualify for this card, you will have to pay your entire balance monthly. This is a step up from paying daily as you go, like with the cash card. It’s more like net financing. You cannot carry a balance from month to month, but it is more flexible than the cash card because you are not limited to the balance in your cash account.
Both cards offer nice rewards in terms of points that you can redeem for a number of things like:
Also, you can get cards for your team members and set individual spending limits. This is a major plus for managing spending. There are even virtual card options for online spending. Brex integrates with common accounting programs including Quickbooks, Xero, NetSuite, and Gust, among others.
Since you pay the card off from month to month, there is no interest. There is also no fee for standard service, but you can upgrade to premium service at a cost. Currently premium accounts start at $49.99 and offer more expense management options. You can use rewards points, if you have them, to pay for premium service.
Using Brex to Build Business Credit
While Brex is a fabulous option for managing business finances, it doesn’t really work for business funding when it comes to startups. Here’s why. The corporate credit card that most startups qualify for only has a limit up to the amount of cash you have in your cash account.
Of course, that’s not a bad thing for managing financing or building business credit. There are no fees, and your positive payment history goes to two of the big three business credit reporting agencies. It’s a win-win.
However, you are only able to use funds you already have on hand. Payment is taken from your cash account daily, and you cannot carry a balance. This means that, while this card is a great tool for helping you build business credit and managing funds you already have, it doesn’t actually help you get additional funds for your business.
The corporate charge card isn’t a bad deal and can help with cash flow management and funding. However, it’s more of a starting point if you cannot qualify for a true business credit card. It’s a stepping stone to get another account reporting to business credit, so that you can qualify for more funding in the future.
Brex Online Reputation
The Better Business Bureau has Brex rated at an A+. They have 4 reviews, all which are bad, and 3 complaints over the course of 4 years they have been in business. That isn’t terrible, but it is concerning that all of the bad reviews are pretty recent. One is related to a bonus offer, and the other 3 are customer service related. You should definitely be aware, but this is a very small number of negative issues being reported for the 4 years they have been in business.
TrustPilot has many more reviews and gives them an excellent rating at 4.8 stars. The small percentage of negative reviews on TrustPilot tend to be from those who did not qualify for accounts. Those who have accounts and use the system seem to be happy.
The answer to this question really depends on what you are looking to accomplish. If you need a system that helps you manage funds in real time, this is a great option. It’s also an option if you are having trouble getting approval for business credit cards. It’s worth a shot to see if you qualify for the corporate charge card.
If your sole purpose is to build business credit, Brex can help, but you can’t do it with Brex alone. Your business has to be fundable, which can take time. Also, you need more accounts reporting than just one. Brex can be a part of this, but you need more.
Business credit building is a process. There are a number of steps, starting with how your business is set up and going all the way through applying for the right accounts at the right time. A system like the Business Credit Builder can walk you through the whole thing, saving you a lot of time and frustration.
How to Setup a Business the Best Way for Building Business Credit
Are you looking to setup a business? Your business can be much more likely to get funding from the jump – if you set it up the right way. Here’s how.
Setup a Business the Right Way from the Start
Setting up a business is a task that can take a while. There are a lot of moving parts. It’s a lot more than just hanging out a shingle. And the way your business is set up can directly affect the ability of your business to succeed.
Fundability
What is it? Fundability is as a business’s ability to get funding. You can make it harder or easier for your business to get money. A lot of the power is in your hands. Yes, you have some control over this.
Setup a Business For Fundability
A business starts with no credit profile. Therefore, what’s on an application is all that’s reviewed for approvals. So your application must be very strong. Nearly half of all companies fail in their first 5 years, and about 2/3 in the first ten. As a result, new businesses don’t seem fundable to lenders. You can change that by building for fundability from the very start.
Industry and Risk
An early step to fundability is the industry your business is in. Some industries are considered to be riskier than others. When it comes to traditional funding sources, added risk can mean stricter underwriting guidelines or even no funding at all
Risky industries tend to be places where chances of personal injury or property damage are high, or a lot of cash is used, or the revenue stream is unstable. Weapons manufacturing, pawn shops, and the political campaigns all fill the bill.
Business Name
Check with your Secretary of State – they might require that a business name be unique. While checking your name with your Secretary of State, also ensure they have all the necessary information for your company. Make sure that you are in good standing with them, and that your entity is active. You will have to file annual reports and pay a fee each year to stay active.
Keep the name of a high-risk or restricted industry out of your business name. There is nothing underhanded about this – it is above board and honest. And it can help prevent an automatic or nearly automatic denial from a lender. A common reason for loan and credit card application denials is the lender can’t easily locate a business online. The business name on your application should be the exact same as what’s listed online and with your Secretary of State.
