How we built top-tier links and increased ranking position in the financial sector

With the right digital PR strategy, even the most competitive space, can be accessed successfully . Our digital PR campaign for GovGrant, the tax preparation specialists, highlights what can be achieved with a creative and targeted approach, and also how powerful evergreen content can be for long-term success.

The campaign idea   

The Google results pages for GovGrant’s target keywords – including ‘r&d tax credits’ – are really competitive spaces. We were determined to break into the top 10 in this competitive marketplace. To reach this goal, Distinctly identified that securing links from top-tier websites, such as universities, would create enough movement to push GovGrant above more established pages. 

We know that university websites are extremely authoritative due to the trust Google places in them. Links built from these sites to commercial ones are incredibly valuable, since they’re so difficult to secure and for the authority they direct. We were confident that a campaign gaining coverage from universities would be a great opportunity to boost GovGrant’s visibility for their target keywords.

Some of the best-known companies around the world, such as Facebook, Google and FedEx, were founded at universities. With GovGrant specialising in intellectual property, Distinctly pinpointed university spinouts as a relevant topic to explore, and one which was also engaging for the targeted websites.

The process

Distinctly collaborated with GovGrant to source and analyse trustworthy data from Pitchbook, the leading financial data provider. This exercise uncovered the UK universities with the best track records for turning innovation into commercial success, by producing the most successful spinout companies over the last two decades.

Distinctly and GovGrant used this intelligence to create a University Spinout Report landing page on the GovGrant blog, which detailed the full findings and included ranking tables and visually appealing charts.

In addition, we generated a series of press releases drawing on information from the landing page. Each one was tailored to different types of websites and publications, including university websites, business news outlets and other industry publications focused on pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and investment.

The results

So far, promotion of this campaign has yielded six links to the report from UK university websites, including the University of Oxford, the University of Bristol and the University of Dundee. They also broadcasted it across their social channels, expanding its reach even further.

To date, we’ve secured over 40 pieces of coverage for this campaign: from regional news outlets, Chamber of Commerce websites and a range of industry publications. These include links to GovGrant’s University Spinout Report landing page, as well as their target R&D tax credit and IP service category pages. 

The value of producing such a detailed data-led report can be seen in its longevity: as we’re still collecting links six months after we launched the campaign in September 2021. 

These results have contributed to great SEO successes for the client. For example, GovGrant’s ranking for ‘r&d tax credit’ has surged from #24 to #3 in the last six months.