Agency owners tell me they’re scared to charge more because they assume a 20k client will expect 10x the work of a 2k client
That’s never how it works
A bigger client might need more people to approve the work but the 2k client can still Slack you 15 times a day asking for stuff they’re not paying for
Price and workload are not the same thing
Can you rank without backlinks?
Yes, you can.
But I think that’s the wrong question.
The better question is:
What are you trying to rank for, and who are you competing against?
I’ve seen pages rank with little to no link building when:
- the keyword is low competition
- the site already has some authority
- the page matches search intent really well
- the content is better than what’s already ranking
- the internal linking is strong
- the competitors themselves don’t have much going on off-page
That’s very different from trying to rank for something competitive where every site on page 1 has years of authority and a strong backlink profile.
This is why I don’t think “you need backlinks to rank” or “you don’t need backlinks anymore” are useful statements.
Both can be true depending on the SERP and the market you’re competing in.
My approach is usually simple:
First, get the site and page as good as I can without links.
Then look at the competitors.
If they’re ranking with weak backlink profiles, I’m not going to go heavy on links from day one.
I’d still build a few good ones over time to strengthen the site and make the ranking harder for the next competitor to take.
And even if you’re ranking without links today, I wouldn’t completely ignore them.
Because the SERP won’t stay the same forever.
A stronger competitor, lead-gen site, EMD, or rank-and-rent site can come in and push you down pretty quickly if they’re doing everything you’re doing plus building authority off-page.
You don’t always need backlinks to get there.
But they can help you stay competitive once you’re there.
The easiest guest post sites to find are usually the ones I’m least interested in.
Search “write for us” or “guest post” and you’ll find plenty.
The problem is, everyone else can find those same sites too.
They’re already getting pitched constantly, a lot of them are on every reseller list, and many have turned into sites that publish almost anything for a fee.
I’d rather find a relevant site first, check whether it’s actually worth getting a link from, and then reach out even if they’ve never mentioned guest posts anywhere.
Some will say no.
Some won’t reply.
But when you do get a yes, those are often the opportunities I value more.
The hard part isn’t sending the email.
It’s finding the sites worth emailing in the first place.
Here's a new quick and easy SEO tip to start ranking higher on Google.
Type in a keyword you currently rank for in the map pack. Find your business in the pack. Now scroll past the profiles and try to find yourself again in the regular results.
Can't find your homepage down there, or it's way lower than it should be. Here's why.
Google doesn't like showing you on the same page twice. If you're in the top three of the pack, it tends to push down whatever page your Google Business Profile links to in the regular results. For most businesses that's the homepage, so your own profile is quietly sitting on your homepage's neck.
The fix takes one minute. Go to your profile, Edit profile, Contact, click the website field, and change the link from your homepage to your main service page.
Now the profile occupies the pack with the service page behind it, and your homepage is free to climb the regular results on its own.
Then treat it like a test, because that's what it is. Check it in a month. If the homepage climbed, you just got two spots on page one instead of one. If nothing moved, switch it back, it costs you nothing.
One thing to watch while you test. That website link also feeds your map ranking, so keep an eye on your pack position too. If the swap drops you in the pack, switch back, organic gains almost never pay for a lost pack spot.
Shout out Sterling Sky for this one, their testing is where it comes from.
Here are 25 of the strongest backlink opportunities for SaaS founders from the https://t.co/yLST3CdG84 list:
GitHub Pages — DR 96, dofollow
SourceForge — DR 93, dofollow
GitLab — DR 92, dofollow
G2 — DR 91
Stripe Partner Directory — DR 91, dofollow
GetApp — DR 91, dofollow
Crunchbase — DR 91
Product Hunt — DR 91
Wellfound — DR 90
Tech in Asia — DR 88, dofollow
GeekWire Startup List — DR 88, dofollow
Capterra — DR 87
AlternativeTo — DR 85
GoodFirms — DR 85, dofollow
Devpost — DR 84, dofollow
Indie Hackers — DR 82
BetaList — DR 73, dofollow
Startup Stash — DR 72, dofollow
SaaSHub — DR 70, dofollow
TrustRadius — DR 70, dofollow
Uneed — DR 64, dofollow
Launching Next — DR 59, dofollow
StackShare — DR 57, dofollow
SaaS Genius — DR 49, dofollow
OpenAlternative — DR 45, dofollow
Just recorded a video breaking down the Google strategy that Tommy Mello used to grow A1 to $300M/year in sales...
And I used it to help a plumbing company do $6.8M in a year.
Live on YT
1. SEO Content Brief
-> Pulls top ranking results for any given keyword phrase
-> Breaks down intent, page structure, character count, keyword density, backlink count and destination, schema, etc
-> Identifies and fills content and quality gaps
-> Improves upon current ranking results via intent, positioning and character count
2. Onpage Optimization + Humanization
-> Improves readability for both humans and algorithms
-> Structures titles, headers and paragraphs for Search Engine ingestion
-> No more Em dashes
Both new backend modules are now live on Blogr ✨️🤝
Next up is Topical Authority Map generation.
Prices increasing soon..
I went back through the same five $100M+ home service brands from Tuesday.
This time, I audited their websites.
Every page is built to rank for one job and turn that search into a call.
> Each meaningful service gets its own page with real buying information.
> Location pages match a physical market and the connected Google Business Profile.
> The headline tells homeowners what the company does and where.
> Reviews, job photos, and financing sit close to the first action.
> Mobile users keep a call or booking button within thumb reach.
> Internal links show Google which services belong in which markets.
The average contractor site converts under 1%. Sites built like this pull 3 to 5x more leads from the same traffic.
Your competitors already spent years building the backlink list you need. You can steal the entire thing in an hour.
Go to Ahrefs or Ubersuggest, enter the websites of the top three companies in your market, and look at every site linking to them.
If one has a link from the local chamber, join it. If they are listed on an industry directory you have never heard of, get listed there too. If a local blog featured them, reach out and give that writer a reason to feature you next.
You do not need to guess where to build backlinks. Your competitors have already shown you which websites are willing to link to businesses exactly like yours.
Run this on your top three competitors and you can have 50 to 100 legitimate link opportunities before lunch.
Most of them are free...... you just need to LOOK for them.
AI helps great SEO pros become greater.
But it won't help you if you have never ranked anything in your life.
It's not the tool that determines success.
More AI firepower won't save you from a lack of experience and battled-tested systems.
For example:
A pro doesn't need AI to get SEO results.
In fact, they probably don't need ANY tools to get results.
-> Buy domain + setup basic templated site
-> Print topical authority map using Claude + Blogr
-> Syndicate every webpage to socials and web2.0s using Parasite SEO Poster
-> Build niche relevant backlink insertions and guestposts
-> Build the sneaky backlinks
-> Repeat across as many sites as you can
-> $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Everybody's making more stuff. More content. More research. More landing pages. More apps. More tools. More software. More domains. More videos. More graphics. More reports. More. More. More.
Very few people are making amazing stuff