Why Teachers Make Powerful SEOs (Part 2)

Welcome back, class! Last time, in Part 1 of Why Teachers Make Powerful SEOs, we covered content and citations – the ABCs of ranking on Google. Now it’s time for the final exam (don’t worry, I’ll curve the grades 😜). Today, we tackle the third and most challenging component of SEO: backlinks. Grab a seat and get your notepads out, because this lesson is a doozy.

Backlinks: The Tough Love of SEO

Remember when you’d ask a classmate to put in a good word for you with the teacher? Backlinks are kind of like that – they’re links from other websites to your website, and they’re basically the internet’s version of letters of recommendation. When a reputable site links to yours, it’s vouching for you, telling search engines “Hey, this site is worth checking out.” It’s a popularity contest, and every quality backlink is a vote in your favor.

But here’s the catch: just like convincing the coolest kid in class to be your friend, earning great backlinks isn’t easy. They’re hard to get, and if you’re a small business or a newbie website, you might feel like the new kid in a very big school. Many marketers know backlinks are important, but actually building them? That’s a bit like assigning weekend homework – everyone dreads it.

Why are backlinks so tricky (and sometimes pricey)? Let me count the ways:

• They take time: You can’t magically “get” quality backlinks overnight. It might involve writing guest posts, reaching out to industry sites, or creating content so good others want to link to it. All of that takes serious time and effort.
  
  
• Relationship building matters: Ever try to get the PTA president on your side for a school initiative? You had to build a relationship. Similarly, earning backlinks often means networking with other website owners or bloggers. It’s not just transactional – you need to genuinely connect (and maybe compliment their “blog baby”).
  
  
• Some methods cost money: While I’m not a fan of buying links (that’s like paying the cool kids to hang out with you – tacky, and Google can sniff it out), sometimes businesses invest in PR campaigns or sponsor content to get mentions. Also, pro SEO tools for finding backlink opportunities aren’t free. There’s a real dollar and time cost here.
  
  
• Quality over quantity: Five great backlinks from reputable, relevant sites beat 50 sketchy ones from who-knows-where. But finding those gem opportunities is like finding the perfect source for a research paper – it takes digging. A lot of folks settle for Wikipedia-level links when they should be chasing “academic journal” quality.
  
  

No wonder a lot of marketers barely scratch the surface with link building – they might snag a couple of easy links (or skip it altogether) and call it a day. But not this marketer. Funnel Frizz digs deep. (I didn’t spend all those years hounding students to use credible sources for nothing!)

Going the Extra Mile – The Teacher Approach to Backlinks

Here’s where being a teacher-turned-SEO really shows. Backlinks are like a massive open-book test, and you bet I’m using every page in the textbook. Rather than doing the bare minimum, I channel my inner Ms. Frizzle and get a little adventurous with backlink strategy (minus the magic school bus).

For one, I research thoroughly – we’re talking nerd-level, down-the-rabbit-hole, check-every-footnote kind of research. Just as I’d dive into five different resources to plan a lesson, I’ll analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles, hunt for niche directories or local sites that fit your business, and brainstorm creative content ideas that could earn links naturally. Most marketers stop at the surface level, but a teacher will probe deeper. (If you've ever had a teacher stare you down and say “Show me how you got that answer,” you know we don’t skim the details!)

Second, I care deeply about the outcome. Teachers don’t shut off at 3 PM – we’re grading papers at night and wondering if little Timmy finally understood fractions. That dedication carries over to my SEO work. I might lose a bit of sleep (happily!) thinking about new angles for link building or double-checking that a link we earned is actually boosting your rankings. It’s that mix of passion and a pinch of perfectionism. I want to see your business succeed online as much as I wanted my students to ace their exams. Your wins feel like my wins – I’m the teacher who cheers from the back of the auditorium when her student’s name is called, except the auditorium is Google and the award is your page one ranking.

So when others say, “Eh, building a few links is enough,” I say, “Let’s aim for an A+.” That might mean digging into academic journals for a juicy statistic to include in your blog (because someone might link to it!), or personally reaching out to a local news site with a story about your business. It definitely means staying up-to-date on what Google considers a good link vs. a bad one – the rulebook changes faster than school curriculums, I swear. In short, I put in the work that most won’t… because that’s what teachers do.

Ready to Rank? Let’s Work Together

By now, you see why teachers make powerful SEOs: we bring curiosity, commitment, and clever strategies to get your business ranking high without cutting corners. From content to citations to those tough-love backlinks, I apply that educator energy to every step of your SEO. If you’re a small business owner (here in Anchorage or anywhere else) and you’re ready to get serious about your search presence – with a fun, quirky teacher marketer at your side – then let’s chat!

👉 Check out my home page funnelmemarketing.com and let’s turn your website into the star student of Google’s class. I’ll handle the homework, you enjoy the results. Class dismissed (for real this time)! ✨