Since November 2023, uSERP started working with a security platform client who had built a library of high-quality content that was driving traffic but still had unrealized potential. 

uSERP focused on building authority for those pages, lifting their overall site authority, and gaining visibility for thousands of new keywords without new content.

The client had already built a library of high-quality content that ranked for relevant keywords. But many of those pages had a lot more potential. The client wanted to focus on optimizing and authority building for a select group of pages they thought deserved a higher rank.

The Solution: Build Authority for Their Best Pages

uSERP created a strategy to build authority for the client’s top-performing pages. This strategy included backlinks, internal links to those pages, and on-page optimizations. 

1. Identify the Right URL Targets

The client had a list of URL targets that were performing well. Those hosted many different types of content—anything from blog posts to landing pages.

uSERP was able to land the client in the #1 position for several relevant, high-volume keywords.

The client also wanted to increase the authority of their landing page, which focuses on offering cloud security assessments. They wanted to rank for more cloud security-related keywords hoping to capture more leads.

uSERP was able to improve the client’s position to the 1-3 slots for several relevant keywords. Many others increased their position into the top 10.

2. uSERP’s Anchor Strategy and Backlink Plan

Part of uSERP’s strategy to achieve this growth relied on building more backlinks to target pages. They also ensured those backlinks were anchored to effective text, signaling the client’s authority on related topics.

As a result, the client gained top positions for multiple page-level keywords, including primary, secondary, and long-tail keywords. They also gained thousands of referring domains from sites like Zero to PMF, Dial Pah, and Seeking Alpha since starting work in October of 2023.

3. Strategic Internal Linking

uSERP also created an internal linking strategy to complement the team’s backlink strategy. Strategically placing internal links helped organize the high-quality content the client already had and signaled their authority to search engines where before it was unclear.

The client saw a significant increase in keyword growth for their target pages. In one such case, uSERP’s efforts put a piece of high-quality content on the map for the first time.

4. On-page optimization

uSERP also recommended some on-page optimizations for the client’s existing content. This included tweaking H1s, meta titles, and meta descriptions to help their target pages perform better in the SERPs.

The optimizations and linking strategies allowed some pages that had plateaued to capture more relevant keywords and, therefore, more visibility for the client on SERPs.

Results

Since the start of uSERP’s engagement with the client in November 2023, the team has been able to drive:

• A domain rank increase of 8 points, from 66 to 74
• A gain of +13,215 new keywords 
• An increase in rank for +206 keywords that moved into the top #3 places

The client saw position changes across keywords related to cloud-native applications and security.

These changes, coupled with capturing thousands of new keywords, meaningfully increased the authority of their entire site.

OnBoard, the leading solution provider in board management software, needed to raise brand awareness. 

As part of its long-term SEO growth strategy which includes site optimization, original high-quality content produced at scale, and other best practices such as internal linking structure and optimizing previously published content –  they partnered with uSERP to build an effective backlinks strategy and optimize existing content, increasing visibility significantly in the SERPs without creating new content. 

This partnership resulted in a dramatic increase in keyword rankings, organic traffic, and domain authority.

The Goal: Increase Brand Awareness for a New SaaS Solution

OnBoard, a SaaS brand offering secure board management software, wanted to accelerate its organic performance. 

Working with uSERP, they focused on backlinks to leverage the significant search volume related to their core product and offerings.

The Strategy: Grow Organic Visibility for Relevant Search Topics

To increase visibility on SERPs for key queries, uSERP focused on acquiring backlinks from high-quality websites and optimizing their on-page and technical SEO. 

We analyzed OnBoard’s opportunities, focusing on those with the highest potential based on their domain rating (DR), competition search intent, keyword difficulty, and business goals. 

1. Get Links to OnBoard’s Homepage

We targeted high-authority sites to link back to OnBoard’s homepage.

The next step was to focus on building links from high domain authority sites, paying attention to factors like linking root domains and the total number of links. These efforts resulted in the homepage gaining 209 new keywords and moving several queries to top positions.