Business Names and DBA Filings
A full business name should include any recorded DBA filing in use. But consider a DBA only a short stop on the way to incorporating. Make sure the business name is exactly the same on corporation papers, licenses, utility statements, and bank statements. Also make sure the business name and all other information is the same on as many online listings you can find.
Business Address
A business address must be a real brick and mortar building. It must be deliverable physical address. This can never be a UPS box or a PO Box. Some lenders will not approve and fund unless you meet this criterion. Lenders check with USPS and places like Google Maps to see if you’re using a home address. If you are, you may get a decline.
In particular, retail establishments like clothing boutiques need their own address. If your business is a retail establishment like this, do not use a home address on your application! Not even if your company is just you . You can use a virtual address. We like Regus, Davinci, and Alliance Virtual Offices. But keep in mind that there are credit providers that will not accept virtual addresses.
You can get a free EIN for your business at IRS.gov. Just like you have a Social Security Number, your business has an EIN. Your EIN is used to open a bank account and to build a business credit profile. To truly separate business credit from personal credit your business must be a separate legal entity, not a sole proprietor or partnership. Only incorporating creates a new, separate entity.
A corporation or LLC business entity gives you more credibility in many cases. These entities by default reduce your personal liability. Other entities don’t. File this with the Secretary of State for your state. Make sure your entity is set up in the same state as your business address. Verify all listings show the same name, address, phone numbers, etc. as in state and other records. Also make sure your address with the IRS matches everywhere else.
Business Licenses
Contact State, County, and City Government offices to see if there are any required licenses and permits to operate your type of business. Licensing requirements differ. Differences depend on state, town, and industry. Always make sure you have the proper licensing for your corporation.
Do not apply for funding if you are unlicensed. Verify that all main agencies (State, IRS, Bank, and 411 national directory) have your business listed the same way and with your exact legal name. And make sure the address on your licenses is the same as all other documents. Being licensed also builds credibility in your business, and that can help you get more customers.
SIC and NAICS Codes
The IRS website is also where you choose SIC and NAICS codes. Industries are classified by 2 kinds of codes. They are SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) and NAICS (North American Industry Classification System). You chose these codes. Be honest when you choose your codes.
There’s no reason to choose the riskiest code if a less risky one might apply. The NAICS system is phasing out the SIC system. But that’s taking years.
Toll-free phone numbers are best. Lenders see them as a sign of business credibility. Even if you’re a single owner with a home-based business, a toll-free number provides the perception that you are an even bigger company. It’s very easy and inexpensive to set up a virtual local phone number or a toll free 800 number. A cell or home phone number as your main business line could get you flagged as un-established – but VOIP is okay.
If you don’t want customers and prospects calling you all day long, do not use a personal cell phone or residential phone as the business phone number. It also helps with fundability if you have a dedicated business phone number. Your phone number must be listed with 411 for most credit issuers and lenders to approve you. Check for your record to see if you’re listed. Make sure your information is accurate. No record? Then use ListYourself.net to get a listing.
Web Domain and Professional Website
Credit providers will research your corporation on the internet. It is best if they learned everything directly from your corporate website. Not having a company website can hurt your chances of getting corporate credit. You need it to be a professional website.
Use places like TemplateMonster.com and Upwork.com and get a site up cheap and fast. Get a professional logo from Fiverr. Buy web hosting from a company like GoDaddy. Do not use Weebly or Wix. This is because you want it to be your domain, not domain.wix.com. Your domain should be your business name, if possible
Web Domain and Professional Website: Details
You need a company email address for your business. This email must be on the same domain as your website. Use a professional email address such as yourname@yoursite.com. It often comes with a website domain provider such as GoDaddy. This is not just professional; it also greatly helps your chances of getting approval from a credit provider. Do not use Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, or similar kinds of email.
Business Bank Account in the Business’s Name
You must have a bank account devoted strictly to your business. The IRS does not want you commingling funds. Make accounting easier and reduce the risk of audit at tax time. Keep personal and business funds separate. The simplest way to do this is with a separate account.
Your business banking history is vital to your future success of being able to secure larger business loans. The date you open your business bank account is the day that lenders consider your business to have started. So if you incorporated your business 10 years ago, but just opened the business bank account yesterday, then your business started yesterday. The longer your business banking history, the better your borrowing potential is.
Business Bank Accounts and Business Financials
Look to the future. It’s bank (and other) loans, and other kinds of funding. Set your business up for bank loan approval success. Keep a balance of $10,000 or more, for at least three months. This gives you a Low 5 Bank Rating.
