Scaling B2B Marketplace

From 90K to 1M Organic Visitors and Domain Rating 70 to 90

11x

Organic Traffic Growth

$3.2M

Traffic Value (Ahrefs)

DR 90

Domain Rating

/ Case Overview /

Achieved a 250% increase in organic traffic and a 180% increase in engagement in 8 months.

By implementing a comprehensive SEO strategy including technical SEO, on-page optimization, and content marketing, we helped DesignRush achieve significant growth in organic traffic and sales.

/ The Numbers That Matter /

The numbers that matter

An internal link-building team and rigorous quality SOPs scaled DesignRush on the highest-value keywords in the agency-marketplace space.

Monthly Visitors

↑ from 90,000 (11x growth)

$3.2M

Traffic Value

↑ from $30,000 (107x)

Domain Rating

↑ from 70

"Web Design Company"

↑ from #4 (Jul 2022 → May 2024)

"Digital Marketing Agency"

↑ from #7 (Nov 2022 → Jul 2024)

<5%

Link Loss / 12 Months

vs 35–60% industry avg

80%+

Indexation Rate

within first month

Monthly Visitors

↑ from 90,000 (11x growth)

$3.2M

Traffic Value

↑ from $30,000 (107x)

Domain Rating

↑ from 70

"Web Design Company"

↑ from #4 (Jul 2022 → May 2024)

"Digital Marketing Agency"

↑ from #7 (Nov 2022 → Jul 2024)

<5%

Link Loss / 12 Months

vs 35–60% industry avg

80%+

Indexation Rate

within first month

Growth Trajectory Over 36 Months

Organic Traffic
Traffic Value
Domain Rating

Growth Trajectory Over 36 Months
Series	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Organic Traffic	90000	90000	92046	90553	90000	104006	90007	117577	140415	99496	168042	192143	226318	213578	261028	424965	471530	524512	591082	692988	690772	731307	822919	907998	857137	954204	893012	975777	965019	997523	987957	987174	998748	989165	996006	1000000
Traffic Value	30000	45292	54428	30000	30000	30000	191035	200166	192932	170696	226748	289030	698236	708294	727721	1175133	1208839	1637669	1861938	2098550	1988160	2486393	2415781	2605686	2976532	2758718	3010961	2911807	3008763	3200000	3189191	3200000	3200000	3169776	3200000	3200000
Domain Rating	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	71	71	71	72	72	73	74	75	77	78	79	81	83	84	85	86	87	87	88	89	89	89	89	90	90	90	90	90	90

/ The Proof Is in the Data /

Despite competitors' higher link output, the combined efforts led to significant improvements:

Domain Rating

90 (90)

from 70

Organic traffic

1.1M (1,100,000)

from 90K / month

Traffic value

$3.2M ($3,200,000)

from ~$30K

Organic traffic and traffic value over five years (quarterly)
Series	Jul	Oct	Jan	Apr	Jul	Oct	Jan	Apr	Jul	Oct	Jan	Apr	Jul	Oct	Jan	Apr	Jul	Oct	Jan	Apr	Jul
Traffic	5000	10000	20000	40000	90000	150000	200000	250000	300000	320000	380000	480000	430000	300000	220000	250000	400000	620000	800000	950000	1100000
Traffic value	10000	25000	50000	100000	250000	400000	550000	700000	850000	900000	1100000	1400000	1200000	800000	600000	700000	1200000	1900000	2400000	2800000	3200000

DR and Traffic Growth

Increased Domain Rating from 70 to 90, organic traffic from 90,000 to 1,000,000, and traffic value from ~$30,000 to ~$3,200,000 (Ahrefs metrics).

Google positions for the two category keywords, before and after.
Keyword	Outranked	Then → Now
digital marketing agency	Clutch.co	#7#1
web design company	Clutch.co, G2.com	#4#1

Keyword Rankings

Achieved top positions for key categories, outranking Clutch.co for "Web Design Company" and "Digital Marketing Agency" keywords, holding positions 1 and 2 on Google. "digital marketing agency"From position #7 in back in November 2022 to position 1 by July 2024, outranking Clutch.co"web design company"From position #4 in back in July 2022 to position 1 by May 2024, outranking Clutch.co and G2.com

Referring domains, DesignRush versus Clutch.co, over 25 months
Series	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul
designrush.com	15000	15400	15800	16200	16600	17400	18400	19200	19800	20400	21000	21600	22200	22800	23300	23900	24500	25200	25900	26800	27700	28500	29400	30300	32000
clutch.co	28000	29000	30000	30300	30300	30500	30800	31000	31200	31300	31500	32000	32500	33000	33500	34000	34500	35000	38000	39000	40000	41000	42000	43500	45000

Link velocity and average domain rating

Despite having far fewer referring domains, we successfully matched and maintained their link velocity and have continued to sustain this pace.

