An online video downloader tool came to us with about 181K estimated monthly organic visits and a Domain Rating of 50. In this niche, the biggest keywords have millions of monthly searches, so the site was capturing only a small share of the demand.
Over 3 months we ran a link building campaign built around media placements on news, tech and business sites. During that period, estimated organic traffic rose to 2.7M, Domain Rating reached 62, and the site ranked in Google’s Top 3 for 5.7K keywords. This page explains what we did, what the numbers show, and what they do not prove.
The Challenge
The target keywords were high-volume and very competitive:
- Download Instagram video
- Insta video download
- Instagram to MP4
- Instagram 4K video download
- IG video download
To compete, the site needed a stronger backlink profile, links from relevant tech, SaaS and news publishers, and visibility in three markets: India, Indonesia and the USA.
Our Link Building Strategy : What We Did
Campaign framework
- Volume: 120+ links placed in 3 months
- Sources: news and media sites, plus SaaS and tech sites
- Average publisher DR: about 75
- Markets: India, Indonesia, USA
- Link types: media placements, guest posts and link insertions
- Placement model: paid editorial placements on vetted news, tech and media publishers
- Sourcing: manual outreach, plus publishers we work with directly
- Anchor text: mostly partial-match (for example “download Instagram video” and “Instagram to MP4”)
- Not used: PBNs, link farms or spammy directories
Sample Publishers Used
- bbntimes.com
- technology.org
- dhakatribune.com
- financialcontent.com
- opencart.com
How we chose publishers
Every placement was reviewed for topical relevance, real organic traffic and editorial quality. Content was written for each publisher’s audience, and links were placed inside real articles, not on pages that exist only to hold links.
Media placements on news sites
The core of the campaign was articles placed on national and international news and media sites, including Bangladeshi outlets through our Bangladesh media network. These placements gave the site links from news domains, which are harder to get through regular guest posting, along with brand visibility in each market.
Cost
The average cost was $120 per placement.
Results
Ahrefs, 21 July vs 21 October 2026
- Estimated organic traffic: 181K → 2.7M (+1,391%)
- Domain Rating: 50 → 62
- Ranking keywords: 17K (+15.7K)
- Top 3 keywords: 5.7K (+5.4K)
- Referring domains: 2.9K (+1.9K)
- Backlinks: 22.4K (+16K)
- Estimated traffic value: $214K per month (+$208K)
Links We Placed vs. Links the Site Gained
We placed 120+ links ourselves. Referring domains grew by about 1.9K over the same period, so most new links did not come from our placements. Some may be natural references to a site that began ranking for popular terms. Others may be automated or scraped links, which are common in this niche. We have not verified the source of every additional link.
Traffic Over Time
On 22 July, estimated organic traffic was about 183K. It climbed through August and September and peaked near 3.4M in early October. It then dipped and settled between roughly 2.6M and 2.9M.
SEO growth is rarely a straight line, and the chart shows the dip as well as the climb.
Keyword Wins
The 21 July vs 21 October comparison shows 17,315 ranking keywords. Examples from the largest terms (keywords redacted to protect the client):
- A keyword with 4.4M monthly searches: position 5.7, about 156K visits
- A keyword with 2.0M searches: position 5.2, about 142K visits
- A “without watermark” keyword with 583K searches: position 1.5, about 137K visits
- A keyword with 1.1M searches: position 3.4, about 117K visits
- A keyword with 7.5M searches: ranking in 68 locations, about 80K visits
Many other keywords now bring 11K to 21K visits each, and several rank in 50 or more locations, which suggests visibility across multiple markets.
AI Search Visibility
The site is also cited in AI-generated answers: 10.2K AI responses across 95 pages, including 8.3K in Google AI Overviews.
What These Numbers Do Not Show
- Causation. Traffic rose during our campaign, but we cannot isolate link building as the only cause. Google updates, on-site changes and the site’s earlier momentum may also have contributed.
- Stability. The data ends on 21 October. Three months is too short to prove long-term stability, and rankings in this niche can move sharply with Google updates.
- Revenue. Traffic value is an Ahrefs estimate, not client revenue.
- Estimates. All figures come from Ahrefs, a third-party tool, and differ from the client’s own analytics.
About Our Media Placements
We buy placements on real publishers, and we choose them for relevance and real traffic, not just DR. Most media placements are paid editorial placements. Google’s spam policies treat links bought to manipulate rankings as a risk, so we recommend every client understands this before work begins, and we monitor results throughout.
Next Steps
If you run a SaaS or tool website in a competitive niche and want to discuss link building or media placements, we can walk you through how we select publishers and what a realistic plan looks like for your site.
Book a free strategy call with Markertion
Related services: SaaS link building · Guest posting · Niche edit link building · More case studies
Disclosure
Client name withheld under NDA | All traffic and keyword figures are Ahrefs estimates, not the client’s analytics data.