Samenvatting

The pressing need for YourSurprise, a global e-commerce business that specializes in personalized gifts, to broaden its SEO linkbuilding approach is addressed by this research. The study identifies a significant over-reliance on guest blogging, which currently accounts for 97.6% of the 2024 backlink budget. There are a number of challenges associated with this strategy, such as the possibility of being out of accordance with Google's E-E-A-T principles, limits in obtaining diversified, high-authority backlinks, and vulnerability to changes in Google's algorithm.

A mixed-methods approach was used in this research. A review of the literature determined the fundamental significance of high-quality backlinks and assessed the changing efficacy of guest blogging. Nine experts from three groups—YourSurprise's internal SEO specialists, internal marketing strategy staff, and external SEO/linkbuilding specialists—were interviewed in semistructured interviews as the main method of gathering data. This made it possible to triangulate different points of view. Furthermore, a retrospective analysis was carried out to establish an initial level of understanding using YourSurprise's 2024 linkbuilding performance data from Ahrefs, Looker, and Google Search Console. Data analysis used quantitative analysis for performance data to evaluate impact and thematic analysis for qualitative interview data to find key topics such as strategies and difficulties.

According to interviews, YourSurprise's internal SEO staff relies too much on guest blogging, leading to challenges to identify appropriate placements and keep up with growing expenses, despite. Although internal marketing employees recognize the value of PR for branding, there is no clear plan. Diversification is advised by outside specialists using strategies like resource page linkbuilding and using YourSurprise's unique customer data to create PR content that is newsworthy.
It is emphasized that this exclusive information presents a substantial chance to improve branding and increase the company's link profile. However, due to a lack of knowledge about SEO and the delayed results of SEO efforts, there are still general issues with time, money, scaling tailored outreach, and enhancing interdepartmental coordination. An examination of YourSurprise's linkbuilding initiatives for 2024 revealed that they had a generally favorable effect on important pages in Germany and the Netherlands, as shown by higher organic traffic and conversions, better URL Ratings, and improved SERP rankings.

According to the study's findings, YourSurprise must diversify its linkbuilding approach in order to achieve both SEO objectives and a competitive edge. Thus, the research advises adopting and putting into practice a data-driven PR strategy known as "Data Storytelling." This strategy makes use of YourSurprise's internal customer data in a unique way to provide engaging, original content for PR outreach that is intended to draw in high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources.: Leveraging Data-Driven PR ("Data Storytelling”), Implementing the Proposed Data-Driven PR Strategy, Adopting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Manual Outreach Guide. YourSurprise may establish a more solid, authoritative, and sustainable backlink profile by putting these suggestions into practice. This will help it maintain its market leadership and achieve long-term SEO success.