With a Low 5 Bank Rating, most conventional banks see your corporation as fundable. Less than $10,000 in your account gives you lower than a Low 5 bank rating. If you don’t have a Low 5, you can still get corporate credit and alternative loans, but you would not be able to get a conventional loan. Bank ratings measure how responsible the account owner is with funds.
Getting a business merchant account is a smart way to help out your business. Now your business will be able to accept credit and debit cards. Studies show that customers will spend more if they can pay by card. This also increases your finance options. It’s generally more secure, too.
Get Set Up With the Business Credit Reporting Agencies
Go to D&B’s website and look for your business. Can’t find it? Then get a free D-U-N-S number. A D-U-N-S number plus payment experiences leads to a PAYDEX score. Once you are in D&B’s system, search Experian and Equifax’s sites for your business. Another ID number is the BIN (Business Identification Number) number from Experian. Experian’s BizSource assigns a BIN.
Your Business Credit History
You can get the most favorable funding by paying all bills on time. This will get your business:
A PAYDEX score of 80
Equifax Credit Risk Score of 90 or better
And a good FICO SBSS score, which is driven (in part) by on-time payments and business credit history
For Experian, historical behavior (payment history) is 5-10% of the total score
Keeping Congruent Business Information
Keep all records consistent! CRAs and creditors are going to look at everything. So it had better match, or you’ll get a denial due to fraud. That’s how lenders interpret inconsistencies.
Your business name, address, and phone number – all your business information – must look the same in these places and more:
IRS and Secretary of State records
Business records with Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, and Experian
Incorporation documents
All online listings
Copy and paste this information; do not chance it with retyping
Personal Financials and Personal Credit History
Let’s not forget about your personal credit. Personal credit quality is often helpful for getting funding. So if your personal credit is not in order, get it straightened out and improve it. This generally means paying your bills on time and curbing your usage. For a business loan at a conventional bank you need good personal, business, and bank credit. While you want to build good business credit, having good personal credit can get you started.
Good personal credit will open doors, and it will open them earlier. Do you eventually want to try for an SBA loan? Then you will need to have good personal credit.
Setup a Business the Right Way: Takeaways
The way your business is set up can directly affect whether your business survives. Details such as business name, address, phone number, and email address all play a part. When you setup a business smartly, you can also help assure prospects that your business is on the up and up. It also means getting set up with D&B and other business CRAs, so you can start building business credit.
How to Setup a Business the Best Way for Building Business Credit
Are you looking to setup a business? Your business can be much more likely to get funding from the jump – if you set it up the right way. Here’s how.
Setup a Business the Right Way from the Start
Setting up a business is a task that can take a while. There are a lot of moving parts. It’s a lot more than just hanging out a shingle. And the way your business is set up can directly affect the ability of your business to succeed.
Fundability
What is it? Fundability is as a business’s ability to get funding. You can make it harder or easier for your business to get money. A lot of the power is in your hands. Yes, you have some control over this.
Setup a Business For Fundability
A business starts with no credit profile. Therefore, what’s on an application is all that’s reviewed for approvals. So your application must be very strong. Nearly half of all companies fail in their first 5 years, and about 2/3 in the first ten. As a result, new businesses don’t seem fundable to lenders. You can change that by building for fundability from the very start.
Industry and Risk
An early step to fundability is the industry your business is in. Some industries are considered to be riskier than others. When it comes to traditional funding sources, added risk can mean stricter underwriting guidelines or even no funding at all
Risky industries tend to be places where chances of personal injury or property damage are high, or a lot of cash is used, or the revenue stream is unstable. Weapons manufacturing, pawn shops, and the political campaigns all fill the bill.
Business Name
Check with your Secretary of State – they might require that a business name be unique. While checking your name with your Secretary of State, also ensure they have all the necessary information for your company. Make sure that you are in good standing with them, and that your entity is active. You will have to file annual reports and pay a fee each year to stay active.
Keep the name of a high-risk or restricted industry out of your business name. There is nothing underhanded about this – it is above board and honest. And it can help prevent an automatic or nearly automatic denial from a lender. A common reason for loan and credit card application denials is the lender can’t easily locate a business online. The business name on your application should be the exact same as what’s listed online and with your Secretary of State.
Business Names and DBA Filings
A full business name should include any recorded DBA filing in use. But consider a DBA only a short stop on the way to incorporating. Make sure the business name is exactly the same on corporation papers, licenses, utility statements, and bank statements. Also make sure the business name and all other information is the same on as many online listings you can find.
Business Address
A business address must be a real brick and mortar building. It must be deliverable physical address. This can never be a UPS box or a PO Box. Some lenders will not approve and fund unless you meet this criterion. Lenders check with USPS and places like Google Maps to see if you’re using a home address. If you are, you may get a decline.