2. Promote Landing Pages to Increase Conversions

We also focused on landing pages targeting specific features for some of the product—or solution-focused keywords. Although our primary focus was awareness, promoting these pages helped spread awareness of OnBoard’s products and generate more conversions.

We optimized the landing page for their product, Minutes Builder, which effortlessly takes notes, creates tasks, tracks attendance, and records motions as the meeting progresses. With only one live link, this page gained 35 new keywords, and two keywords moved to the top 3 positions.

Target keywords moved to the top positions, including the main keyword, “meeting minutes software,” which is now ranking #1.

3. Enhance Blog Pages to Increase Topical Authority

We further targeted informational keywords to strengthen OnBoard’s SERP presence, strategically optimizing existing blog posts to rank for keywords like ‘Robert’s Rules of Order’ and ‘board portal.’

By acquiring backlinks from high-authority domains, we increased these pages’ authority and elevated OnBoard’s visibility in SERPs. We capitalized on opportunities to rank for those informational queries using content like a blog post related to Robert’s Rules of Order, a fundamental guide for board meetings. 

Optimizing the existing blog post, we secured backlinks to increase the page’s authority, resulting in a notable gain of 144 new keywords. 

We used another blog post written to explain the concept of board portals to rank for that information keyword. With some page optimizations and a strong backlink strategy, we were able to increase OnBoard’s visibility for related terms dramatically.

Our efforts resulted in an increase of 48 new keywords, with four core keywords moving to the top three positions. 

OnBoard is now ranking #1 for their main target keyword, “board portal.” 

By prioritizing educational content over immediate conversions, we aimed to position OnBoard as a trusted resource for users seeking comprehensive insights.

4. Analyze Content & Provide On-page Optimization Recommendations

In our collaboration with OnBoard, we also focused on optimizing each page for improved search engine ranking. This included identifying and implementing internal linking opportunities, updating content, and refining elements such as H1 and H2 headings and meta descriptions. By meticulously addressing these aspects, we aimed to maximize each page’s visibility and relevance within search engine results.

Initially, OnBoard’s Domain Rating (DR) was declining. Our optimization efforts and backlinks from high-DR sites resulted in a two-point increase in DR. 

Results

Starting with a decreasing Domain Rating (DR), OnBoard saw an immediate boost after the first backlinks went live. 

OnBoard started working with uSERP in January 2023 and since then, OnBoard has gained:

• 560 referring domains
• 15,600 new keywords
• 893 keywords in the top #3 results

Our initiatives led to immediate increases in organic traffic, solidifying OnBoard’s position as a leader in board management software.

Many new websites and companies struggle with overwhelm when they first realize that a low Domain Rating means it will be an uphill battle against larger and more established competitors. It can feel particularly frustrating when some Google ranking factors— including the age of the domain in question— are out of your hands.

The good news, though, is that with the right strategy and effort, you can control some ranking factors that you maybe thought you couldn’t— including generating external backlinks from other websites. 

uSERP offers both earned quality backlinks and SEO consulting for our clients, helping even new-to-SEO brands rise to the SERP ranks quickly with a strong strategy in place.

In this case study, we’ll show you how we helped new telehealth company Henry Meds (also known as the corporation “Adonis Health”) increase their DR dramatically— and enjoy the ranking benefits that come alongside those efforts. 

The client 

Henry Meds is a monthly healthcare subscription service with experienced and licensed providers. They focus on providing holistic care for endocrine conditions like weight loss management, insomnia, and testosterone treatment through telehealth care. All programs include free medication shipping directly to the customer’s doorstep.

The challenge

Henry Meds is a relatively newer company, having been founded in 2022 after telehealth practices became more widespread. They had an outstanding idea for a product— access to holistic, convenient healthcare for ongoing conditions in a time when specialist waitlists can take weeks or months to book— but were struggling to compete for high-value keywords.

They knew they needed to grow organic visibility by increasing brand awareness around critical topics and search queries. These included queries for specific medications or treatment options, with some content centered around currently trending medications like Ozempic and Semaglutide. 

They also needed help securing top rankings for competitive and high-value keywords, especially keywords related to their products that could help connect them with potential patients. 

