The Challenge
The client makes invoicing/tax software specifically for freelancers. They’re competing against giants like QuickBooks and Xero that have been building authority for decades.
The problem had three layers: first, the weak authority that is DR of 31, with only 5,600 monthly visitors, despite 80+ content pages. Second, their 89 referring domains were mostly generic startup directories and freelance forums; none were relevant to finance, accounting, or small-business websites. And third, some past mistakes, previous link building used guest posts on general business blogs. The links didn’t help much because the sites had nothing to do with accounting and finance.
The Strategy We Used
We focused on contextual link building efforts targeting small-business finance publications, freelancer-focused media, accounting industry blogs, tax preparation resources, and SaaS review platforms.
- Contextual link placement in the existing articles about freelancer finances, small business accounting, tax preparation, and SaaS tool comparisons on sites with the DR 40-65.
- Priority given to placements within content already ranking for relevant keywords, ensuring the contextual link carries maximum relevance transfer
- Targeted homepage, 3 feature pages (invoicing, tax estimation, expense tracking), 2 comparison posts (“QuickBooks alternatives” and “Best accounting software for freelancers”), and 1 pricing page.
- We used 40% branded, 30% contextual, 20% partial-match, and 10% exact-match anchor texts.
- Monthly velocity of 12–16 placements, consistent throughout the campaign.
An important tactical decision was to pursue placements specifically within “alternatives to” and “best of” listicle articles. Many of these articles already ranked on pages 1–2 for the client’s target keywords. Getting a contextual mention on these authoritative pages creates a dual benefit: that is, direct referral traffic and topical relevance signals.
The Results
The comparison page strategy delivered major returns. The “QuickBooks Alternatives for Freelancers” page moved from position 14 to position 2 by month 7, generating 4,800+ monthly visits as a standalone page. This single URL drove 22% of all free trial signups.
The contextual relevance advantage was clear in the data. Links from accounting and finance-specific publications moved rankings 2–3x faster than the client’s prior links from general business blogs, despite similar DR scores. By month 8, the client was ranking for 180+ long-tail accounting keywords they had never targeted with content.
AI citation impact was much larger for this client. ChatGPT mentioned the platform in 19 accounting-related queries, and Perplexity cited it in 22 results. When freelancers asked AI assistants, “What’s the best accounting software for freelancers?” or “QuickBooks alternatives that are simpler,” the client appeared consistently, creating an entirely new discovery channel. The contextual placements within already-ranking comparison articles were the key driver; AI models heavily referenced these same articles when generating responses, thereby embedding the client’s brand in the content AI systems used as source material.