In particular, retail establishments like clothing boutiques need their own address. If your business is a retail establishment like this, do not use a home address on your application! Not even if your company is just you . You can use a virtual address. We like Regus, Davinci, and Alliance Virtual Offices. But keep in mind that there are credit providers that will not accept virtual addresses.
You can get a free EIN for your business at IRS.gov. Just like you have a Social Security Number, your business has an EIN. Your EIN is used to open a bank account and to build a business credit profile. To truly separate business credit from personal credit your business must be a separate legal entity, not a sole proprietor or partnership. Only incorporating creates a new, separate entity.
A corporation or LLC business entity gives you more credibility in many cases. These entities by default reduce your personal liability. Other entities don’t. File this with the Secretary of State for your state. Make sure your entity is set up in the same state as your business address. Verify all listings show the same name, address, phone numbers, etc. as in state and other records. Also make sure your address with the IRS matches everywhere else.
Business Licenses
Contact State, County, and City Government offices to see if there are any required licenses and permits to operate your type of business. Licensing requirements differ. Differences depend on state, town, and industry. Always make sure you have the proper licensing for your corporation.
Do not apply for funding if you are unlicensed. Verify that all main agencies (State, IRS, Bank, and 411 national directory) have your business listed the same way and with your exact legal name. And make sure the address on your licenses is the same as all other documents. Being licensed also builds credibility in your business, and that can help you get more customers.
SIC and NAICS Codes
The IRS website is also where you choose SIC and NAICS codes. Industries are classified by 2 kinds of codes. They are SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) and NAICS (North American Industry Classification System). You chose these codes. Be honest when you choose your codes.
There’s no reason to choose the riskiest code if a less risky one might apply. The NAICS system is phasing out the SIC system. But that’s taking years.
Toll-free phone numbers are best. Lenders see them as a sign of business credibility. Even if you’re a single owner with a home-based business, a toll-free number provides the perception that you are an even bigger company. It’s very easy and inexpensive to set up a virtual local phone number or a toll free 800 number. A cell or home phone number as your main business line could get you flagged as un-established – but VOIP is okay.
If you don’t want customers and prospects calling you all day long, do not use a personal cell phone or residential phone as the business phone number. It also helps with fundability if you have a dedicated business phone number. Your phone number must be listed with 411 for most credit issuers and lenders to approve you. Check for your record to see if you’re listed. Make sure your information is accurate. No record? Then use ListYourself.net to get a listing.
Web Domain and Professional Website
Credit providers will research your corporation on the internet. It is best if they learned everything directly from your corporate website. Not having a company website can hurt your chances of getting corporate credit. You need it to be a professional website.
Use places like TemplateMonster.com and Upwork.com and get a site up cheap and fast. Get a professional logo from Fiverr. Buy web hosting from a company like GoDaddy. Do not use Weebly or Wix. This is because you want it to be your domain, not domain.wix.com. Your domain should be your business name, if possible
Web Domain and Professional Website: Details
You need a company email address for your business. This email must be on the same domain as your website. Use a professional email address such as yourname@yoursite.com. It often comes with a website domain provider such as GoDaddy. This is not just professional; it also greatly helps your chances of getting approval from a credit provider. Do not use Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, or similar kinds of email.
Business Bank Account in the Business’s Name
You must have a bank account devoted strictly to your business. The IRS does not want you commingling funds. Make accounting easier and reduce the risk of audit at tax time. Keep personal and business funds separate. The simplest way to do this is with a separate account.
Your business banking history is vital to your future success of being able to secure larger business loans. The date you open your business bank account is the day that lenders consider your business to have started. So if you incorporated your business 10 years ago, but just opened the business bank account yesterday, then your business started yesterday. The longer your business banking history, the better your borrowing potential is.
Business Bank Accounts and Business Financials
Look to the future. It’s bank (and other) loans, and other kinds of funding. Set your business up for bank loan approval success. Keep a balance of $10,000 or more, for at least three months. This gives you a Low 5 Bank Rating.
With a Low 5 Bank Rating, most conventional banks see your corporation as fundable. Less than $10,000 in your account gives you lower than a Low 5 bank rating. If you don’t have a Low 5, you can still get corporate credit and alternative loans, but you would not be able to get a conventional loan. Bank ratings measure how responsible the account owner is with funds.
Getting a business merchant account is a smart way to help out your business. Now your business will be able to accept credit and debit cards. Studies show that customers will spend more if they can pay by card. This also increases your finance options. It’s generally more secure, too.
