What Happens When You Build Links That Actually Matter? (Ask SE Ranking 😎)

SE Ranking, a rising star in the SaaS space, offers a powerful suite of SEO tools used by marketers, agencies, and in-house teams worldwide. By 2021, they were already doing a lot right. Their internal SEO team was solid, their content engine was active, and their on-page efforts were dialed in.

But their off-page SEO was starting to lag behind.

Organic growth had slowed. They weren’t losing rankings, but they also weren’t pulling away from competitors the way they needed to. Their backlink profile, while robust, wasn’t expanding into new domains fast enough to match their ambitions in a rapidly evolving space.

That’s when they brought in Digital Gratified.

Why SE Ranking Chose Digital Gratified?

Let’s be honest: link-building agencies are everywhere. But most of them offer the same tired pitch—cheap links, questionable tactics, and results that vanish the moment Google blinks.

SE Ranking was looking for something better.

A few things set us apart:

• Value-aligned partnership: The strategy-first approach matched their internal SEO values and long-term goals.
• Transparent pricing: We fit their budget without cutting corners on quality.
• Editorial credibility: We brought real relationships with top-tier publishers, not just empty promises.

The Strategy: Quality First, Longevity Always?

From the start, we focused on building sustainable growth. No hacks. No tricks. Just smart strategy.

1. Targeting The Right Domains

We identified the types of sites that could deliver both SEO value and brand visibility. Think:

• Authoritative marketing publications
• SaaS-centric blogs
• Trusted SEO communities

Each domain was hand-selected for relevance, authority, and audience alignment.

2. Focused Content Collaboration

We didn’t blast outreach emails to anyone with a “Write for Us” page. We built actual relationships. That meant:

• Creating custom guest posts tailored to publisher standards
• Identifying high-value link insertion opportunities
• Prioritizing content that could drive referral traffic, not just link juice

SE Ranking specifically appreciated this level of care. As they put it:

3. Built-In Google Resilience

With Google constantly shifting the algorithmic goalposts, we knew we couldn’t rely on volume alone. So, we:

• Avoided risky tactics entirely
• Focused on natural, contextual placements
• Future-proofed their profile against updates like the Helpful Content Update

The Results: 250 Links Later…

Over the course of our partnership, Digital Gratified helped SE Ranking secure 250+ high-authority backlinks—each one carefully earned, not farmed, bought, or stuffed into recycled guest posts nobody reads. This wasn’t about hitting a quota. It was about impact. And it worked.

Here’s what that effort translated into:

🚀 Explosive Organic Traffic Growth

In 2021, SE Ranking’s monthly organic traffic hovered around 60,000 visits—respectable, but far from industry-leading. By early 2025, that number had grown to over 440,000 monthly visits, representing a 540% increase in organic visibility.

And let’s be clear: this wasn’t the result of some viral stunt, PPC campaign, or short-term trickery. This was pure, sustained, organic growth fueled by strategic link placements and smart off-page SEO.

This growth didn’t just boost vanity metrics—it brought in qualified, relevant traffic that aligned directly with SE Ranking’s target customers. We didn’t just make them more visible—we made them visible to the right people.

🔍 Keyword Expansion That Dominated the SERPs

One of the most telling indicators of SEO health? Keyword footprint.

SE Ranking started with around 30,000 indexed keywords. After our work together, they’re now ranking for nearly 100,000. That’s not just growth—it’s domination. Their keyword profile now spans a wide funnel:

• Top-of-funnel educational content
• Mid-funnel competitive comparison searches
• Bottom-of-funnel buying intent queries

The results speak for themselves: more impressions, better click-through rates, and a stronger organic sales pipeline.

🔗 Domain Authority Surge (And No, Not From Spammy Tactics)

You don’t just accidentally reach a Domain Rating (DR) of 83 on Ahrefs. That level of authority is built brick by brick—and we laid a lot of bricks.

The backlink profile we developed includes 250+ high-quality referring domains, featuring placements on industry-leading sites like:

• HubSpot
• BigCommerce
• Dialpad
• VWO
• Namecheap

These aren’t just high-DR sites. They’re contextually relevant, respected within the SEO and SaaS world, and capable of driving real referral traffic. That’s a far cry from the “guest post on a yoga blog for your accounting software” strategy you see too often in this space.

🛡️ Resilience Through Google’s Core Updates

If you’ve been in SEO for more than 12 minutes, you know the landscape changes constantly. One update from Google can tank a year’s worth of gains—unless your strategy is bulletproof.

Ours was.

When Google rolled out the Helpful Content Update and several other core algorithm changes, many of SE Ranking’s competitors saw traffic drops, keyword volatility, and ranking instability.

SE Ranking? Their metrics kept rising.

Our link-building wasn’t built on manipulation—it was built on relevance, authority, and quality. And that made all the difference.

💬 What SE Ranking Had To Say?

The feedback was clear: this wasn’t just a numbers game. It was about working with a partner who brought strategy, responsiveness, and trust to the table.

Long-Term Wins, Not Just Temporary Spike

Here’s the truth: anyone can get you backlinks. Some will promise hundreds overnight. Others will swear their secret spreadsheet of blog contacts is the key to SEO nirvana.

But let’s be honest—most of those links won’t move the needle. Some might give you a short-term lift. A few might quietly do nothing. And more than a few will put your domain in danger of disappearing from Google’s search results entirely.

We don’t build those links.

What we built for SE Ranking—and what we build for every partner—is a sustainable link ecosystem. The 250+ backlinks we delivered weren’t just shiny numbers on a report. They were carefully earned assets—embedded in real content, on real sites, with real relevance.

And they’re still delivering value years later.

Their rankings didn’t just rise—they stayed high. Their traffic didn’t just spike—it grew steadily. And when Google flipped the switch on its latest algorithm update? They didn’t blink. They thrived.

Want SEO Results That Actually Last?

If you’re looking for fast tricks, fake authority, or “20 backlinks for $50,” we’re not your agency.

But if you care about:

• Long-term organic growth
• Resilience in the face of algorithm changes
• Backlinks that mean something
• And working with a team that tells you the truth (even when it’s not what you want to hear)

Then we should talk 😀