So I had a client who deals in the home security niche. He contacted me on Upwork and has tried everything in the link-building space, but nothing was working.
He said, “I am tired of paying $100-$300 for useless backlinks. Every link building agency promises the sky, but no one wants to solve the problem.
His problem was, lost ranking on high-intent sales keywords.
Results at a Glance
Here are the results from our link-building campaign.
- DR increased from 58 to 59 in one month.
- Organic traffic increased from 41K to 54K
- The website is ranking on 500+ new keywords
- Sales increased more than 30% monthly
- Link from Homes&Gardens DR 83
- Link from USnews DR 91
- Backlink from niche-relevant websites DR 60-70
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Rating | 58 | 59 |
| Organic Traffic | 41,000 | 54,000 |
| Ranking Keywords | Baseline | +500 Keywords |
| Monthly Sales | Baseline | +30% |
| Editorial Placements | 0 | Homes & Gardens, US News |
Client Endorsement and Review
After securing editorial mentions on reputable publications and earning citations alongside leading home security brands in the United States, the company’s CEO shared the following feedback: “Helped get a link in a tier 1 publication within the first week we started, good job.”
About the Client:
- Industry: Home security
- Target audience: US homeowners, real estate builders, condominium associations.
- What they wanted: He wanted to outrank competitors and regain lost keywords.
The Problem
Competitors have built spammy, low-authority links in bulk and are outranking the client on several BOFU keywords. Also, after several Google updates, the first page now has two or more forums ranking on these keywords.
Let’s not forget the competition from Amazon and eBay. Since he knows a lot about how links are essential for ranking, he was looking for a reliable partner who could understand the situation and deliver tailored results. On top of that, he doesn’t want conventional link building and is looking for something special.
Market Situation
A few of his competitors, which are Chinese-operated websites, are now dominating the niche. Their websites are poorly designed e-commerce stores, with a ton of spammy links. This became the reason he started buying links from vendors on Fiverr and Upwork.
He also tried a few agencies and paid a premium price for links, but nothing was working. The good thing was that he has moderate SEO knowledge and doesn’t want to replicate his competitor’s link building strategies, which were to get links from every and any website, irrespective of the niche, article topics, etc.
He knew that sooner or later, these types of links were going to hurt the brand or even trigger a Google penalty. Another problem was, high end link building agencies were charging $400-$600 per link/mention, which he couldn’t afford, and became the reason he tried his luck on freelancing platforms to find a good deal.
Why we chose Qwoted and HARO
I closely inspect the websites’ rankings on BOFU keywords. Checked their links and content before taking the project. Apart from Amazon and eBay, most sites were new, with low-quality and keyword-stuffed content. Most of their links were from generic websites, on exact-match anchors.
Since the client doesn’t want to follow the footsteps of his competitors, I proposed HARO and Qwoted link building. He already knew about HARO and how it works. So it was not difficult for me to make him understand the advantages of using these platforms.
He also wanted to learn about Qwoted and set up his profile himself. Setting up the HARO and Qwoted profile is part of my service, but I let him explore the platforms so he can learn how things work.
We agreed to answer journalists with relevant queries. He knew getting a link from a good site and a relevant topic would help in SEO and improving EEAT.
Other than that, we agreed on approaching websites that have more than 75K traffic from the US, UK, Canada, and the DR, which should be 80+.
I know finding a website with these metrics and relevant queries was difficult, but I took this as a challenge.
Week #1
Initially, it was tougher than regular HARO link building for other clients. There were no queries that could be directly linked to the brand and the services it offered. So we agreed to pitch DR70+ websites, asking business-related questions from the CEO.
Securing a Placement in Homes & Gardens
One of the first relevant opportunities came from a journalist seeking expert opinions on how AI can improve home security.
The topic aligned perfectly with the client’s expertise and product offering. We worked closely with the client to craft a detailed response that combined practical advice with real-world experience.
Ten days later, the client was featured in Homes & Gardens alongside recognised brands and industry experts.
This placement became the foundation of the campaign and demonstrated that editorial coverage was achievable even in a highly competitive niche.
Week #2
After that, we only answer questions and queries related to home security and improvements. We also got a brand mention and link from a niche-relevant website, ResidentialTech, but the best link was from USnews (DR91).
Featured in US News (DR91)
Our second major win came from a contribution to a US News article discussing security camera recalls and home security best practices. This placement further strengthened the client’s authority and added another high-trust editorial backlink to the campaign.
Week #3
After two successful high-DR editorial placements, I pitched the idea of earning links from niche-relevant, high-traffic sites. The websites that talk about cybersecurity, home improvements, tech, etc.
We agreed on getting links only from DR70+ websites with American or British traffic. Competitor link analysis was also done this week.
I reached out to bloggers who write about home security and cyber threats to feature my client in their upcoming blog posts. I also did some guest postings and niche editing to elevate their EEAT and domain authority.
Week #4
In the fourth week, we didn’t get many opportunities in the home security niche on HARO and Qwoted. However, we secured 10 highly relevant niche edits on industry-related websites, further strengthening topical authority and supporting ranking growth.
The traffic on the client’s site is super relevant to their niche. Basically, we targeted informative blogs and conversion pages with niche edits and guest postings. In total, the site’s overall traffic jumped by 13k, with more than 5k of that growth coming directly from highly lucrative US-based traffic
Month #2
We are aggressively working on getting editorial links and mentions to improve ranking on Google, AI overviews and LLMs. I will add more details as the campaign progresses.
Key Takeaways
This campaign demonstrates that quality often beats quantity in competitive niches.
Rather than replicating competitors’ spam-heavy link building strategies, the client focused on earning editorial mentions from authoritative and relevant publications. Within a short period, the campaign secured placements in Homes & Gardens, US News, and industry-specific websites while contributing to improvements in traffic, rankings, and overall brand visibility.
For businesses operating in competitive industries, Digital PR and HARO link building can provide a sustainable alternative to traditional backlink acquisition.