Get Set Up With the Business Credit Reporting Agencies
Go to D&B’s website and look for your business. Can’t find it? Then get a free D-U-N-S number. A D-U-N-S number plus payment experiences leads to a PAYDEX score. Once you are in D&B’s system, search Experian and Equifax’s sites for your business. Another ID number is the BIN (Business Identification Number) number from Experian. Experian’s BizSource assigns a BIN.
Your Business Credit History
You can get the most favorable funding by paying all bills on time. This will get your business:
A PAYDEX score of 80
Equifax Credit Risk Score of 90 or better
And a good FICO SBSS score, which is driven (in part) by on-time payments and business credit history
For Experian, historical behavior (payment history) is 5-10% of the total score
Keeping Congruent Business Information
Keep all records consistent! CRAs and creditors are going to look at everything. So it had better match, or you’ll get a denial due to fraud. That’s how lenders interpret inconsistencies.
Your business name, address, and phone number – all your business information – must look the same in these places and more:
IRS and Secretary of State records
Business records with Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, and Experian
Incorporation documents
All online listings
Copy and paste this information; do not chance it with retyping
Personal Financials and Personal Credit History
Let’s not forget about your personal credit. Personal credit quality is often helpful for getting funding. So if your personal credit is not in order, get it straightened out and improve it. This generally means paying your bills on time and curbing your usage. For a business loan at a conventional bank you need good personal, business, and bank credit. While you want to build good business credit, having good personal credit can get you started.
Good personal credit will open doors, and it will open them earlier. Do you eventually want to try for an SBA loan? Then you will need to have good personal credit.
Setup a Business the Right Way: Takeaways
The way your business is set up can directly affect whether your business survives. Details such as business name, address, phone number, and email address all play a part. When you setup a business smartly, you can also help assure prospects that your business is on the up and up. It also means getting set up with D&B and other business CRAs, so you can start building business credit.
In the past, link building focused on quantity, not quality.
Today? Link building is a different ball game.
If you’re building a link building strategy, it’s important to know that it won’t be instant. It’s a gradual process—at least, if you do it right.
The pages where you build links, specifically the quality and authority of those pages, play a key role in determining how high you’ll rank in search engine results.
This is where blogging comes in. You’ll get 434 percent more indexed pages when you blog consistently, and your inbound links will grow by 97 percent.
Beyond blogging, though, there are other proven ways to build the best links and raise your ranking in the SERPs.
This blog post will show you 13 fool-proof link building strategies you can put to work today. They’re especially helpful for busy marketers who have a lot on their plate and want to stay mindful of their standing with search engines.
Why Is Link Building so Important?
Link building is important for search engine optimization (SEO). It’s one of the major factors search engines use to determine rankings, meaning who gets the first-page search result.
When deciding how to rank your website, Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines look at how many links lead to your site (and the quality of those links).
The more high-quality, trustworthy, and authoritative sites linking to you, the higher your blog posts and sales pages will appear on search result pages.
Beyond that, links to your website help users find your site and can increase traffic and trust. After all, users are more likely to trust you if other sites think you know what you are talking about.
13 Link Building Strategies for Marketers
So, how do you get high-quality links from other websites? By following my link building strategies.
These are the strategies I’ve used over the last ten years to build up Neil Patel Digital and become an authority in the digital marketing space.
Experiment and find a strategy or strategies that work best for you and your business.
The old way of mass guest blogging just for links is dead. You don’t want to post an article on a site that’s not relevant to your niche and has zero authority just to get a backlink.
That style of guest blogging won’t cut it. The search engines are smart and can see you’re not guest blogging to add value.
If you want to reap the rewards of guest blogging, you need to be strategic and authentic. Make sure you’re creating a unique piece of content for the other site (for example, a case study) and that the site is relevant, authoritative, and attracts your audience.
When you guest blog selectively, you’ll reap the rewards of higher rankings, increased traffic, and qualified leads.
The good thing about infographics is you’ll continually generate organic traffic to your blog and earn quality links without even asking for them.
I found that articles with infographics earn 178 percent more links. This makes creating infographics a link building tactic that you can’t afford to ignore.
If you’re ready to create and promote your infographic, see the links below:
Social media networks have revolutionized marketing and can be a huge boon for your link building plan and guest post efforts. If you’re not active on social media, then you’re doing your brand a disservice.
Become active by sharing new posts, images, and updates. Help your fans find what they want to see by sharing it in more places using social media.
When you get active on social media, you can easily boost engagement, even if you’re new to it. Consequently, you’ll expose your brand and site to more people who could share your best posts with their target audience.
This will improve your link profile and bolster your visibility overall.
It’s time to start using resource links from trusted sites. A resource is like a guide that you create or compile for your target audience.