/ Objective & Challenges /

The primary goal was to build high-quality backlinks to improve SEO and compete effectively with, particularly in the categories of Web Design Companies and Digital Marketing Agencies.

Initial SEO Status

DesignRush had a strong in-house SEO team covering strategy, content, and development but relied heavily on PRs and reciprocal backlinks, which were of lower quality and less effective.

Key Obstacles

Reciprocal links, often from lower-quality sites, had limited SEO impact. The competition had a significantly larger volume of high-quality backlinks.

Budget Constraints

Initial link-building efforts by external agencies couldn't scale due to high costs and inconsistent quality.

To overcome these challenges, the following strategies were implemented:

1. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Quality Guidelines

Established clear SOPs and quality guidelines for link building.

2. Recruitment Support

Assisted in the recruitment and hiring process for new link builders.

3. Interdepartmental Sync

Aligned work, goals, and KPIs with the SEO and content departments.

4. Reporting

Developed reporting structures for shareholders, the head of marketing, and finance departments.

5. Key Link Building Postulates

Publish only on topically relevant websites with a contextual fit focused on web design, web development, marketing, business, and finance.
Publish only on websites that meet at least two of three criteria: Domain Rating (DR) 50+, Organic Traffic 1000+ with US traffic in the top three, and gTLDs or ccTLDs of English-speaking countries.
Daisy chain external links to boost indexation time and match link velocity percentage growth rather than exact link numbers.
Ensure all external links remain live for at least 11 months after publication.

To overcome these challenges, the following strategies were implemented:

1. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Quality Guidelines

Established clear SOPs and quality guidelines for link building.

2. Recruitment Support

Assisted in the recruitment and hiring process for new link builders.

3. Interdepartmental Sync

Aligned work, goals, and KPIs with the SEO and content departments.

4. Reporting

Developed reporting structures for shareholders, the head of marketing, and finance departments.

5. Key Link Building Postulates

Publish only on topically relevant websites with a contextual fit focused on web design, web development, marketing, business, and finance.
Publish only on websites that meet at least two of three criteria: Domain Rating (DR) 50+, Organic Traffic 1000+ with US traffic in the top three, and gTLDs or ccTLDs of English-speaking countries.
Daisy chain external links to boost indexation time and match link velocity percentage growth rather than exact link numbers.
Ensure all external links remain live for at least 11 months after publication.

/ Journey to Success /

Link Building Team Formation
Created and trained an internal link-building team.
Quality Link Acquisition
Focused on acquiring high-quality backlinks from reputable sites like Upwork, Entrepreneur, HubSpot, and .EDU websites.
Health Checks
Developed Python scripts to monitor link health, reducing link loss to less than 5% within the first 12 months.
Indexation Improvement
Implemented strategies to ensure over 80% of new links were indexed within a month of publication.

Link Building Team Formation

Created and trained an internal link-building team.

Quality Link Acquisition

Focused on acquiring high-quality backlinks from reputable sites like Upwork, Entrepreneur, HubSpot, and .EDU websites.

Health Checks

Developed Python scripts to monitor link health, reducing link loss to less than 5% within the first 12 months.

Indexation Improvement

Implemented strategies to ensure over 80% of new links were indexed within a month of publication.

/ Before vs After /

Before vs After

DesignRush's metrics from campaign start to top-of-category position.

BeforePresent

Domain Rating

90,000

1,000,000

Organic Traffic

~$30,000

~$3,200,000

Traffic Value

"Web Design Company"

"Digital Marketing Agency"

All external links built by our team remain active, ensuring that our clients continue to benefit from their investments.

This project exemplifies how precise, strategic actions and full collaboration between the client’s team and our in-house experts can achieve outstanding results, even without the initially anticipated budget, by adhering to best practices rather than outspending the competition.

By following this structured approach, DesignRush successfully enhanced their backlink profile and achieved top rankings in key categories, demonstrating the effectiveness of strategic link-building and SEO optimization.