How SE Ranking grew its organic traffic from 366,000 to over 1 million visits a month
Software as a service- +189%Organic traffic366,707 → 1,061,224 visits a month
- +42%Referring domains10,717 → 15,217
- 82 → 83Domain ratingOne of the highest in its market
- Company
- SE Ranking
- Industry
- Software as a service
- Location
- London, United Kingdom, and Wilmington, Delaware, United States
- Market
- Global
- Employees
- About 240
A link building campaign for a leading search engine optimisation software company, aimed at its product pages and its fastest-growing topics.
Results snapshot
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic traffic per month | 366,707 | 1,061,224 | +189% organic traffic growth |
| Referring domains | 10,717 | 15,217 | +42% referring domain growth |
| Domain rating | 82 | 83 | +1 point |
Links secured: 12 high-authority links. Natural (editorial placements), contextual (links inside the article text) and relevant (websites in the same field).
About SE Ranking
SE Ranking is search engine optimisation software used by more than a million people. With a domain rating of 82 and a well-known brand, it already had strong authority.
The challenge was that traffic had levelled off. To win more customers from larger competitors, SE Ranking needed to rank for specific searches about its product features, the searches that bring in paying customers.
Goals
The campaign focused on turning SE Ranking’s existing authority into more traffic.
- Grow traffic: aim for at least 50% more organic traffic.
- Rank product pages: move pages such as white label reports and reporting tools up from the second and third pages of search results.
- Win new topics: rank for fast-growing searches about artificial intelligence in search engine optimisation.
- Grow referring domains: widen the base of websites linking to SE Ranking so competitors find it harder to catch up.
Strategy
Sentosa split the links between product pages that bring in revenue and popular guides that bring in readers.
- Product pages. We secured a link from a cloud software website to SE Ranking’s white label page, and a link from a training website to its reporting tools page, using the anchor text “SEO reporting tool”.
- Artificial intelligence topics. We secured a link from a software development company’s website to SE Ranking’s guide on artificial intelligence in search engine optimisation, helping it rank for a fast-growing topic.
- Technical guides. We built links from development and marketing websites to technical guides, such as those on pagination and harmful backlinks, to show expertise across the subject.
Results
SE Ranking’s traffic nearly tripled during the campaign.
- 366,7071,061,224Organic traffic per month
- 10,71715,217Referring domains
- 8283Domain rating
- Organic traffic up 189%, from 366,707 to 1,061,224 visits a month. Traffic passed 1 million visits a month in May 2025 and again in September 2025.
- Referring domains up 42%, from 10,717 to 15,217. About 4,500 more websites linked to SE Ranking by the end of the campaign.
- Domain rating up from 82 to 83. At this level, each extra point is hard to gain.
Measured from 1 October 2024 to 1 September 2025. Source: Ahrefs. Figures are Ahrefs’ monthly figures for October 2024 and September 2025.
Conclusion
Large websites grow when links go to the right pages. By linking directly to product pages and popular guides, not the homepage, Sentosa helped SE Ranking turn its authority into much more traffic.
Summary
Even for a leading website, a small number of well-placed links can make a large difference.
- Key lesson: send links to specific product pages and growing topics, not the homepage.
- Impact: organic traffic up 189% and about 4,500 more referring domains.
