The powerhouse behind explosive growth.
We helped an SEO agency grow their monthly revenue from $63,000 to $358,000 in 30 months by helping them consistently deliver remarkable results for their clients like this:
What you’re about to read isn’t an SEO case study.
It’s an SEO agency case study.
A case study which outlines the strategies, processes, and effective management of link building that ignited a catalyst for growth for our client.
Whilst solving fundamental issues all agencies face.
Yes - I’m looking at you.
Caution: This case study is quite the marathon. So if you’re reading this on the toilet, your legs might go blue (don’t say we didn’t warn you).
SEO is hard.
It’s estimated that Google processes a whopping 8.5 billion searches every. single. day.
That’s almost 99,000 searches per second, with results being determined by over 200 ranking factors.
And among those results, 92% of traffic goes to the first page of Google, with less than 1% of clicks going to websites on the second (source: Safari Digital).
In other words
SEO is an ever-changing landscape.
And with new magical methods to increase your rankings popping up faster than you can say abracadabra
It can be tough.
On top of that, running a business - any business - is hard.
Managing staff, clients, accounting, processes, you have to wear more hats than your head can fit.
Combine the two and what do you get?
A headache.
A consistent, dull, painful headache.
So you can bet that running an SEO agency is a sure-fire way to lose your hair well before your time.
Yet despite the hassle, the need for SEO remains high.
Most businesses rely on SEO agencies as a foundation of their lead generation.
So it’s no wonder that despite the stress, thousands of new agencies are created every year.
But the agency game is changing.
With the release of AI and the surge of remote workers, agency owners are having to adapt.
Quick time.
Ryan Stewart perfectly dissects these changes in his youtube video “Agency Owners: Not Making Money? Here's Why”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xGa7g3a2SY (A must-watch, btw!)
Here’s a slide from Ryan’s video worth talking about.
In short, the best agencies are:
- Niching down, picking one type of client.
- Selling outcomes that result in clients making more money.
- Ditching offices and are a small specialised team.
- Outsourcing the headaches, getting experts to do a better job.
Trying to manage a large team that’s doing every part of the SEO process in-house is not a profitable business model in 2023.
It won’t be again.
Ever again.
Agency owners need to change now or get left behind.
Let’s look at one of the main challenges SEO agencies face: Link building.Strategising, building, managing, and reporting on links can be serious bottlenecks for many agencies.
These fundamental issues are causing agencies to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Although figures vary depending on context, businesses are losing on average $330,000 a year due to poor SEO (The Manufacturer).
And it can be boiled down to one central problem in their process.
They don’t have a tried-and-tested SEO Agency Link Building Playbook.
Aka, a game-changing system that we and the agencies we work with use.
A game-changing system that scales link building, gets crazy results for clients, and generates the revenue you deserve from your results.
This case study reveals that system in detail.
And how it changed our clients' business forever.
(Side note - we have a signed NDA with our client, they prefer to stay anonymous since they now have a service reselling our links.)
In short, the best agencies are:
The SEO agency we build over 1500+ links a month for had many of the new agency model boxes ticked.
They niched down by only doing SEO for ecommerce businesses.
They have good processes, providing great content and technical SEO.
They were getting to a position to scale their business, they were delivering clients results.
But they were running into a problem.
A big problem.
They weren’t able to scale their business whilst still providing high-quality links for their clients.
Their previous provider didn’t fulfil orders in time.
They built links to awful sites.
And made constant simple errors like using the wrong anchor text.
The agency found it extremely embarrassing to show the links to their clients.
And those mistakes cost.
Why?
Because their clients were not happy with the quality of their links.
This made the agency anxious.
No one wants the dreaded email from their client telling them to cancel their service.
But that’s exactly what they could feel coming…
Their sales rep was getting frustrated.
Our client was getting more nervous.
They could no longer trust their link provider.
They also had no infrastructure for strategy and reporting - two fundamental elements for successful link building.
Because they were busy with other parts of the business, they had no time left to develop a dedicated strategy and reporting team for their links.
And their link provider couldn’t do this for them either.
It was time for a change.
They had two choices to make.
It can be tempting to take on the link building burden yourself.
You’d save some costs (spoiler alert: you won’t) and have more control over the links.
