William Hill Link Building Case Study:
3.1x Growth From a High-Authority Link Program
Between 2012 and 2016 I worked as a Senior SEO Associate at William Hill Online, running link building in one of search’s most competitive industries. The program grew organic traffic 3.1x and ranking keywords 12x, while keeping the backlink profile clean through regular audits.
The Challenge: Building Authority in a Link-Spammed Industry
Online gambling is one of the most heavily link-spammed verticals in search. William Hill needed a link building program that could compete at scale while staying clean, well-balanced, and defensible against algorithm updates.
Limited high-authority link acquisition
The backlink profile needed a scalable way to add high-quality, genuinely valuable links fast enough to compete with entrenched rivals in the gambling category.
Skewed dofollow-to-nofollow ratio
A large share of acquired links passed no authority at all, limiting how much of the link building effort actually moved rankings.
Toxic and spammy links in the profile
Years of aggressive link building across the industry meant the domain’s link profile carried risk that needed regular auditing and cleanup.
No systematic competitor link intelligence
Link opportunities and gaps against rival sportsbooks and casinos weren’t being consistently identified or acted on.
Few linkable content assets
Content wasn’t consistently built with linkability in mind, limiting how many natural backlinks it could earn from authoritative publishers.
Ad hoc outreach relationships
Relationships with webmasters, bloggers and influencers existed, but not as a structured, repeatable outreach program.
The Strategy: A 4-Year Link Building Program Built on Quality and Audits
As Sr. SEO Associate, the engagement combined paid and earned link acquisition with a disciplined audit and analysis practice, executed across a full range of outreach channels and backed by mentorship for junior SEO team members.
Paid & earned link acquisition
Developed and executed a paid link building strategy aligned with SEO goals and search engine guidelines – identifying reputable sources, negotiating terms and pricing, and ensuring every link met quality standards – alongside content-led natural link earning from authoritative sources.
Dofollow/nofollow ratio management
Monitored and managed the dofollow-to-nofollow ratio of acquired backlinks, keeping the dofollow share higher while maintaining a balanced, natural-looking profile.
Backlink audits & cleanup
Ran regular comprehensive backlink audits to identify and address toxic or spammy links, protecting the domain from penalty risk while adhering to ethical, white-hat SEO practices throughout.
Competitor backlink gap analysis
Analysed competitors’ backlink profiles to identify link opportunities and gaps, then strategised ways to acquire similar or better links to enhance the site’s authority.
Relationship-driven outreach
Built and maintained relationships with webmasters, bloggers and influencers, collaborated with content creators on linkable assets, and executed outreach campaigns to promote content and secure backlinks.
Full-channel execution & team support
Executed link acquisition across directories, article and resource-page placements, press releases, local listings with consistent NAP data, and Web 2.0 properties – while monitoring link performance, guiding junior team members, and refining the strategy against the data.
The Results: Organic Traffic Grew 3.1x to 3.67M Monthly Visits
Estimated monthly organic search traffic to williamhill.com, tracked across the four-year engagement – as the link profile grew larger, cleaner, and more balanced. Source: Semrush Domain Overview (Historical Data).
Estimated Organic Traffic – Nov 2012–Nov 2016
Keyword Position Distribution – Nov 2012 vs. Nov 2016
| Position bucket | Nov 2012 | Nov 2016 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 3 | 4,399 | 12,477 | 2.8x |
| Positions 4–10 | 5,452 | 18,421 | 3.4x |
| Positions 11–20 | 9,057 | 22,120 | 2.4x |
| Positions 21–50 | 38 | 64,926 | 1,709x |
| Positions 51–100 | 0 | 108,438 | New |
| Total tracked keywords | 18,946 | 226,382 | 12x |
What My William Hill Colleague Had to Say
I worked with Hubert during my early days at WH as an SEO Specialist, and we shared a real passion for continuous learning – we were both selected to attend an industry conference and brought what we learned back to the team. We cared a lot about the quality of our work, helping grow WH’s organic traffic and search rankings, and in 2015 our team was named Team of the Year for the whole Manila site. I really enjoyed working with him – he’s curious, collaborative, and genuinely wants to keep getting better at what he does.
What This Link Building Case Study Shows
Link building in betting and gaming is full of shortcuts. This program took the slower route and it held up for four years.
- Organic traffic grew 3.1x between November 2012 and November 2016, to about 3.67 million estimated monthly visits.
- Paid and earned links were balanced, and the dofollow-to-nofollow ratio was managed on purpose.
- Regular backlink audits removed toxic links before they became a problem.
- Competitor gap analysis decided where the next links should come from, so outreach was never random.
Google’s spam policies on link schemes explain why the audit work mattered. For more results, see the other SEO case studies or hire me as a link building specialist through the contact page.
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