Some authority sites and blogs like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Jeff Bullas, Social Media Examiner, and Copyblogger have resource pages that you could tap into as you’re creating yours.
If a leading site in your niche has compiled a list of blogs in your industry, their visitors can more easily find what they’re looking for.
If you can create an even bigger resource article than the one above, you’ll get more backlinks. You can expand yours to 25, 50, or more.
Here are some fresh headline ideas that you can model for your resource:
25 Copywriting Blogs That Will Make You More Money
50 Copywriting Blogs You Didn’t Know Existed
27 Copywriting and Content Marketing Blogs That Will Send You Free Traffic
This kind of resource can be a great tool for a marketing team. After it’s written, get links through email outreach. Send a simple email to all of the people whose blogs you included.
I once sent emails to 30 bloggers whom I referenced in my resource post. Twelve of them linked to my resource page within ten days, and I got lots of social love.
Email outreach tends to work better than the typical broken link or link request email because you’ve linked to them first.
You’ve established a certain level of trust, and you’ve shown some appreciation to them as well. They’ll be more inclined to reciprocate your generosity by linking to your web page.
5. Leverage the Broken Links Strategy
The broken link strategy may be the best way to go if you’re too busy to write content for your blog or a guest post.
As a busy marketer, I know you’ve got limited time to write content. That’s one reason why a large number of B2C content marketers struggle to create engaging content for their customers.
How does broken link building work?
This link building strategy is simple: Find pages on blogs with dead links (links that no longer work) and suggest replacing the broken link with a link to similar content on your own site.
If I linked to a particular web page from my Neil Patel blog and found the links to be dead, I could easily replace it with another relevant and high-value resource. If that high-value page belongs to you, that’s both search engine optimization juice and a valuable link.
There are several in-depth guides to help you understand the concept of broken link building and how to get it right the first time. You’ll find these resources really helpful:
One of the top link building strategies is growing your brand. Your brand evolves from your thoughts, then begins to express itself externally.
When it comes to link building that works, recognize that people will naturally link to you as your personal brand grows.
What do I mean by that? Let’s pause for a moment here.
While different definitions might circle through the marketing world, a natural link is a link that’s a) editorially earned, and b) organic in the context it appears.
It’s not part of a sponsorship or paid in any way. Often, a natural link gives credit where credit’s due, and it’s something every pro blogger should be after.
I’ve watched how powerful a natural link can be. Whenever I publish a new blog post, within 24 hours, I usually see new links from authority blogs.
Earning that comes back to the quality of your content and your brand. In a sense, your brand represents you. My definition of a brand is “your representative when you’re not there.”
I’ve been marketing online for over a decade. Throughout this time, one of the most effective strategies I used to grow my personal brand was consistent blogging. When you blog consistently, you get more attention.
If your competitors are ranking higher than you in the search engines, they may be on the right track. You can be there, too.
There’s nothing as powerful as spying on your competitors to know where their links are coming from.
Spying on your competitors helps you see what keywords they’re ranking for, where their best links are coming from, and what they’re currently doing that helps them succeed is called “competitive analysis.”
So how do you check your competitor’s backlinks?
Follow these steps:
Step 1: Go to Ubersuggest and type in your competitor’s domain into the search bar.
Step 2: On the results page, click on the backlinks box.
Step 3: Scroll down to see a list of sites linking to your competitor.
When you know which sites your competitors are generating their backlinks from, you’ve won half the battle—now you can focus on sites that are yielding results instead of reinventing the wheel.
8. Replicate Your Competitor’s Best Links
Now that you know where your competitors got their links, you need to answer the next question: How can you replicate their success?
For example, if you find several links are from related blogs, especially on the author profile, it’s obvious that guest blogging is working for them.
If their links are from corporate sites, your competitors are probably getting links through outreach and networking.
On the other hand, if their links are from high-value sites such as Entrepreneur, Forbes, CNN, Huffington Post, and the like, then you should know that a columnist or editor is likely involved, and this might be a paid placement.
Use Ubersuggest to help you focus on the links with a high domain and page authority. You want natural links from websites that Google (and the rest of your industry) already view as a thought leader.
9. Create Link Building Roundups
If you want the right links, you’ve got to give first. Don’t be selfish with your posts by linking to your internal pages only. Learn to link out to other useful blog posts.
Link roundups are a powerful method of networking and a great link building strategy. All you need to do is create a list of blog posts from other bloggers.
First, find blog posts that are relevant to your topic. For example, if you want to compile a list of 50 blogs that deal with headline writing, you’d simply go to Google and try this search string:
intitle: roundup “YOUR KEYWORD”
You also want to pay attention to your traffic and current link profile. More blogs in your industry may be linking to your posts. When writing your roundup posts, start with the blogs that have sent you traffic.