Seems sensible. Sounds appealing.
But for most agencies, is it really?
There are a lot of link builders out there, so finding the right one can be very difficult.
Here’s what you should be looking for:
- 1. Competitive pricing
- 2. Quality links to move the needle
- 3. Strategies that help your clients grow
- 4. Easily managing thousands of links across hundreds of clients
- 5. Delivering links on time to save embarrassment
- 6. Branded reporting (one less thing you have to think about)
This process is painstaking, time consuming, and expensive when you consider salaries, software, and any other overheads.
You can throw any thoughts of in-house being cost effective straight out the window.
Does this fit into the new agency model?
No.
Don’t believe us?
Here’s a brief breakdown of what you’d need to do to scale link building in-house.
These four pillars have to be connected with a super tight process.
Which takes YEARS to get right.
Your process has to be scalable as you grow.
And taking on link building in-house is essentially starting a new business.
It’s labour intensive. It’s long winded.
Watch the costs of your staff and software go up and up and up (even more so if your process isn’t good enough).
For the years it takes you to get things right, you’ll lose important clients, revenue, and your reputation in the meantime.
The small costs you save are not worth the long headaches you will get.
Which is exactly what our client realised, so they considered…
There are a lot of link builders out there, so finding the right one can be very difficult.
Here’s what you should be looking for:
- 1. Competitive pricing
- 2. Quality links to move the needle
- 3. Strategies that help your clients grow
- 4. Easily managing thousands of links across hundreds of clients
- 5. Delivering links on time to save embarrassment
- 6. Branded reporting (one less thing you have to think about)
When running a business, the margins are important.
Paying less on your links can equate to the cost of a staff member’s annual salary.
(Or the cost of that extra fancy holiday you’ve been daydreaming about.)
So, when we mentioned our exclusive agency discount - get in touch to uncover it for yourself - our client was extra impressed.
They were able to get a competitive price without sacrificing on...
In our humble opinion, the most important factor when finding a link provider.
You don’t want links that make your gut wrench.
Or links that make you scared to show your client.
You don’t want links that cause that embarrassing conversation for your sales team.
Or links that cause rankings to drop.
But guess what?
We don’t provide links like that.
We wouldn’t dream of it.
Because we know exactly what you want.
You want links that make your client go WOW.
Links that you are proud of.
Links that result in less time worrying, more time building rapport.
Links that make you excited to send out your progress reports because of the huge jump in rankings.
*Disclaimer - those jumps are down to content and technical SEO as well, not just links*
Our client needed links that were truly vetted.
Which is exactly what they got through our meticulous 16 point link-checking process that creates industry-leading links.
Links that scaled their business.
Internally, they struggled with knowing how many links their clients needed, what type of links they needed, and what pages to build them to.
Here’s where our next point takes the spotlight.
Let's tailor your roadmap to success.
With extensive expertise in enhancing SERP ranking performance, we understand what truly works. Let us save you from wasting resources on ineffective strategies. A quick call with us with the option of an AI-Driven Strategy Blueprint might be all you need to attain the edge over your competition.
BOOK A CALL
Putting together a link strategy can be extremely time consuming and quite frankly, boring.
No one wants to sift through thousands of links and manually devise the best strategy for their client.
You’d need a dedicated team.
High-level processes.
And a high budget.
But, it's extremely important to do.
Without a proper link building strategy in place, you have no foundation for link building.
You need to be able to show your clients data.
And help them understand what they need to do to get better rankings.
Strategies build trust.
They show expertise. They show experience.
Which is why we lifted that weight off our client’s shoulders.
Skyrocketing their growth (more on that soon).
Now, let’s dive into our next key point.
Managing the whole SEO process from start to finish can be extremely difficult.
You have to build a process to ensure your technical SEO is up to scratch.
Then do keyword research.
And don’t forget to build content strategies which will require a content team.
Does it sound like fun having to manage hundreds of links across your dozens of clients on top of that?
Nope, we don’t think so either.
Many agencies are great at selling their services.
They may also be excellent SEO’s, fully capable of getting clients amazing results.
But they fall short on processes and management.
That’s why they lose business. That’s why they can’t scale.
What our client needed was a simple interface that can plug and play into their systems.
