Buyer’s guide · What are backlinks
When GAF, James Hardie, or Owens Corning list you as a certified installer on their own site, the big trusted name is vouching for you, by name, on their turf. The strongest backlink a contractor can earn.
What are manufacturer and brand backlinks?
A backlink is another respected website mentioning you with a clickable link back to your site. Think of it as a referral that Google can see.
Picture the most-trusted name in town telling everyone you do great work, except this time Google is standing right there, listening, and writing it down.
A manufacturer or brand backlink is the strongest kind. It's when a big name in your trade lists you on their own website as a certified installer or dealer.
If you roof, that's GAF, Owens Corning, or CertainTeed naming you in their "find a contractor" tool. If you side, it's James Hardie. Other trades have their own: HVAC has Carrier and Trane, windows have Andersen and Pella.
- Backlink
- One website linking to another. To Google, a link from a trusted site is a vote of confidence — a public vouch that says "this business is the real thing."
Why is this the strongest type of backlink?
Two things make a backlink valuable, and a manufacturer link is the rare one that has both at full strength.
- Authority — the site doing the linking is itself trusted. A GAF or James Hardie domain carries enormous weight with Google.
- Relevance — the link is about your exact trade. A roofing-brand link pointing at a roofer is a perfect topical match, not a random mention.
Most links are strong on one and weak on the other. A link from a giant general site might have authority but no relevance. A link from a tiny trade blog might be relevant but carry no weight.
A manufacturer link is both at once: a heavyweight site, vouching for you, about the precise thing you do. That combination is why it sits at the top.
How do you actually earn one?
You earn these by being a real, certified partner — not by buying anything. That's the point: it can't be faked, which is exactly why Google trusts it.
The usual path is the manufacturer's certification or dealer program. You complete their training, meet their standards, and in return they list you in their official contractor locator.
- Enroll in the certification program for the brands you already install (GAF, Owens Corning, James Hardie, and so on).
- Complete their requirements — training, insurance, sometimes a track record of installs.
- Confirm you appear in their public "find a contractor" or dealer-locator tool with a link to your website.
- Make sure that link points to your real site, not a third-party profile.
If you're already certified with a brand, you may have this link and not know it. Worth checking — it's free authority you've already done the work to earn.
These links are one of three kinds worth earning. The other two are local authority backlinks and trade and supplier backlinks.
Want this guide as a PDF?
One field. We’ll email it. The guide stays free either way.