How to Get Backlinks as a Mortgage Broker
This article is by Australia's #1 Mortgage Broker SEO Agency, we've helped brokers generate over $500M in new leads through Google and AI-search. We can help you too, simply book a call here.
If you've looked into SEO for your brokerage, you've probably come across the word "backlinks" and wondered whether they're worth worrying about. The short answer is yes, but not in the way most people think. You don't need hundreds of them, and you definitely don't need to buy them.
In a softer 2026 market with more brokers competing for fewer active borrowers, the brokers showing up consistently at the top of Google are the ones who've built genuine credibility online over time. Links are part of that.
At Copyburst, we work with mortgage and finance brokers across Australia on mortgage broker SEO, Google Business Profiles and AI search. In this article, we'll cover how links work, which ones are worth getting, and what to do first.
Key takeaways
- Google uses links to discover your pages and as a signal of relevance.
- A few genuine links from credible local sources beat dozens of low-quality ones.
- Your website content is what earns links; without it, there's nothing to link to.
What are backlinks and do they matter for mortgage brokers?
Backlinks are links from other websites that point to yours. Google uses links to discover pages and as a signal of relevance, and descriptive anchor text helps both people and Google understand what the linked page covers. They're one signal among many, not a magic switch, but they do matter. A broker whose site is linked from genuine local sources, professional directories and industry bodies tends to rank better than one whose site sits in isolation, all else being equal.
What Google's own guidance makes clear is that "Domain Authority" (the score you might see in third-party SEO tools) is a metric those tools invented. Google doesn't use it. A single link from a well-regarded local business association or a regional news outlet is worth more than fifty links from sites nobody reads.
Where do mortgage brokers realistically get backlinks?
The good news is that as a broker, you already operate inside a network of businesses and organisations that have websites. Most of them can link to you, and they have a genuine reason to do so.
Here are the main link sources that work for brokers in practice:
- Referral partners: accountants, financial planners, buyers' agents and conveyancers who send you clients are the obvious place to start. Ask them to add a link to your site from their "partners" or "useful links" page.
- Industry directories: your aggregator profile, MFAA or FBAA member pages, and reputable financial comparison sites that let you control your listing.
- Local business associations: chambers of commerce, business networks and local community groups often have member directories that link out to members' websites.
- Local press and community sites: regional news outlets and local property publications sometimes quote brokers or publish market commentary, and those articles link back to you.
- Real estate agencies: agencies you work with regularly may list you as a recommended broker on their site, which is a natural and relevant link.
Every one of those sources is local and relevant, which is exactly the combination that helps your rankings in your area.
| Expert tip Go through your referral partners and ask yourself: does their website link to mine? If not, send them a short message asking them to add you to their partners page. It takes them two minutes and it's one of the most natural links you can get. Copyburst identifies these gaps for brokers as part of our SEO work. |
How does your website content help you earn links?
A link is a recommendation. Someone only links to a page if they think it's worth linking to, which means you need something on your site worth recommending. That's where content comes in.
“When I look at broker sites that attract links naturally, they tend to have one thing in common: a page or two that genuinely answers a question borrowers are asking. That's what gives other sites a reason to reference them.”
Adam Maynard · Founder, Copyburst · Chat to Adam →
A well-written explainer on how construction loans work in your area, or a plain-English guide to the First Home Guarantee, is the kind of page a buyers' agent or conveyancer might share with their clients and link to from their own site. A page with no useful content gives nobody a reason to do that. Your website's content is the foundation; the links follow from it.
| Mortgage broker SEO Need help with ranking above the broker next door? We help mortgage brokers get found first in Google, Google Maps and AI search.
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What does a good backlink look like compared to a bad one?
Not all links are equal, and some can actively hurt you. Here's how to tell the difference at a glance.
Introduce this as a quick comparison: the table below shows what separates a link worth having from one worth avoiding.
| Link type | What it looks like | Worth having? |
|---|---|---|
| Referral partner | Your accountant's site links to you as their recommended broker | Yes. Relevant, genuine and local |
| Industry directory | MFAA member profile, aggregator profile, reputable comparison site | Yes. Established, trusted sources |
| Local media mention | Regional news outlet quotes you and links to your site | Yes. High relevance, editorial link |
| Paid link package | An SEO agency sells you 50 links from generic blogs | No. Spammy links can harm your site |
| Unrelated directory | A generic "Australian businesses" site with thousands of random listings | No. Adds noise, not credibility |
Say you're a broker who specialises in self-employed borrowers. A link from your accountant's website to your self-employed loan page is relevant, local and genuine. That's the kind of link that helps you rank for "mortgage broker for self employed" searches in your area. A link from a random blog in an unrelated industry tells Google nothing useful about who you are or where you work.
| Expert tip Search for your brokerage name in Google and see which other sites mention or link to you. If your aggregator profile or MFAA listing doesn't appear, check that those profiles are complete and that they link to your website. That's a quick win most brokers miss. |
Do links from your local area matter more than general ones?