Something that was adaptable to their needs.
Something that any member of their staff could use.
Something that could help align with their tight deadlines, leading nicely to another crucial aspect.
Our client needed a supplier that could deliver their links on time.
If you’ve built tens of thousands of high-quality links before, you’d know that the usual deadline is 4 weeks.
So, if any link provider promises your links in 2 weeks or less, I’d run and hide.
Or go look at fiverr if that’s what you’re after.
But proceed with extreme caution and don’t say we didn’t warn you!
Our client was looking for high-quality links and knew a 4-week period was spot on.
It’s also what they promised their client.
Side note - breaking promises to clients can sow seeds of doubt in their mind.
Don’t get us wrong, occasional delays due to human error or unforeseen circumstances are understandable.
However, making late deliveries a habit is a big no no.
Our client had a rough experience with their last link supplier.
Late delivery, poor quality, you name it.
The burden was placed on them to have those awkward conversations when it wasn’t even their fault.
You can never go wrong with consistent, on-time service delivery.
This is a fundamental pillar of your brand reputation.
Our client learnt this lesson the hard way.
For a successful SEO agency, reporting is the bread and butter of client retention.
Why?
Because if you’re not providing reporting for your clients, chances are they don’t think you’re doing any work at all.
Even if you’re delivering stellar rankings.
Your clients need more than just results.
They need communication and affirmation.
Something that our client knew they needed improvement on.
When it came to link building, their reporting game was non-existent.
All they did was show the links they had built.
They didn’t have anything to show the impact the links were making.
They didn’t have teams or systems in place to start gathering data and making reports.
If you want your clients to trust you and your expertise, you need the data to back it up.
Our client realised this.
They needed to either take reporting in-house, or find an expert supplier that could white label it for them.
They understood that what they needed was a monumental task.
Concluding it’s way too costly to take in-house.
It also didn’t fit with the new agency model.
The only viable option?
A supplier.
They needed a company who does this day in, day out.
A company with years of experience.
They needed a supplier who wasn’t going to just supply links, but also build the infrastructure needed to scale their business.
Which is where we come in.
At the start of 2021, they asked for our help.
They lacked the strategy needed to take their agency to the next level.
But we had a tried-and-tested link building agency playbook that was going to give them the upper hand on their competitors.
We laid out a game plan - picture it as a delicious 3-course meal.
Remember when we said your strategy is your link building foundation?
We weren’t lying.
A link building strategy is the most important thing most online businesses and SEO agencies miss.
You’ll build a new site.
Work out what keywords you want the site to rank for.
Create great content.
Spend thousands on building as many links as possible that point to random pages.
No strategy, just pure chaos.
Which doesn’t make any sense.
Since plenty of strategy and planning was implemented to get the site where it needed to be in the first place.
So why wouldn’t you do that when it comes to links?
If you do decide to build a link strategy first, great! Just remember this:
Get a link building strategy wrong or skimp on effort, you can guarantee poor results and money down the drain.
This is something many SEO agencies struggle with.
They don’t put in the time and effort needed to create a link building strategy.
Your strategies may be pushed to the side, saved for later like the leftovers you never end up eating.
Perhaps because of your sales process or packages.
Or, if you have clients on retainers, you might have an allocated link budget preventing you from building the amount of links you need.
So a strategy would be pointless, right?
“Build as many links as we can with the budget we have”
Are the words that you may be thinking.
If you’re doing local SEO, sure, it’s likely a sufficient model that’ll work fine.
But if you’re trying to get your client ranking for more competitive keywords, say hello to a dead end.
You may lack resources or experience.
Or both, like our client.
They had clients on retainers and without an in-house team creating link building strategies, they weren’t able to deliver top-notch results.
When your clients stop making money, you stop making money.
Our client needed a new solution.
They needed a strategy that they could white label.
A data-driven strategy that could catapult their clients to the top of Google.
The solution =
Our AI Link Protocol.
(In the early days when we first started working with our client, we handled things manually through our standard link building strategy, but we’ve since automated and enhanced the process with the magic of AI.)
The AI Link Protocol was able to tell their clients exactly how many links they needed, what pages the links needed to point to, and what type of links they needed to get.
Sounds seamless?
