A WordPress theme business approached us with a clear goal is to secure high-quality backlinks to grow their organic presence and their Domain Rating (DR) of 90+.

Over four years, we delivered consistent link-building support through a mix of niche edits, guest posts, and strategic brand mentions. 

The outcome? A steady stream of referral traffic, a strong keyword footprint, and long-term SERP stability in a highly competitive space.

Client Background

The client is a popular WordPress theme provider known for offering a wide range of free and premium website templates. Their themes are widely used by bloggers, e-commerce businesses, portfolio sites, and small companies.

Before working with us, the client already had a solid domain authority but was struggling to consistently acquire high-DR backlinks relevant to their niche. 

They needed a long-term partner to help them stay competitive without over-relying on paid promotion.

The Challenge

Despite a strong starting point, the client faced an ongoing issue.

How do you grow domain authority and traffic in a competitive niche like WordPress themes, without your backlink strategy going stale?

Key challenges included:

• High DR Targets: The client required backlinks only from authoritative domains, preferably with strong relevance to WordPress, templates, or digital tools.
  
• Niche Relevance: Many of the best sites in this space had strict editorial guidelines and rarely accepted guest contributions.
  
• Saturation Risk: After years in the market, there were fewer new domains left to target without repeating placements or diluting relevance.

Project Goals

Together with the client, we established clear targets:

• Build 20–25 high-quality backlinks per month from niche-relevant, high-DR domains
• Sustain organic traffic levels above 100,000 monthly visits
• Preserve their Domain Rating of 92
• Target specific high-intent keywords related to WordPress themes and website templates

What We Set Out to Do

Primary Goal: Secure 20–25 high-quality backlinks per month from niche-relevant, high-authority domains
Success Metrics: Grow 110,000+ monthly organic traffic and sustain a Domain Rating of 92
Timeline: 4 years (Ongoing link-building support)

Our Approach

We used a blended link-building strategy to meet these goals while ensuring long-term SEO health.

1. Niche Edit Placements

We acquired contextual backlinks in already-published articles on relevant websites. These pages were already indexed and performing well, which allowed for quick SEO value and better trust signals.
Why it worked:

• Immediate authority transfer
• Natural anchor text integration
• Faster indexing and impact

2. Guest Posting on WordPress-Focused Sites

We built long-term relationships with editors at sites covering WordPress, design, development, and marketing.

Each article was crafted to provide value, covering topics like web design trends, template comparisons, and user experience tips.
Why it worked:

• Niche relevance
• Brand visibility among the target audience
• Authoritative editorial links

3. Strategic Brand Mentions

We inserted natural mentions of the brand into educational content, roundup posts, and tutorial-style guides. This helped diversify the link profile and boosted trust.
Why it worked:

• Enhanced topical trust
• Increased referral traffic
• Brand-building through context

Key Takeaways

• Consistency Matters: Long-term campaigns deliver compound value, particularly in highly competitive markets.
  
• Quality Over Volume: 20–25 carefully placed links each month drove more value than hundreds of random placements.
  
• Topical Relevance Wins: Links from WordPress, ecommerce, and design-related sites performed best.
  
• Brand Mentions Amplify Trust: Even unlinked brand references contributed to visibility and authority.

Targeted Keywords

Throughout the campaign, we focused on keywords that aligned with the client’s product offerings and target users:

• ecommerce website templates
• website templates
• personal website template
• best WordPress themes
• free WordPress themes
• premium WordPress themes
• portfolio WordPress themes
• Elementor templates

Top Domain Placements

We successfully secured backlinks from several authoritative, niche-relevant websites, including:

• opencart.com 
• kadencewp.com
• quicksprout.com
• copyblogger.com 
• picsart.com

Results: Consistent SEO Performance Over 4 Years

Despite changes in algorithms and increased competition, the client scaled to strong visibility across major keywords.

Domain Rating Gained at 92

Even after four years, the website held its DR at 92 thanks to sustained link quality and relevance.

Organic Traffic Grew at 110,000 Monthly Visits

Our work helped the client grow to qualified traffic, even as newer competitors entered the space.

Keyword Rankings

Ref domain

We secured backlinks from a diverse range of high-authority referring domains to strengthen the site’s overall link profile.

Ongoing content promotion and diversified link building supported continued growth across both head terms and long-tail keywords.

Final Thoughts

This case study shows that in mature SEO environments, maintenance is just as important as growth. 

By focusing on high-quality link building and relevant placements, we helped a WordPress theme business grow its presence in search, without overreliance on paid channels or constant content churn.