A mid-size B2B SaaS company operating across North America approached our agency with a clear objective: increase organic visibility and qualified demo requests without altering the website’s internal structure. The brand had strong product-market fit but limited online authority and weak backlink equity compared to established competitors.
Within 12 months, our off-page SEO program delivered measurable authority growth, local visibility expansion, and sustained lead generation increases — driven exclusively by external optimization.
Key Metrics Snapshot
- Domain Authority: 18 → 44 (+144%)
- Referring Domains: 126 → 519 (+312%)
- Keywords in Top 10: 37 → 214 (+478%)
- Monthly Qualified Leads: +96% growth
Client & Industry Overview
The Client
The client is a mid-size B2B SaaS provider in the workflow automation industry serving enterprise and upper mid-market clients across the United States and Canada. The company operates with a remote sales model supported by regional sales representatives in five metropolitan areas.
Core characteristics:
- Subscription-based SaaS platform
- Average deal size: $18,000 annually
- Multi-location sales presence
- Competitive procurement cycles requiring strong brand trust
Industry Insights
The workflow automation SaaS sector is highly competitive, dominated by established platforms with significant domain authority and strong digital PR presence. Buyers conduct extensive comparison research before scheduling demos, relying heavily on third-party reviews, media mentions, and authoritative backlinks as trust signals.
Off-page SEO was critical because:
- Industry keywords are competitive with DA 60+ domains ranking in top positions.
- Buyers evaluate third-party credibility signals before engaging sales.
- SaaS aggregators, directories, and review platforms significantly influence conversions.
- Brand mentions and authority drive enterprise-level trust.
The Challenge
At project start, the company’s off-page profile significantly lagged behind competitors.
Starting Point
- Domain Authority: 18
- Referring Domains: 126 (34% low-quality)
- Toxic backlinks: 11% of total profile
- Organic visibility score: 4.7 (SEMrush index)
- Keywords in Top 3: 6
- Google Business Profile listings: inconsistent across regions
- Reviews: 23 total across all platforms (avg. 3.8 rating)
Competitive domains averaged DA 55+ with 1,500–3,000 referring domains and consistent media mentions.
Business Goals & KPIs (12-Month Timeline)
Off-page specific objectives:
- Increase Domain Authority to 40+
- Acquire 350+ new high-quality referring domains (DA 40+ average)
- Achieve Top 3 positions for 25 high-intent keywords
- Improve Google Business Profile engagement by 60%
- Increase total reviews to 150+ with 4.5+ average rating
- Achieve 95% NAP consistency across listings
Business Outcome Targets
- 70% increase in demo requests
- 30% reduction in cost per lead
- Positive ROI within 9 months
Strategy & Work Plan
Audit & Analysis
We conducted a full off-page audit using Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz.
Key findings:
- 14 toxic link clusters from outdated SaaS directories.
- Anchor text over-optimization (22% exact match).
- Limited high-authority editorial links.
- Missing listings on 28 relevant SaaS and B2B directories.
- No systematic review acquisition process.
Competitor analysis revealed that top-ranking SaaS brands consistently secured placements in industry publications, tech blogs, and comparison websites. Their backlink growth velocity averaged 35 referring domains per month.
Developed Strategy
Our strategic framework focused on authority-first acquisition rather than volume-driven link building.
We implemented a phased plan:
- Profile Cleanup & Stabilization
- Authority Link Acquisition via Digital PR
- Local and Review Expansion
- Brand Mention & Link Reclamation
- Ongoing Monitoring & Competitive Gap Closing
Quality thresholds included:
- Minimum DA 40 for guest placements
- Editorial context relevance required
- 70%+ dofollow ratio
- Balanced anchor text distribution
The approach aligned with business objectives by prioritizing high-trust placements influencing enterprise buyers.
Implementation (Off-Page Only)
1. Link Building Campaign
We deployed a multi-channel outreach strategy.
Guest Posting:
- 96 placements secured
- Average DA: 52
- Industry blogs, SaaS review sites, tech publications
- 82% dofollow links
Digital PR Campaigns:
- 4 proprietary industry data studies developed
- 38 media mentions secured
- Coverage in B2B tech outlets and SaaS newsletters
- Average DA of media links: 67
Broken Link Building:
- Identified 312 broken competitor links
- Replaced 48 with client content resources
Link Reclamation:
- Converted 27 unlinked brand mentions into backlinks
Anchor text distribution normalized to:
- 62% branded
- 23% partial match
- 10% generic
- 5% exact match
2. Local SEO & Citations
Although SaaS-focused, the client maintained regional sales presence requiring local credibility.