That’s because it is.
Here’s how it works:
The system looks at each individual link going to all your competitors’ pages.
Using AI, we can score them.
This is a high-level overview of how our scoring system works:
- 1. We analyse the backlink profiles of your top competitors.
- 2. We use AI to score every single link for relevance.
- 3. This gives us a clear understanding of any authority discrepancies among your links.
- 4. You’ll know what types of links to build and how many.
- 5. We then replicate this process for inner pages, so we know the exact number and types of links required for each page on your site.
- 6. You receive detailed breakdowns to accurately plan your link building over our recommended time frames.
The result =
Their clients clearly understood the optimal link building speed for desired rankings, and how to manage link velocity effectively.
They also received a bespoke data-driven strategy created by link building experts.
Not only did the strategy build trust with the client, but when they stuck to the plan, their results went through the roof.
It was a game changer.
Our client didn’t just settle for amassing links within the retainer.
They instead used the report as a distinct product.
They slashed retainer costs by removing the link budget, all whilst communicating to clients about their tailor-made link building strategy.
Next, they ran the AI Link Protocol and showed the data.
They let the report do the work.
When their clients saw the difference between them and their competitors, it was an instant sell.
The AI Link Protocol deciphers Google’s top-ranking backlink profile criteria.
And with its great visual aid, clients are able to clearly grasp what they need to do.
This enabled our client to be able to provide the right amount of links for their clients to get them results.
They could deliver precise link quantities for optimal results. Without any budget concerns.
In many cases, they could raise retainer prices to match clients’ SEO investment needs, significantly boosting revenue.
Like we said, a game changer.
None of their competitors could match this strategy.
It not only generated profits for their clients, but also for themselves.
They seamlessly integrated it into their sales process, ultimately providing clients with real value.
Now that they had a growth-oriented strategy in place, the next challenge was implementing it effectively to manage their links.
Creating a whole new system for link management was a no go.
Since they were dealing with clients on various plans and diverse niches, effective link management was crucial.
The last thing they needed was a maze of spreadsheets.
Or the hassle of juggling different CRMs.
They needed something to manage their links all in one place.
Something that could seamlessly integrate with their existing systems and processes.
Enter - our Agency Link Tracker.
Built for agencies, by agencies.
Thanks to our long-lasting relationships with fellow SEO agencies, we were able to craft a tailored system to meet their needs.
We built this system in Google Sheets.
Why? Because it’s simple. 99% of users know how to use it.
And the platform’s versatility allows for building seamless automations that feed directly into your CRMs, with any quick changes being right at your fingertips.
Let’s take you on a tour.
It begins as a simple sheet with 3 tabs at the bottom.
Input Order, Tracker, and Payments.
In the ‘Input Order’ tab, you can easily enter your order (or let us do it for you!)
You then process the order by hitting ‘Create Order’.
Yes, it’s that simple.
In the tracker and across the sheet, we split the links by your clients’ domains rather than the order number.
So you can say adios to sifting through various orders with multiple client domains and individually sorting and sending them to each client.
Everything is already split for you.
You can track the number of pending links for each client (and their deadline) with ease.
You can also monitor historical data in the ‘Inactive Client’ column which displays their last order date.
Navigating your clients’ links couldn’t be easier.
See for yourself.
Just hover over the client whose link you want to view, then click on the URL.
This will take you directly to your clients' links.
We automatically update the live links’s URL and DR in the far columns, marked in red.
Your link tracking is now simplified into one user-friendly, scalable solution tailored for SEO agencies.
This sheet is also designed for effortless link monitoring that anyone in your business can handle.
Adaptability is our forte - incorporating automations and any other essential needs is a breeze thanks to the flexibility of Google Sheets.
We’ve tried complex systems.
We’ve tried tracking heaps of data.
We’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
But simplicity just can’t be beaten.
For SEO agencies, it’s crucial to have an easy grasp of link locations, completion status, and due dates.
That’s it.
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Don’t overcomplicate things.
The proof is in our client who was able to easily scale their link building to new heights.
Now, they needed a way to show that both their hard work and their links were getting results.
Many SEO agencies neglect reporting.
Or, their reports lack depth.
And as we established before, your clients need to see the data to know that what you’re doing is valuable.
