You need more traffic.
More visitors on your site means more impressions, more signups, more purchases, and more revenue.
But how do you capture more search traffic in results that get more crowded, more diverse, and constantly evolve in how they are delivered?
Through a strong SEO strategy.
Today I want to share a process we developed at Siege Media to earn links, increase visibility, and grow traffic for our clients. I will walk through how we built one site’s SEO strategy from the ground up, growing from zero visitors to one hundred thousand, and highlight the key takeaways you can apply to your own strategy.
The strategy at a glance
Start slow and secure the easy wins
Build a handful of high value links to key pages
Establish passive link acquisition channels
Create intentional, search driven content
Level up over time and pursue higher value opportunities
Let’s dive into the case study.
Note: We managed every aspect of the site, which allowed us to directly attribute organic gains to SEO work and make recommendations in real time. The data has been anonymized to protect confidentiality.
1. Start slow with a new site
New sites come with limitations, so our early focus was on low competition keywords with meaningful traffic value. We used SEMrush to assess traffic value and manual review to gauge competitiveness.
In analyzing the search results, we looked for:
weak or low quality exact match domains
a lack of major brands
outdated or thin content
pages with very few backlinks
Finding these signals gave us confidence that we could create something far better for searchers and win rankings.
Once we identified the opportunities, we built best in class content designed specifically for those SERPs. To stand apart, we used:
custom graphics
clear, concise writing
original photography
formatting optimized for readability
By aligning content tightly with searcher intent, we positioned our pages to succeed organically.
2. Secure a handful of links to important pages
Pages need backlinks to rank. But the number of links required depends on the query, the niche, the site, and the type of page.
We learned that bottom of funnel pages often need only a few high quality links to become competitive. Strong engagement signals then reinforce the page’s authority.
Linking to bottom of funnel pages is challenging because these pages are not naturally link worthy. They are designed to convert, not inform or entertain.
However, there are situations where the goals of another site align with linking to your page, such as:
resource pages that list vendors
reviews of your service or product
local resource lists
pages referencing a brand or person you mention
discount or promotion lists
These opportunities are limited and not sustainable at scale, but they can provide the handful of links needed to get critical pages ranking and earning engagement.
3. Establish passive link acquisition channels
Link building is labor intensive and ongoing. To amplify our efforts, we created passive link acquisition channels.
One of the most effective decisions we made was using original photography under a Creative Commons license that required attribution. This allowed major publications to use our images while linking back to our site.
Additional ways to earn passive links include:
compiling original data or research
developing simple tools
sponsorships and community involvement
offering expert commentary or being interviewed
The key is creating something original and making it easy for others to cite and credit you.
4. Strategic content creation
Sustainable SEO growth depends on strategic content. While bottom of funnel pages can rank with limited links, your site needs middle and top of funnel content to attract ongoing attention and links.
We prioritized content topics based on traffic value versus competitiveness. For example, some high value terms had strong competition from major brands, while others revealed weak, outdated results that represented clear opportunities.
Along with manual SERP analysis, tools like Moz Keyword Explorer helped us understand difficulty and identify openings.
The lesson: publish content with intentional SEO value, not just content for the sake of volume.
5. Level up over time
Momentum matters in SEO.
As your site earns visibility, traffic compounds. Visitors return, share your brand, and link back. That momentum creates an upward spiral.
Around the six month mark, we started targeting more competitive topics because we now had the authority to win those battles. We increased our investment in original design, photography, interactive elements, and video.
Updating older content with new information or multimedia also helped. “Last Updated” signals supported freshness, improved click through rate, and demonstrated relevance to readers.
By month twelve, the site surpassed one hundred thousand visitors.
Recap
There were no shortcuts, tricks, or gimmicks. We built a foundation of quality content and paired it with strategic link acquisition. As the site grew, so did our ambitions.
To recap, our process for growing traffic was:
Start slow and secure the easy wins
Build a small number of strategic links
Create passive link acquisition channels
Publish intentional, search focused content
Level up over time and pursue higher value opportunities
This process is repeatable and scalable. While you will need to adapt it to your industry and goals, the lessons remain universal.
Source: SEO case study: Zero to 100,000 visitors in 12 months