Actions taken:
- Built 74 high-quality citations
- Corrected 43 inconsistent NAP instances
- Optimized 5 Google Business Profiles
- Added service descriptions and category refinements
- Implemented structured Q&A and post updates
Local Link Building:
- 22 regional business association links
- 9 chamber of commerce placements
Local Metrics:
| Metric | Before | After |
| Citation Count | 31 | 105 |
| NAP Consistency | 68% | 97% |
| Local Pack Rankings | 0 keywords | 18 keywords |
| GBP Engagement | +142% |
3. Reputation Management
We implemented a structured review acquisition and response system.
Review generation process:
- Post-demo automated follow-up
- Customer success milestone triggers
- Incentive-free feedback requests
Platform focus:
- SaaS comparison platforms
- Google Business Profiles
- B2B review aggregators
Results:
- Reviews: 23 → 178
- Average rating: 3.8 → 4.6
- 100% response rate within 48 hours
- Negative review recovery rate: 72%
Review growth significantly improved conversion rates from branded search queries.
4. Content Marketing & Digital PR
We created linkable assets targeting journalists and industry analysts.
Assets included:
- Annual automation adoption report
- Industry benchmark whitepaper
- Interactive ROI calculator (promoted externally)
- Executive opinion columns
Promotion strategy:
- Targeted journalist outreach (68 contacts)
- HARO-style expert commentary
- Syndication via B2B newsletters
Performance:
- 112 editorial backlinks earned
- 54 unique media mentions
- Estimated earned media value: $84,000
5. Backlink Cleanup
Initial toxic link ratio reduced from 11% to 2%.
Process:
- Identified 142 harmful domains
- Submitted disavow file
- Contacted 23 webmasters for removal
- Recovered 19 broken backlinks pointing to outdated URLs
Spam score reduced from 9% to 2%.
6. Ongoing Monitoring & Competitive Intelligence
We established:
- Monthly backlink velocity tracking
- Anchor text monitoring
- Competitor link gap analysis
- Quarterly strategy refinements
Average monthly acquisition stabilized at 32 referring domains, aligning with competitor velocity.
Results & Business Impact
Domain Authority & Link Growth
| Metric | Before | After 12 Months |
| Domain Authority | 18 | 44 |
| Referring Domains | 126 | 519 |
| Average Linking DA | 28 | 54 |
| Toxic Link Ratio | 11% | 2% |
Search Visibility & Rankings
- Visibility score: 4.7 → 18.9
- Keywords in Top 3: 6 → 41
- Keywords in Top 10: 37 → 214
- 14 high-intent SaaS terms moved from positions 12–18 into Top 3
Organic Traffic Growth
- Monthly organic traffic: 4,300 → 11,870
- Year-over-year growth: +176%
- Traffic value increased by 138%
Lead Generation & ROI
- Demo requests: +96%
- Cost per lead reduced by 34%
- 9-month ROI achieved
- Estimated revenue influence: $1.9M pipeline growth
Client Feedback
“Our team needed authority growth without altering the core platform. The structured off-page strategy delivered measurable results — not just links, but real enterprise leads. Communication was transparent, and reporting was consistently data-driven.”
— VP of Marketing, B2B SaaS Provider
Conclusions & Success Factors
Key Drivers
- Authority-first digital PR significantly accelerated DA growth.
- Structured review acquisition increased trust and conversion rates.
- Balanced anchor strategy reduced risk and improved ranking stability.
The synergy between editorial backlinks and local credibility created a compound authority effect.
Next Steps
- Expand digital PR to European markets.
- Launch industry award submissions.
- Continue competitor gap monitoring.
- Maintain backlink velocity above 30 new referring domains monthly.
Want Similar Results for Your SaaS Business?
If your application struggles with low authority, weak backlink equity, or limited brand visibility, a structured off-page SEO strategy can drive measurable growth.
We offer a complimentary backlink audit and competitive gap analysis tailored to your industry.
Schedule Your Free Off-Page SEO Strategy Session Today.