For a broker, yes. Google's local ranking is based on relevance, distance and prominence, and prominence draws on what Google knows about your business from across the web, including links, articles and directories. A broker who is referenced by local businesses, local media and community organisations looks more prominent to Google than one with a strong website but no external presence at all.
This is also why your Google Business Profile and your website work together. Google says your position in web results is a factor in local rankings, so SEO best practices apply to the Map Pack too. A borrower searching "refinance broker near me" on their phone is seeing results shaped by both your profile and your website's credibility. The brokers in the top three results have usually built both.
“When we start with a broker, the first thing we do on links is map out who they already work with locally. The answers are almost always sitting there in their referral network, waiting to be activated.”
Adam Maynard · Founder, Copyburst · Chat to Adam →
What should you prioritise first if you're starting from scratch?
If your site has no links pointing to it, the order below is where we'd start with any broker.
- Claim and complete your industry profiles: your aggregator page, MFAA or FBAA member listing, and any other directory your licence requires. Make sure each one links to your website, and that your name and address match exactly.
- Reach out to your referral partners: email your top three referral partners this week and ask if they can add you to their partners page. Keep it short. Most will say yes immediately.
- Join your local business network: chambers of commerce and local business associations usually have an online member directory. Being listed there is a relevant local link and it's often free with membership.
- Build a page worth linking to: write one clear, helpful page on a topic your clients actually search for, like construction loans, first home buyer help or borrowing as a self-employed person. That's the page your partners can link to naturally.
Every page you want Google to find should be linked from at least one other place on your site, and ideally from outside it too. That's what keeps your site growing in visibility over time.
What's the catch with chasing backlinks as a mortgage broker?
The catch is that some of what's sold as "link building" in SEO will hurt you. Mass-produced links from generic blogs, link farms or paid directories are what Google classes as spam. If an agency is offering you dozens of links for a low monthly fee with no explanation of where they come from, that's a warning sign.
Google's spam policies are clear: manipulating links to game rankings is against the rules, and sites that do it risk being penalised. The only links worth having are the ones a real person would click because they genuinely found your site through them. That standard is actually easy to apply. If you'd be comfortable telling a client how you got a link, it's probably fine. If you wouldn't, it probably isn't.
- Avoid paid link packages: these are almost always generic, unrelated sites that add no real credibility to your brokerage.
- Ignore guarantees of a specific number of links in a set period: quality and relevance are what matter, not volume.
- Don't rush it: a small number of genuine links built over time is worth far more than a sudden spike from a link-building campaign.
As Google's own guidance says, no one can guarantee a number one ranking. Be cautious of anyone who frames link building as a numbers game.
| Expert tip Ask your current SEO agency or any agency you're considering to show you the last ten links they built for a broker client. Ask where each one came from and why it's relevant. If they can't answer clearly, or they send you a spreadsheet of generic blog names, that's your answer. |
| Mortgage broker SEO Need help with ranking above the broker next door? We help mortgage brokers get found first in Google, Google Maps and AI search.
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What else do brokers ask about backlinks and SEO?
Do I need backlinks if I'm already getting referrals?
Referrals are valuable, but referred clients often check you online before they call. If your site doesn't rank and has no credibility signals, you risk losing enquiries you've already earned through your network. Links and referrals work together, not instead of each other.
Why did my rankings drop after I got more links?
A sudden increase in low-quality or unrelated links can trigger a negative response from Google's spam systems. If an agency built links for you and your rankings fell shortly after, the links are the first thing to review. Removing or disavowing bad links is the fix.
Should I have a page for each suburb I cover to get more links to?
Only if each page has genuinely useful, specific content about lending in that area. Near-identical pages built just to target different suburbs are against Google's spam policies. A smaller number of well-built location pages is worth far more than dozens of thin ones.
How does Copyburst approach link building for mortgage brokers?
We start by identifying genuine link opportunities in your existing network: referral partners, industry directories and local associations. We then focus on building content on your site that's worth linking to. We don't buy links or use link schemes.
How does Copyburst help me rank in my local area, not just nationally?
We work on your Google Business Profile, your website's location and service pages, and the links pointing to them from local sources. Together, those signals help Google understand where you operate and who you serve, which is what drives local rankings.
Your next steps
Start with what's already in front of you: your industry profiles, your referral partner network and one page on your site that genuinely answers a question your clients are searching for. Those three things alone put most brokers ahead of where they started. Once you have that foundation, links from local and relevant sources will follow more naturally over time. If you want help with your broker SEO, book a call with the Copyburst team.
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Sources and further reading
This article provides general information about SEO, AI search and digital marketing for mortgage and finance brokers. It is not credit assistance, financial, legal or tax advice, and does not take into account your business circumstances. Search, ranking and lead outcomes vary and are not guaranteed. Figures are sourced from the organisations named and were current at the time of writing.