Remember when you do a roundup post, don’t link solely to your internal pages. Site owners may not be inspired to link back to you because you didn’t use the principle of reciprocity.
Link to their posts, and they’ll be more likely to reciprocate by linking to your resource page.
10. Keep Track of Your Backlinks
Most people spend time and money to get new links, but they don’t track their status.
If you don’t track your backlinks, how will you know whether to build more or pause? You may have over 800 links pointing to your web pages right now, but when you check it after 30 to 60 days, some of the links might be gone.
Why?
You don’t have control over the blogs and authority sites that link to you. The site owners can easily remove your link from their post or resource page without notifying you.
This is why it’s important to monitor your backlinks.
If you’re not sure of the number of backlinks your site currently has, here’s how to find out.
Step 1: Visit Ubersuggest, type in your site’s URL, and click on “search.”
Step 2: Click on the backlinks box.
Step 3: Scroll down, and you’ll see a graph detailing links you’ve gained and lost.
Besides seeing who is linking to you, the backlinks tool also shows each site’s anchor text, DA, and page authority.
There’s also a graph showing your backlinks over time. This is useful to see if your link building strategies are paying off or if it’s time to try something new.
11. Establish Content Pillars
If you want people to take your content seriously, then you’ve got to write things that make people think. Create useful content, content that actually helps them do something, and the links will follow.
Content is the lifeblood of your online business. Whether you’re selling information products, like e-books or software, or you’re into physical products, like digital cameras and hard copy books, you’ve got to give people a reason to publicize you.
How often should you publish new content for your target audience?
Constantly bombarding them with one blog post after another may not be helpful, as it generally leads to information overload.
The real challenge is when and how often you need to publish new content for your prospects and customers. Some customers don’t mind if you posted daily, but it seems like a boatload of work to others.
This leaves you with two options:
ask your customers questions
create pillar content once in a while
You’ll likely get different responses from your email subscribers, blog readers, prospects, and customers if you follow the first option. This ends up complicating things.
The second option is a lot better. Instead of regularly creating and publishing new content, you can save yourself the hassle and create pillar content regularly.
“A pillar article is usually a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice…This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn’t news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight.”
When you start creating pillar content, you’ll no longer struggle to write and publish new posts every day of the week, yet your traffic will grow.
Instead, you’ll bring in traffic from users and other sites that are interested in the valuable content you’ve created.
If you want to increase conversion rate, generate organic and referral traffic and improve your search rankings, spend more time creating pillar content. It’s a great way to improve your link profile.
You could format your content pillar using the “how-to” style, as in this example from Yaro Starak:
Alternatively, you could make your post a top list, like this one from Wordtracker.com:
12. Reclaim Links Through Social Mentions
Link reclamation is a popular topic in search engine optimization and the social media world. You can reclaim broken 404 links and name drops that don’t link to your blog.
Check your Google Analytics for 404 pages that people link to, then point them to another active and relevant page while you fix the 404 pages.
Alternatively, you could just go ahead and fix your broken page to reclaim your links.
However, we’re particularly concerned about link reclamation through social mentions.
If you’ve been monitoring your brand and social media mentions using Google Alerts and not taking advantage of those mentions, then you’ve been making a mistake.
When you publish infographics with an attribution code below the graphic, your goal is to get people to embed the code on their blogs and link back to you.
How many of these people use your code or link back to the primary source?
I design and promote lots of helpful infographics. A lot of sites may decide to publish my infographics for their readers to enjoy.
They’re supposed to credit my blog, but what if they saved the graphic and just uploaded it to their blog post? How do I reclaim what rightfully belongs to me, the link?
Follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Use Google Images Search. Do a keyword search for the complete title of your infographic.
Step 2: Click your infographic and visit the page. Check whether your link is attributed correctly or not.
You can see that Tomer Harel linked to my infographic page on QuickSprout.
Beyond infographics, you may want to know who is mentioning your blog URL. You can ask for the link once you discover that your name or URL was mentioned but not linked to your web page.
13. Earn Editorial Links
Editorial links don’t happen by chance. You create them by providing value. This is what Google has been after since the first Google Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, and Mobile-geddon updates.
Editorial links are the most valuable and sought-after links because they’re freely given by sites that aren’t looking for anything in return.
The nature of editorial links is this: your content must be compelling before people link to it.
If all of your links are acquired or built manually, you’ll struggle to retain all of them, and Google may penalize you because you can’t be that careful all of the time. To avoid wasting time and effort, why not focus on producing great content?
Yes, I know that I’ve said it over 50 times in the past 30 days, but if it weren’t important, I’d have ignored it. I create high-quality content every day, and thousands of people link to it. My link profile thanks me for it.
