You guys have overdelivered, after checking every blog they’re all bringing in really decent traffic on their own and are exactly we’re looking for.
Okay, before we start let’s agree that finance is easily one of the toughest markets you can compete in for SEO?
Companies are constantly engaging in black hat tactics, doing anything to push through their clients and it’s an all-out link war.
In fact, probably the only markets that are tougher are payday loans and gambling…
So, it’s safe to say that good link building is an absolute essential for success when trying to rank for finance keywords!
After several disasters and bad experiences, this struggling agency found OutreachPete via a warm referral from a happy customer.
They needed a solution to take on the competition without putting their client at risk – and we were there to help.
After only 6 months of using our genuine outreach services the results massively kicked in and are still growing every month to this day!
The Challenge
This brand had early dominance in the field, achieving page 1 results for huge terms but unfortunately, had faded away and was losing organic traffic fast!
Every agency has had a case like this, the traffic and rankings are falling, the client is panicking (and so are you) and the pressure starts mounting from all angles.
You need results and everyone is looking to you, the experts, for the solution.
Strong Link Profile?
The brand had landed fantastic links from national newspapers, relevant industry publications and dozens of popular bloggers.
So it was entirely bemusing as to why they were slipping away from page 1 of the SERPs when “inferior” competitors started overtaking them.
Diagnosing the Alternative Cause
Because of the client’s strong link profile and high DA, Trust Flow and Ahrefs rating the agency started (understandably) looking for answers in the wrong places.
Was it Google Panda punishing them for lots of ‘thin’ pages or bad user metrics?
Perhaps the client had fallen on the wrong side of Google’s ominous core quality updates?
Or maybe the site had got caught up in a weird bug with the Penguin algorithm misidentifying links as spam?
The agency spent hundreds of hours, auditing, requesting changes, overhauling the site’s architecture and undertaking CRO.
Good Results – But Not Good Enough
The site was running faster, traffic was converting to sales at a much higher level and all the positive user metrics were up i.e. time on site, pages per visit, returning visitors etc.
But sadly, nothing made a difference (even 6 months after implementation).
The client was obviously over the moon with their remaining traffic converting a lot better, but it still didn’t do anything to heal the wounds of all those organic visitors lost to their competitors.
A Deeper Look at Links
After exhausting all other avenues, it was time to look at the links on a deeper level.
On first inspection (and even second inspection) it looked as if the client should have been crushing the rankings.
Eureka!!
When taking a real forensic look at the client’s link profile it dawned on the agency, although the brand had an authoritative link profile it had lost momentum in a major way…
Those big PR campaigns, media attention and link bait articles had faded away. The client was resting on its laurels and slowed down link building after a period of prolonged rankings and success.
Compared to the competition, which according to all link monitoring tools were far behind them, the client was largely inactive.
The penny dropped and they instantly knew they had found the solution – Fresh Links.
All those powerful links from high authority sites had been pushed deeper and deeper into the hosting sites’ architecture over time. Instead of being a couple of clicks away from the homepage, they were now almost undetectable apart from on the deepest of crawls.
This diluted the pagerank (amongst other signals) and reduced the authority passed by those pages. Effectively, the client in a much weaker position than any of the link profile tools would have you believe.
On the other hand, the competition was peddling fast and playing catch up. All their links (despite being less authoritative and lower in volume) were fresh and had been building momentum whilst the client sat dormant.
It was clear what needed to be done, the brand needed to get focused on link building again in this noisy market where you evidently couldn’t stay still.
Putting a Plan Together
The problem was, the agency was already maxed out with clients, and didn’t have the resource or time to build an outreach campaign for the client quickly enough. If something wasn’t done then the client would only continue to fall faster in what was a rapidly heating up competitive landscape.
The client (as you may have guessed) liked things to be done right and by the book.
Even though their competition was taking dirty shortcuts and blatantly manipulating Google they wanted a safe, low risk strategy to recovery.