The solution

Knowing that SEO and brand awareness were crucial to the brand’s client acquisition strategy, Henry Meds came to work with both uSERP and Codeless in August 2023 to create a strong SEO and content-centered strategy. (You can check out Codeless’s work with Adonis Health to learn more about that side of the equation). 

Here at uSERP, we focused on increasing overall domain authority, targeting key pages for SEO impact, and providing SEO recommendations. Let’s take a closer look at the steps involved.

1. Increased DR with natural links to their homepage

A website’s Domain Rating (DR) is a score used by Ahrefs to provide a basic understanding of how competitive your site will be in the SERPs. Google doesn’t use DR scores to rank content, but the DR score accounts for known ranking signals that Google does account for to help you track your progress. 

When we first started working with Henry Meds, their DR was 8 out of 100. This is a true “starting from scratch” level DR, and it meant that even well-written and fully-optimized site pages and content would struggle to rank well against more established websites.

So, we focused on backlinks. Backlinks are a significant signal to Google that your content is relevant, authoritative, and trustworthy. And while some people think external backlinks are outside of their control barring prohibited spam-focused tactics, that’s not the case; you can invest in generating and earning natural backlinks, which is a big part of what we do at uSERP.

This involves finding relevant high-authority publications that may be open to guest posts, for example. A single guest post on a respected website can generate one or two backlinks to the client’s site, and anchor text (which is the text users can click to access a link) using relevant keywords can strengthen those backlinks.

We started by targeting natural links to Henry Meds’ homepage with the goal of strengthening their DR and URL Rating (UR). 

2. Targeted commercial pages for conversions 

Once we started getting backlinks to Henry Meds’ homepage, we also started looking at other high-value pages we wanted to drive extra power to through external links. 

The next step was to start targeting commercial pages with the goal of driving conversions. If customers are making high-intent searches like “semaglutide online pharmacy,” we wanted customers to end up on the relevant product page (in this case, the semaglutide landing page). 

We identified the highest value landing pages that could successfully drive conversions, and began outreach and publication campaigns to generate external backlinks accordingly. 

3. Targeted blog pages for topical authority 

While increasing the site’s overall DR and driving traffic to conversion-focused pages, we also knew that we wanted to create a strong content funnel that would increase brand awareness, generate customer trust, and nurture lukewarm users through conversion.

That meant investing in tactics to create stronger topical authority around key subjects for HenryMeds that appeared on the blog. While Codeless handled the content creation, we worked on driving traffic and external backlinks to high-value pages. 

As the content would attract more backlinks, individual posts could see serious gains in ranking potential. This, in turn, strengthened the overall topical authority of the site, which actually impacted even non-targeted blog posts by creating a stronger overall foundation. 

4. Provided SEO recommendations for optimization 

Henry Meds was a newer company, but they did have an existing site when we first began working with them. We conducted a thorough site audit to look for any additional optimization opportunities that could help their ranking potential.

We made specific recommendations for optimization that included the following:

• Creating an internal linking strategy. 
• Making copy and keyword suggestions for key landing pages.
• Suggesting alterations to H1s, H2s, meta titles, and meta descriptions. 

The results 

We’ve accomplished outstanding results together in under a year since we began working with Henry Meds in August of 2023.  

When the partnership started, Henry Meds’ DR was only 8. As soon as the first links went live, that changed and DR increased rapidly. Now, after 8 months of engagement, their DR sits at 53. 

In those eight months, the site has also gained:

• Earned backlinks from 219 referring domains.
• 6.6K+ new keywords ranking in the SERPs.
• 226 keywords that now rank in the top three positions of the SERPs. 

Henry Meds has also seen major page-level growth on key product pages. 

The semaglutide landing page, for example, saw the following results:

• Increased UR by 3+ points.
• Ranks for an additional 225 new keywords.
• Ranks in the top three positions for 62 keywords. 

Many of the new keywords that now rank in the top 3 positions include high-intent and highly competitive keywords like “semaglutide online” and “semaglutide prescription online.” 

