Case study
Serum collection from position 21 to 8 without coupon spam
31
Editorial links
21→8
Position move
+ 47 %
Revenue lift
6 mo
Program length
Challenge
The vitamin C serum collection sat at average position 21 with a backlink profile dominated by beauty coupon directories and thin UGC blogs. Ingredient education pages existed but earned almost no citations, so commercial URLs carried weak topical support against legacy prestige brands.
Approach
We rebuilt the target map around an ascorbic-acid stability guide and the parent collection, placed 31 editorial links over six months into beauty trade, derm-adjacent education, and selective roundups, and capped affiliate-style mentions at 18 percent of new placements.
Interactive outcomes
Toggle each metric to compare the starting baseline against the measured result.
21
Baseline quarter
29 (directory-heavy)
Campaign timeline
Select a phase to see what shipped and why the sequence mattered.
Phase 01 · Weeks 1–3
Stripped coupon directories from the priority map, briefed a stability-and-pH guide, and locked publisher floors that excluded gift-with-purchase farms.
Phase 02 · Weeks 4–14
Twelve education placements and early editorials pointed at the guide and collection while exact-match commercial anchors stayed under 11 percent.
Phase 03 · Weeks 15–26
Seven roundups and two data-led PR mentions closed the commercial layer after the guide held mid-teens visibility.
Full narrative
A North American clean beauty brand on Shopify Plus had a vitamin C serum collection stuck at average position 21. Referring domains numbered 29, most from coupon directories, deal aggregators, and thin routine blogs. Two ingredient articles existed on-site but were almost never cited.
Competitors on page one mixed derm-educator coverage, beauty-trade explainers, and curated roundups. The gap was topical authority on education URLs, not another wave of homepage guest posts.
We refused a package of 40 “beauty blog” placements that shared the same outbound footprint. We also refused to prioritize individual serum SKUs until the collection and guide could absorb authority.
Primary targets: ascorbic-acid stability guide, vitamin C collection, then two hero SKUs after month four. Exact-match commercial anchors stayed under 11 percent. Median DR of accepted domains: 51.
Position moved 21 → 8 by month five. Non-brand organic revenue on the cluster rose 47 percent quarter over quarter by month six, alongside a PDP refresh. Treat the commercial lift as a combined intervention.
Services used
Newsroom and trade citations for ecommerce stores. We pitch stories journalists can justify, track acceptance rates, and map links to category and launch URLs that matter.
Contributor placements on publishers with real traffic and topical fit. Built for category and buying-guide URLs, not marketplace articles with three advertiser links.
Roundup and best-of list inclusions for hero products. Timed to seasonal demand, mapped to parent collections, and pitched with samples and specs editors actually use.
More evidence
Next step
Send your domain, primary money pages, and current monthly organic sessions. We reply within two business days with a gap note and a fit recommendation.
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