If you’re trying to improve your real estate website design and exposure through search engine optimization (SEO), chances are you’ve probably come across the term ‘backlinking” and how critical it is towards improving your ranking on search engines like Google by leaving comments with a link to your website on blogs, forums and such. Here are some tips on how to use backlinks effectively.
One of the key things to stay away from when you’re backlinking is to leave useless comments. Not only does leaving a comment like “Thanks for posting” have less of a chance of actually getting approved, you’re shooting yourself in the foot since there is also less of a chance of a blog owner commenting back on your own site.
If you use a browser like Firefox which allows for add-ones that enhance functionality, some of these tools can actually tell you which sites allow search engines to “follow” links that have been posted on a particular page. Some websites have what’s called a “no-follow” rule which basically means that they’re preventing any outward links from being indexed or followed. These sites may not be as useful to you as a result.
The warning about leaving useless comments kind of goes along the same lines as spamming. By throwing your website address into the comments for example, it makes you look unprofessional as a realtor and this link will likely be removed. You’d be surprised how effective your links can work if you actually provide comments that spark conversation and display your own expertise.