Let’s look at another example. The “Semaglutide Diet Plan” page was published in January 2024, at which point we began prioritizing it with link-building campaigns. Three months later, it has:

• 160 backlinks from 38 referring domains.
• 155 new keywords, with 524 monthly site visitors.
• 3 high-value keywords in ranking in the top three positions. 

In addition to the three keywords appearing in the top three positions, many keywords are now also ranking on the first page of the SERP results. 

Finally, let’s look at the GLP-1 Weight Management page. During our engagement, it gained:

• 111+ new keywords.
• 6 new keywords in the top three results.
• Multiple queries rose to top positions on the first page of the search results. 

Final thoughts

Whether you’ve been in business and chugging away at SEO for ten years or you just launched your site today, the good news is that there’s always more you can do if you’re not getting the results you want to see.

Improved on-site optimization that accounts for updated ranking factors and modern best practices combined with genuinely earned backlinks from diverse referring domains can have significant and fast-acting impacts on your site. 

The results we accomplished for Henry Meds took eight months, and that was starting from scratch using an approach tailored to their specific needs. We can help you accomplish the same kind of growth, with improved ranking and site traffic that can result in more leads and sales.

Ready to discover how uSERP can help improve your SEO potential? Book a free consultation today.

B2C eCommerce brands have a relatively unique challenge with content marketing in terms of true urgency. The B2C sales funnel is often much shorter than B2B customer journeys, so it’s important to capture customer intent quickly when they’re researching buying decisions.

A business may take several weeks (or longer) to decide on a communications platform shift, for example, but a customer researching something like attire may act much faster.

As a result, it’s critical for eCommerce brands to rank for the relevant high-intent keywords in their industry. It can mean the difference between capturing a customer or having that customer select a competitor instead.

Today, we’re going to discuss how uSERP helped a fashion brand rise to the top three positions for 186+ new keywords to capture some of that intent and drive more sales.

The challenge 

The client is a fashion brand that sells custom suits to customers. 

The suits and men’s suit attire industry was valued at 17.061 billion USD in 2021, and it’s only projected to continue growing through 2027. 

Not only is the industry competitive, but the SERP is competitive, too. There are plenty of competitors targeting keywords like “quality men’s suits,” “custom men’s suits” or “italian wool men’s suits”— and the client wasn’t ranking well as a result. 

On a domain level, the client was up against SERP competitors with much higher Domain Rating (DRs), and much stronger domain-level link metrics.

They were struggling to rank well on a domain level and a page level. That meant they were struggling to attract traffic for product page keywords, and consistently losing potential customers to higher-ranking competition. 

The reality is that around 70% of clicks happen in the top five positions in the SERPs. 

The solution 

SERP success for this client meant that we needed to increase traffic for product page keywords. 

In order to do that, we realized that we needed to get to work on the client’s linking strategy, both in terms of backlinks from external sites and internal linking. During an in-depth audit of the client’s site, we also realized that we could improve rankings for buyer intent keywords with improved optimization, and create an anchor strategy to grow rankings for multiple keywords.

Let’s break down the solution we implemented for the client.

1. Acquire branded links to the home page 

Gaining more branded links to the client’s URL was crucial, and we knew that getting links specifically to the site’s home page would be essential.

By getting more branded backlinks from high-authority websites, it would significantly strengthen the website’s Domain Rating (DR) and URL Rating (UR). 

The reality is that even a well-written site full of strategic keywords will struggle to compete against established sites that have more high-quality backlinks. Google has long held backlinks to be an important ranking factor, and they consider it a signal of quality, relevance, and authority. 

Now that quality and trustworthiness has become even more of a concern over the past few years (and especially now that AI has entered the scene), backlinks are an essential differentiator that can help you stand out.

It’s important to note, too, that all of the backlinks we generated for the client were earned backlinks. We didn’t spam other sites or pay fees to get promoted on cheap affiliate sites. 

We conduct extensive research to look for optimal link placements in high-authority and trusted publications, and we reach out to discuss potential opportunities. In some cases, this may mean generating content that the site publishes, and in others it may mean just getting on their radar. 

