SaaS SEO huh?
Well, we didn’t spend a cent on running ads.
We didn’t run any fancy backlink campaign.
Hell, we didn’t even publish a single new blog post!
Yet, in around just 14 days, our SaaS tool jumped to Google’s first page for 3 of our most competitive keywords!
How?
Well, we used an under-the-radar SEO tactic that most marketers ignore (or have forgotten!)
Excited to learn more?
The feeling’s mutual.
Even I am excited to share with you how:
- We created a strategy for it
- We executed it step-by-step
- We got real results from it
- You can do the same for your business
So, let’s jump right in!
The Backstory: Small Team, Big Problem
We were working with a bootstrapped SaaS company in the productivity niche. The product was solid.
You can think of it like a lighter version of Notion, designed for remote teams.
But there was a problem.
We knew the product was better than their competitors. But no one was finding it.
And the team had already tried the basics:
- SEO blogs
- Social media
- Cold email outreach
- Even some guest posting
But they were barely getting 200 website visits a week. No backlinks were coming in. No rankings were improving.
Thus, we had to think different.
From my experience, I knew some high-quality backlinks might do the trick.
Backlinks boost traffic by improving SEO and site credibility
Backlinks from relevant niche sites. But it had to be fast. And it had to be without a big budget, considering the budget was already cooked with all the previous SEO activities we undertook. And the client wasn’t ready to shell out some extra cash either.
We couldn’t afford fancy tools, pricey PR agencies, or whatever sorcery Ahrefs suggested this week.
In a fix, I grabbed my phone, unsure and confused. Opened Facebook first because that’s where you turn to when you are stressed.
I scrolled a bit, grinned a bit. Liked a dog video. Then I realized I had a client to save.
I closed the app, and somewhere on my phone screen, the bright orange colour of Reddit caught my eye.
Inadvertently, I opened the app.
And that, my friend, was the rabbit hole that led us to the wild, wonderful world of hijacking unlinked brand mentions.
The Discovery: A Goldmine Hidden in Plain Sight
After scrolling through a few threads, I came across one that read: “What’s the best productivity tool for remote teams?”
One user had replied:
“I personally use [Competitor Name], it does the job.”
No link. No website. Just the name.
And it had 70+ upvotes. Woah!
I clicked on the user’s profile. Turns out, this wasn’t a one-time thing only.
They had mentioned the same tool in 5 different threads.
Reddit threads are discussion posts where users share and comment on specific topics.
Then it hit me. What if we hijacked unlinked brand mentions of our competitors?
These users were already actively recommending similar tools to ours.
So what if we:
- Reached out to them
- Showed them a better option
- And asked them to include a link to our site in return for something of value?
Well, that’s how the $0 tactic was born.
The Strategy: Hijacking Unlinked Brand Mentions
I and my team broke the strategy into 3 simple parts.
Part 1: Find people talking about competitor tools in niche communities
Reddit, Quora, Indie Hackers, and even small SaaS forums were goldmines.
We weren’t looking for links…we were looking for words.
Any time someone said:
- “I use [Competitor]”
- “We switched to [Competitor]”
- “Check out [Competitor]”
…we added that thread to a sheet.
Part 2: Reach out with a personalized value-driven offer
We’d DM them or reply (if allowed), saying something like:
“Hey! I saw you mentioned [Competitor] on this thread.
I’m working with a small team building something similar…but lighter, faster, and cheaper.
Would love to offer you a free 3-month trial, and if you like it, maybe you could include a link to us in your comment or a new post.
We’re also putting together a mini case study with early adopters. Would love to feature your use case.”
Man, words do have the power to invoke emotions.
Simple. Honest. No pressure.
Part 3: Convert mentions into contextual dofollow links
If they replied and showed interest, we gave them full access and helped them try the tool.
Then, we made it super easy for them to link.
- Gave them a short description to copy-paste
- Suggested anchor text
- And even recommended where they could edit their comment or post a new one
We didn’t bribe or beg. Nah, not our style.
We gave VALUE. We built RELATIONSHIPS.
And it worked better than we imagined!
SaaS SEO Execution: Exactly How We Did It
Here’s the full breakdown of what magic we did over a period of 14 days.
Step 1: Sourcing the Mentions
We used these tools:
- Google Search Operators like:
site:reddit.com “I use Notion”
site:indiehackers.com “switched from Trello” - Brand monitoring tools like BrandMentions and VisualPing (for real-time alerts)
- Manual digging through popular threads in relevant subreddits like r/Productivity, r/SaaS, r/Entrepreneur
Every mention we found went into a Google Sheet with:
- URL
- Platform
- User handle
- Context of mention
- Competitor mentioned
- Engagement level (upvotes/comments)
In total, we found 218 usable threads/posts in 4 days.
Step 2: Outreach Messaging
We created 3 main templates based on the tone of the platform:
- Casual (for Reddit):
“Hey [Name], saw your reply about [Competitor]. We’re building something similar but more lightweight and we are just curious if you would be up for trying it free for a bit? If it fits your use case, we would love to be included in your post or comment.”
For most reddit threads, this did the job.
- Professional (for Indie Hackers):
“Hey [Name], I read your post where you mentioned [Competitor]. I’m helping a SaaS team build a new tool aimed at the same user base. Would love to give you early access + shout you out in our case study series if you’d consider using it and linking us if you find it useful.”
Man, you got to know how to talk to these hackers.
- Neutral (for Quora):
“Hi [Name], thanks for sharing your experience with [Competitor]. Just wanted to introduce an alternative we’re working on. We would be happy to offer you a free trial if you’d like to test and maybe update your answer if it fits better.”
We made sure each message was personalized and had a zero-spammy tone. Like a message you would get from an online friend, or from someone who’s genuinely curious.