To earn editorial links, you can start blogging with a strategy. Write content that will help people move from Point A to Point B. Create more tutorials and pillar content and make sure that you include accurate data in all of your content.
No. It’s changed from focusing on the number of backlinks to the quality of backlinks.
What is a link building strategy?
The practice of gaining links back to your website to improve your authority and search engine rankings. Common link building strategies include creating infographics and guest posting.
Do I need permission to backlink to another site?
No, you do not need permission to link to another site.
What’s the most common link building strategy?
Guest blogging is one of the most popular link building strategies. It’s all about creating quality content people want to link back to.
What’s the best way to find the authority of a website that gives you a backlink?
Use a tool like Ubersuggest to find the Domain Authority for websites that give you backlinks.
Link Building Strategies Conclusion
Your website’s link profile is one of the most crucial factors in ranking in search engine results. Remember, Google doesn’t care so much about how many links point to your pages, but rather about the experience you create for users.
Be smart and strategic about blogging, social media marketing, search engine optimization, and any other marketing techniques you use to build links.
Your real challenge isn’t link building, but earning quality, trusted, and natural links. That’s because it’s no longer about the number of links—it’s the quality that matters.
Follow these fool-proof link building strategies, and you’ll be on your way to building a successful blog that both users and Google will love.
Which of these link building best practices have you used?
Link building is the cornerstone of SEO. Any good online marketer or SEO needs to know how to build links to their site to rank well on Google.
The goal of this post is to provide something that all marketers with any skill set can use. Whether you’re new to link building or have been building your backlink profile for 10+ years, you’ll likely find some useful nuggets in this post.
Link Building Resources for Beginners
New to link building? These guides explain the basics and get you set up for success:
What Is Link Building? A Beginner’s Guide: If you don’t like the other guides, this one is more targeted towards beginners. It has some useful tips and provides more background on why link building is so important.
The Beginner’s Guide to Link Building: A comprehensive link building resource for beginners. It has everything you need to get you started before you move onto more advanced tips and tricks.
Want to skip the 500-word articles and go straight into a deep dive on link building? These massive free guides can help:
Link Building for SEO: The Definitive Guide: One of my favorite guides. Read it if you want a full background on link building. Learn how to get high-quality links—and what to avoid doing.
The Advanced Guide to Link Building: Broken up into twelve chapters, QuickSprout’s guide is helpful if you’re looking for tactics to build links.
3 Simple Ways to Build Links With Images: The great thing about using images for marketing is that it’s one of the most efficient ways to build brand recognition and acquire natural mentions to a website.
How to Use Video for Link Building: Learn about the SEO benefits of video, where to place video, video sitemaps, and places to pitch your new video for potential links.
These links are a little less how-to and have more insightful content on link building. If you’re looking for link building tactics, skip this section. If you want to know about the essence of link building and why so many online marketers and SEOs focus on it, these articles can help provide that background.
The Beginner’s Guide to Link Building: If you’re new to the SEO world, you may wonder why so many are focusing on link building. This article answers why it gets so much attention.
Just as important as the links you should be building is knowing what links you shouldn’tbe building. Remember that spammy links pointing to your site is a problem you need to take care of.
When & How to Disavow Backlinks in 2021: If you do have a lot of spammy links pointing to your site, you can use Google’s disavow tool to ask Google not to count those links pointing to your site. This post from Moz shows you how to do that.
5 Types of Bad Backlinks You Don’t Want: Not every backlink is equal. Here’s how to clean up those bad backlinks hurting your link profile and search rankings.
Event Link Building: The Complete Guide: Whether you’re a small local business or an international company, hosting local events is a great way to build your brand, both offline and online.
Nothing makes link building more productive and effective than the right tools. Here are posts reviewing some favorite link building tools:
Ubersuggest: I created Ubersuggest to help you find the best keywords for your content marketing strategy. Besides keyword research, it also has a robust backlinks feature which details who is linking to you (as well as your competitors).
15 Awesome Link Building Tools: Backlinko gathered up a list of all the best link-building tools that they’ve used to get links from sites like Entrepreneur.
Best Link Building Blogs
Want to keep up with link building news? Here are the top SEO blogs link building categories.
Have questions about link building, or want to demonstrate your link building expertise? Here are some places where you’ll find lots of people asking about link building:
There you have it! More than 60 great link building resources to chew on.
As you can see, there isn’t one way to gain backlinks. There are many strategies you can use to start establishing yourself (and your business) as an industry thought leader.
The earlier you start putting effort into gaining links, the quicker you’ll gain authority in search results and start outranking your competitors.
What are your favorite link building resources?
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