When doing backlink outreach, we only choose trusted, respected websites in the client’s industry. Ideally, these will also be publications that our clients’ audience will read, potentially increasing traffic both from an SEO perspective and increasing traffic directly to the site from those branded backlinks. 

2. Identify product pages to implement buyer intent keywords 

As a quick recap: Not all keywords are going to have strong buyer intent. 

Someone searching for “where to buy a custom suit” or even “men’s custom Italian suit” is much further ahead in a sales journey than someone searching for “why do people buy custom suits.” 

The latter is looking for information, and while in theory they could begin a journey into researching custom suits and realize they are, in fact, superior, that search phrase doesn’t indicate immediate intent to make a purchase.

“Where to buy a custom suit” or “men’s custom Italian suit,” on the other hand, are two very high intent keywords. People search for these terms when they’re undergoing research for a purchase decision.

We realized that the client’s website could benefit if we implemented more high-intent keywords onto different product pages. We conducted extensive keyword research to determine what phrases people were searching for while researching, and we made specific recommendations for the client to implement valuable buyer intent keywords on key product pages as a result. 

3. Develop an anchor strategy to grow rankings for multiple keywords  

Anchor text is the text that users can click to access a link. You can see an example of anchor text in the image below with the “related keywords” text. The unique-colored font on this website indicates a clickable link. 

Anchor text is important, because Google uses it for context to assess the backlink. As a result, it matters both for external backlinks and internal links. 

Some good examples of anchor text might include:

• Branded anchor text that links to the home page
• Anchor text that details products for individual product pages (“custom wool suits for men”).
• Positive descriptions of the product (“high quality custom suits”).

By having an anchor text strategy in place, site developers knew how to create internal backlinks and we knew how to drive external backlinks that would be more successful at driving a stronger SERP impact. 

4. Define an internal link strategy

While external backlinks are always going to drive the most significant results (and fastest), internal linking also matters.

Internal linking can improve how users move through your site, which can directly impact the experience (and conversions!) of users already visiting you.

It also can impact your SERP results, too. A strong internal linking strategy can make it easier for Google and other search engines to actually crawl your website, and the easier it is, the better. The anchor text you use can also help establish some context for Google, which is always a good thing.

When looking at the client’s domain, we realized we needed to create an internal linking strategy that would help bolster high-value pages on the site. By prioritizing important pages with our internal links, we were able to provide an extra boost on the page authority level, increasing SERP rankings and traffic to those high-value, high-intent pages. 

The Results 

After 13 months of working together with the client since December 2022, our engagement helped the fashion brand with significant gains in keywords, keyword ranking, and page and domain rankings. 

The home page alone saw impressive results, which included the following:

• Domain Rating increased by +14 points.
• The site overall is now optimized for 53.9k new keywords, for a total of 71.2k ranking keywords.
• 4.1k keywords have increased in ranking and are now in the top three positions in the SERPs. 
• The backlink profile has grown by 52.9k backlinks, and all backlinks that came from uSERP were earned on high-quality and trustworthy sites. 

There was also significant page-level growth. We obtained the top three positions in the SERPs across multiple product pages for competitive buyer keywords. 

A fantastic example of this is the client’s linen suits product page. 

In the duration of our engagement, we managed to increase this product page’s URL Rating by an entire point, and the page itself gained 594 new keywords for a total of 863 diverse keywords. 186 of those keywords are now ranking for the top three positions in Google, which almost certainly contributed to the 6.3k+ increase in page traffic. 

We also gained the top positions for multiple high-intent, short-tail product keywords, including what you can see in the image below: 

Final thoughts 

The reality is that many eCommerce industries can be exceptionally competitive, as the client knew all too well. The ability to tap into high-intent keywords, have a solid SEO strategy in place (which should consider both anchor text and internal linking), and acquiring high-quality, high-authority backlinks the right way can be a game-changer.

uSERP knows how to help companies of all shapes and sizes scale with true organic growth. We’re ready to help you revamp your link building and SEO strategy, and get you ranking in the SERPs. 

Ready to gain more earned backlinks and rank higher for high-intent keywords? Learn more about how we can help here.