Step 3: Following Up Without Being Annoying
We followed this rule.
One reminder. That’s it.
If someone didn’t reply in 3 days, we sent:
“Just a quick nudge in case my message got buried. I totally understand if this isn’t the right fit.”
That’s it. No begging. No hard selling.
Step 4: Giving Value First
When someone said “yes”, we gave them:
- Access to our PRO plan for free (3 months)
- A simple Notion doc with case study questions
- A shareable snippet of their review (for socials)
- And support if they had any setup issues
Many of them were so impressed, they wrote full posts about us.
Some even tweeted about the experience, which led to even more links.
The Results: 87 Dofollow Backlinks in 2 Weeks!
We started tracking our results from Day 1. And the initial trickle kind of felt good.
A few “Sure, added the link!” replies. Then, momentum built.
- By Day 7: We had secured 32 dofollow backlinks. Traffic was starting to show a faint, hopeful pulse.
- Day 10: 58 links. We started seeing our brand name pop up organically in some of these same forums. “Yeah, I saw [Our Tool Name] mentioned here recently, trying their trial now…”
- Day 14: 87 confirmed, live, dofollow backlinks. All from relevant niche communities. All from pages where our competitors were actively discussed. All pointing to our homepage. Yayy!
By the end of two weeks, here’s what we got.
And here’s the kicker.
We spent $0 on any paid tools or ads.
What we spent was…time, research, and thoughtful outreach.
Why This Works (And Why Most People Ignore It
Let’s face it.
Most people chase backlinks from big websites. They send 1,000 cold emails begging for guest posts. Or pay hundreds of dollars to shady link farms.
This tactic worked because:
- Relevance is King: These links came from pages that spoke explicitly about the problem we solve and the competitors in our space. Google eats this up.
- High-Trust Sources: Established forums and active Reddit communities carry a lot of trust. A link from a spammy directory is worthless. But a link from a genuine discussion in r/[OurIndustry] is gold!
- Anchor Text Diversity: Most links were natural brand anchors “[Our Tool Name]” or naked URLs. This looks incredibly organic to Google.
- Dofollow Juice: Every single one passed link equity. No sneaky nofollow tags holding us back.
Link equity is the value and authority passed from one webpage to another through hyperlinks
5. Referral Traffic: These links started sending us direct clicks almost immediately from people who were curious enough to check us out right from the forum thread.
6. The “Neighborhood” Effect: Being linked alongside established competitors signals to Google that we belong in that space.
And the best part is that these links are all natural, contextual, and permanent.
Lessons We Learned and Pitfalls To Avoid
The 14-day journey wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Not at all. We also learned some hard good ol’ lessons along the way.
- Personalization is KING: There was an instance when we got lazy and semi-copied a message (changing just the name/thread). We got called out publicly on the forum faster than we would blink. Ouch! Lesson learned. Every message must feel handcrafted.
- Not Everyone Says Yes (And That’s Okay): Our success rate was around 40-50%. Some people ignored us. Some politely declined (“Happy with Competitor, thanks”). A few were suspicious. Don’t take it personally. You have to learn to focus on the wins.
- Finding Contact Info Can Be Tricky: You should be prepared to skip a lot of otherwise good mentions. This is because there might not be ways to contact the person respectfully. Don’t force it.
- The “Case Study” Offer is a Magnet: We found that by mentioning the potential for a case study feature, we significantly boosted our positive response rate. People liked the idea of being featured. Who doesn’t.
- Track Religiously: Without our spreadsheet, we would have lost track of who we contacted, who responded, and where links were (supposed to be) placed. Organization is key.
- Patience & Persistence (But Not Pestering): Sending 15-20 personalized messages daily takes focus. The follow-up is important, but remember to stop after one.
Is This Tactic Right For You?
This tactic may not be the right way to go, for everyone.
Because this $0 tactic shines the brightest for:
- B2B SaaS Companies: Especially those in competitive niches with active online communities.
- Tools with Clear Competitors: If people are mentioning alternatives online, that’s your mark.
- Brands Willing to Hustle: It requires consistent effort and genuine outreach.
- Those Offering a Strong “Bribe”: A free trial is gold. Adding something like the case study potential sweetens the deal significantly.
Oh, and it might be less effective for:
- Extremely broad consumer products.
- Industries with little online discussion.
- Brands unwilling to personalize outreach.
We were lucky our client believed in us. Some companies view Reddit, Quora and the likes as uncharted territory. Naïve.
Your Turn. Steal this $0 SEO Strategy
The beauty of this tactic is its simplicity and accessibility. You don’t need a big budget.
Here’s what you need.
01
Your Product:
Hopefully, something people want!
02
Your Competitors:
Know who they are.
03
Your Hunting Grounds:
Identify relevant forums, Reddit, communities.
04
A Spreadsheet:
For tracking.
05
A Value Offer:
A free trial is essential. A bonus (like the case study) helps.
06
Time & Hustle:
Dedicate 1-2 hours per day for outreach.
Start small. Pick just one competitor. Pick one forum or subreddit. Search for unlinked mentions. Find 5 people. Craft 5 incredibly personalized messages.
See what happens.
And for those thinking, this isn’t a mythical “SEO hack.” It’s a focused and value-driven strategy which is actually simple. You understand your audience, your competitors, and the power of genuine community engagement.
We turned lurkers into advocates and unlinked mentions into powerful SEO fuel!
Want Results Like These?
We’ve now replicated this strategy across 3 other SaaS brands, and the results keep coming in.
If you’re:
- Tired of low-quality backlinks
- Want faster SEO results without a budget
- Or just curious how this could work for your product
Connect with me to discuss how we can help your brand achieve similar results.
