A leading VPN provider approached us with a clear goal: grow their organic traffic and strengthen their domain authority through high-quality, relevant backlinks.
The competition in the VPN industry is some of the toughest on the internet, dominated by well-known brands with large marketing budgets and strict editorial barriers.
Despite this challenge, we executed a structured year-long niche edit strategy that helped the brand move from 1.4M to 1.8M organic traffic, expand their keyword visibility, and strengthen authority across core commercial search terms.
Client Background
The brand operates in the global VPN market, a space that demands deep trust, strong technical credibility, and consistent search visibility. Users rely on VPN solutions for privacy, security, streaming access, and device protection.
Even though the product was strong, the VPN space is heavily saturated with major players who dominate SERPs with high DR sites, active content teams, and massive backlink portfolios.
The brand needed steady, high-quality links from VPN-specific websites with real traffic growth. They were clear about their expectations, benchmarks, and the type of sites they were willing to work with.
The Challenge
When the brand approached us, they faced multiple roadblocks that made this project uniquely difficult:
1. Strict Domain Requirements
The client only wanted backlinks from VPN-related or cybersecurity-related domains. This drastically narrowed the pool of potential sites and made sourcing highly selective placements a challenge.
2. Traffic Growth Was Mandatory
We couldn’t just find relevant sites each website had to show:
- A clear upward traffic trend
- A stable organic presence
- No history of traffic drops or penalties
This added several extra layers to our screening process.
3. Editorial Restrictions in the VPN Niche
VPN-related publishers are extremely careful about external links due to:
- Compliance risks
- Product comparison bias
- High commercial intent
- Brand exposure sensitivity
Many niche sites simply do not accept external links easily, especially from competing products.
4. Limited High-Quality Opportunities
The VPN niche has fewer authoritative properties compared to broader SaaS, marketing, or consumer tech categories. Identifying unique domains with real authority required extensive research, validation, and relationship-building.
Project Goals
Together, we defined three core objectives for the 12-month campaign:
1. Build 20–25 High-Quality Backlinks Per Month
All links had to be contextual, niche-relevant, and placed within existing pages with strong SEO value.
2. Boost Organic Traffic
The goal was to gradually increase overall traffic through authoritative, trusted links.
3. Increase Keyword Visibility
We aimed to strengthen rankings for targeted commercial keywords related to device-specific VPN searches.
What We Set Out to Do
- Primary Goal: 20–25 high-quality niche edit links per month
- Success Metrics: Organic traffic growth, keyword expansion, high-quality domain acquisition
- Timeline: 12 months
- Target Keywords:
vpn apk, ios vpn, vpn for mac, vpn for firestick, vpn for smart tv, linux vpn, edge vpn
Our Approach
We built a link acquisition strategy that focused on quality, relevance, and editorial acceptance.
1. Niche Edit Links (Primary Strategy)
We secured contextual backlinks inside aged, indexed pages already ranking for VPN, cybersecurity, and digital privacy keywords. This approach helped us:
- Gain faster SEO value
- Strengthen topical relevance
- Maintain natural anchor distribution
- Target pages with proven traffic
Each placement was handpicked after assessing:
- Domain quality
- Historical traffic pattern
- Niche relevance
- Outbound link history
- Future growth potential
Because the VPN niche is extremely competitive, this method helped us bypass content approval barriers and achieve faster results.
Key Takeaways
- 25 highly targeted links from niche-relevant sites outperformed 100+ general tech links.
- VPN-focused links improved credibility and topical authority faster than broad placements.
- The most significant ranking wins began around months 9–12.
- Filtering websites based on traffic patterns and VPN relevance resulted in stronger, long-term ranking stability.
Overcoming the Major Obstacles
1. Finding VPN-Only Sites with Growing Traffic
We expanded our research across:
- International VPN blogs
- Tech security magazines
- Privacy forums
- Device-specific tutorial websites
Each site was vetted through a multi-check process:
- URL-specific traffic
- Country-level trends
- Content freshness
- Niche association
This allowed us to discover unique domains that weren’t saturated with competing links.
2. Convincing Editors to Accept Contextual Edits
VPN blogs and cybersecurity publishers are careful about linking to commercial products.
To secure placements, we:
- Demonstrated unique value
- Provided credible context
- Ensured non-promotional placement
- Maintained natural anchor usage
This approach led to strong editorial relationships and long-term link opportunities.
3. Maintaining a Natural Link Profile
With a narrow keyword list, we avoided over-optimisation through:
- Blended anchor texts
- Placement variety
- Topically relevant pages
- Context-rich sections
High-Authority Backlinks Secured
Throughout the year, we earned links from a variety of:
- VPN comparison blogs
- Privacy-focused publishers
- Tech and device-security platforms
- International cybersecurity resources
Every domain passed traffic benchmarks, relevancy checks, and editorial guidelines.
Results Achieved (12 Months)
1. Organic Traffic Growth
Starting Point: 1.4M
Ending Point: 1.8M
A meaningful rise in organic traffic, fuelled by consistent authority-building and improved ranking stability.
2. Keyword Growth
Starting Keyword Count: 259K
Ending Keyword Count: 280K
This included strong improvements in device-specific searches like:
- VPN on Firestick
- VPN for iOS
- Linux VPN
- Smart TV VPN
These categories are highly competitive, and improved rankings helped expand visibility across multiple countries.
3. Improved Backlink Profile Strength
The link profile gained:
- More topical relevance
- Higher authority
- Better anchor diversity
- Stronger niche signals
This strengthened the domain’s overall trust and supported long-term ranking momentum.
The Real Impact
The increase in ranking keywords across the VPN niche allowed the brand to:
- Reach new users across emerging device categories
- Improve visibility in high-intent searches
- Strengthen presence in global markets
- Build authority in one of the most competitive verticals online
The consistent traffic growth from 1.4M to 1.8M established a solid foundation for future SEO success.
Bottom Line
This project proved that even in a hyper-competitive industry like VPN technology, a focused niche edit strategy can deliver measurable and long-lasting impact.
With 20–25 strategic links placed exclusively within relevant, high-performing VPN-related pages, the brand achieved:
- Steady organic traffic growth
- Significant keyword expansion
- Stronger domain authority signals
- Improved visibility across priority search terms
The campaign showcased the power of targeted outreach, strict vetting, and relevance-driven link building especially in industries where trust, traffic patterns, and niche expertise matter the most.