So, the agency sought out a trusted partner for genuine outreach services. The agency went through a couple of failed efforts with link outreach companies failing on quality and or timescales to much frustration.
Finally, after being referred from an existing client who was overjoyed with our services they ended up at OutreachPete. Why not sign up for free and take a look at our services for yourself?
Implementing the Strategy
In our agency dashboard they set up some trial orders, requesting links to some high performing content marketing pieces, the client’s homepage and a small volume of money pages.
Knowing that we’d be able to get the highest success rate with some already high performing content from the brand, we used this theme when outreaching to relevant bloggers.
Using our highly refined research techniques, rapport building and highly engaging content we were able to get links and mentions from some of the biggest and best blogs on the web.
After delivering the first order the agency’s SEO Manager actually wrote back to us surprised at the quality:
You guys have overdelivered, after checking every blog they’re all bringing in really decent traffic on their own and are exactly we’re looking for.
Is that what you’ve been looking for in an outreach partner too? If so sign up and place a small sample order now, we’re sure you’ll be delighted too!
After that first trial it was pedal to the metal and the focus was on getting the client back to where they deserved to be.
The agency decided to start off only ordering 12 of our platinum tier links in the first month, knowing that quality speaks volumes over quantity.
They then ramped this up to 26 platinum tier links for months 2 and 3 to continue forcing through that authority (their client did have a lot of catching up to do after all).
From month 3 onwards the agency then mixed things up to push through with a little more volume, opting for a broader mix of high and medium tier links as well.
Note: As with their trial order, the agency kept the anchor text natural and the links pointing to only a small percentage of ‘money’ pages.
Having Patience and Confidence in the Plan
As many of us know (and is confirmed by Google) an effective SEO campaign takes four months to a year to fully take effect. So, the impact on rankings wasn’t immediate, nor did the agency expect them to be. But they knew OutreachPete was the partner that would get them there.
Although the brand was generating fresh, relevant authoritative links Google didn’t filter that through to ranking improvements immediately. Whilst the brand did the right thing, competitors were still spamming away and seeing the benefits from their ongoing momentum.
In fact, did you know Google actually filed a patent for an algorithm that can decrease a site’s rankings temporarily after detecting an influx in positive signals?
The thought being that if an SEO company is behind the increase, they will knee jerk and reverse their activity for fear of further negative impact.
Seasoned SEOs know the mind games and psychological warfare Google tries to play with marketers to test their nerve, and it can be disheartening to those who are not ‘in the know’.
Good SEOs know that even if a campaign doesn’t have immediate results perseverance will bear fruit.
That was definitely the case here, where the competition was high and activity was intense across the board.
The client was already fighting negative momentum and it would take a prolonged shift in activity for Google to move the needle.
Result
After 6 months of perseverance, the results finally started to show and traffic and revenue was on the increase again.
The brand broke back through to page 1 of Google for a host of head terms, including the monster 200k+ keyword which is the most searched in the client’s industry. If you want to start your journey to similar results sign up now and get started.
Phew, the agency sure was glad they had faith in their convictions and stuck with them!
Had they simply given up at Google’s first signs of things not turning around they would have wasted budget and never have seen any form of recovery. SEO and especially link building is a long term game for sure!
Business is Through the Roof!
When we spoke to the agency we were told that the company has had to double its sales staff levels to cope with the influx of new customers and can’t hire fast enough!
That’s a very nice problem to have, considering before starting with OutreachPete the client was staring the stark reality of potential redundancies in the eye.
The Ongoing Plan
The client is now convinced of the benefits of using blogger outreach from a trusted provider and is determined to never let their advantage slip again.
Time and budget for blogger outreach is now a staple part of the client’s marketing plan and it’s never going away again. After all, why would you throw away the secret weapon that transformed your business?
Want the same results for your clients? Sign up to OutreachPete and let us help you on your journey.
Why not try out our services for yourself and see how we can help you take your business to new highs?