Clients can also get fixated on a single keyword or irrelevant SEO goals.
As an agency, it’s your job to shift their perspective, no matter how challenging that can be.
This is where reporting truly shines.
It showcases the time and effort invested in the site, your team’s dedication, and the wins you’ve secured for your client.
Our client had a reporting gap, especially for the links they were providing their clients with.
As they were selling the report as an upsell, they needed a reporting system that highlighted results.
Without drowning in SEO jargon.
Many agencies tend to overcomplicate reporting. They fill it with SEO data and metrics.
But here’s the reality.
Your client isn’t interested.
They don’t care about an exhaustive breakdown of anchor text selection.
They don’t care about the ratio of “nofollow” to “dofollow” links, or their site’s DR.
What matters to them is leads and revenue.
Link building can't directly report on this.
Reporting shows a surge in traffic for the pages receiving links.
More traffic = more leads = more sales.
Precisely what our client wanted for their agency.
A straightforward, client-friendly link building report.
So, we white-labelled our reporting for them.
It provided the following insights for their domain and inner pages:
- 1. Monthly link building count.
- 2. New keywords gained, alongside existing keyword rankings.
- 3. Page Rank for each site.
- 4. Total website traffic.
All neatly presented on a month-to-month graph, showing their progress over time.
This could also help identify on-page and CRO issues on our clients’ sites.
When a specific page experienced a traffic boost but not an increase in sales, our client knew the page needed improving to drive $$$.
This guaranteed increased client revenue and greater profits for themselves.
Our reporting system provided an overview of their clients’ link delivery progress.
All at a simple glance, in a quick and easy format.
The report was then integrated into our client’s management system, streamlining their access to their own clients’ reporting for each site.
We automated the process.
Whenever our client added a new page that they built links to, their reporting document was updated.
No need for requests or reminders.
With the reporting in a handy Google Docs sheet, they were able to effortlessly automate sending it out.
They no longer had to worry about delivering reports to their clients.
Autopilot mode was on.
Their clients trusted them.
They were able to show results.
And they didn’t have to lift a finger.
As an agency owner, you have some decisions to make.
Key decisions that will shape your entire business.
You can:
Not do anything.
Stick with your current supplier, the one not providing white-labelled growth strategies.
Struggle without specialised management systems for scalable link buildings.
Forego reports that build client relationships.
End up frustrated, unable to elevate your business.
Risk damaging your reputation and missing out on life-changing revenue.
Meanwhile, your competitors surge ahead because you can’t scale effectively.
2. Build the links in-house.
Embrace the stress of essentially launching a new business.
Devise complex link building processes.
Hire and manage more staff.
Purchase new software.
And most importantly, do the exact opposite of what the world’s best agencies are doing right now.
The exact opposite of the new agency model.
3. Use the Link Building Agency Playbook
Take a leaf out of our client’s book.
Use the tried-and-tested playbook to scale your agency.
With the right strategy, scalable management, and simple reporting, our client achieved exponential growth.
And you can too.
You’d never have to worry about link building again.
By adopting the new agency model you’d reduce team size, manage fewer staff, and boost revenue.
Our client followed our playbook and hasn’t looked back since.
We now watch their monthly order numbers soar.
And we watch as they retain clients because they’re providing results.
An important note:
Our client’s impressive content and technical expertise is the main reason for their success in delivering those results.
Their challenge was scaling results-driven link building and growing their client base.
That’s where our playbook gave them a helping hand.
There are so many great SEO agencies out there.
Providing stellar service and excellent SEO skills, just like our client.
Yet they get caught up in processes, managing clients, and staff oversight.
Which is precisely why we developed the playbook to relieve our clients of this fundamental part of SEO.
Giving them more time to focus on business growth.
So if you’re an SEO agency looking for results, it pays to work with link building experts that specialise in creating long-term success.
Sounds like you?
Let’s talk. An industry-leading AI link building strategy.
After years of experience growing brands just like yours, we know what gets results and what doesn’t. We’ll stop you from spending too much time, resources and money on backlinks that don’t help. We’ll stop you from building links on harmful or useless websites. We’ll use our AI Link Strategy to analyze your competition and give you a personalized action plan.
Find out more
