How We Scaled a SaaS Site to 4,700 Visitors/Mo in 6 Months

When a fast-growing SaaS company in the gig economy space approached us, they weren’t looking for an SEO agency. They simply wanted guidance.

Their marketing team needed help understanding SEO fundamentals, so we stepped in as consultants, training them on tools like Ahrefs, keyword tracking, and content marketing strategy.

However, as time went on, they realized that while they could grasp the concepts, executing an effective SEO strategy required more time and expertise than they had in-house.

The company had secured funding but was struggling to acquire users through their website—a critical issue since they had strong retention metrics.

They knew if they could get gig workers to their platform, they wouldn’t leave. The challenge was getting them there in the first place.

Phase 1: Technical SEO Fixes & Site Performance Optimization

Our first step was conducting a comprehensive website audit.

We almost always start with a fairly basic on-page audit to quickly catch and huge issues that are impacting large amounts of pages at scale.

Typically, this will flag hundreds (sometimes thousands) of pages that are in need of work:

From there, we then check to see how efficiently the site performance for Core Web Vitals. This site was particularly impacted:

From there, we do a very deep dive into a handful of other metrics and then compile them into a concise summary of our findings - an ordered list of issues we found, sorted into what we suggest fixing by order of impact.

For this site, we identified and resolved several key technical issues that were hindering performance and search visibility:

• Site Health Issues: The website had an overall health score of 67%, with several fixable technical errors.
• Core Web Vitals: Pagespeed Insights scores were low (33), requiring improvements in loading speed and performance.
• Duplicate Meta Tags & Missing Descriptions: Many pages lacked optimized metadata, which we systematically corrected.
• Crawling & Indexation Issues: Certain pages were not being crawled efficiently due to poor internal linking and orphan pages.

After our work was done, we had very few outstanding errors on a site that was blazing fast.

With these fixes in place, we created a solid technical foundation for SEO growth.

Phase 2: Content Optimization for Quick Wins

Next, we identified existing blog content that was already ranking for valuable keywords but wasn’t performing well enough to generate substantial traffic.

Content being produced "just for the sake of being produced" is an issue we see a lot, and this site was no exception.

We tackled these first because while they weren't ranking well, they were ranking.

We usually see quick results from this low-hanging fruit, which is why we focus on these types of posts first.

By optimizing these posts—updating content, improving keyword targeting, and enhancing readability—we were able to significantly improve rankings for key terms such as:

• “Track miles for taxes” (Rank 28 → Rank 1)
• “How to cash out on Instacart” (Rank 4 → Rank 1)
• “Spark driver instant pay” (Rank 3 → Rank 1)

As we expected, these started to drive additional traffic to the website fairly quickly.

Phase 3: Programmatic SEO - The Pay Insights Hub

One of our biggest plays was launching a Pay Insights Hub, leveraging the company’s unique gig economy earnings data.

Drawing from our experience at Ridester, we knew that high-quality, proprietary data could drive significant organic growth and media attention.

At Ridester, we surveyed 2,500 Uber drivers, collected their pay screenshots, and compiled the data into an insightful, comprehensive report.

By structuring the content in an engaging and digestible way, we made it easy for journalists to reference and cite.

This strategy led to massive coverage, landing our insights on the front page of Recode and being picked up by major outlets like Forbes and MSNBC.

Using the same data-driven approach, we ensured the Pay Insights Hub was designed for both search visibility and media amplification.

• Strategic Data Presentation: We ensured the data was visually engaging and easily digestible.
• Media-Friendly Approach: The data was structured in a way that made it highly linkable and newsworthy.
• Interlinking: We linked these pages to existing optimized content, strengthening their SEO impact.

Phase 4: Authority-Building Blog Content

We then launched a data-driven blog campaign targeting high-intent keywords related to driver earnings and gig economy platforms. Some of the high-volume terms we focused on included:

• “How much do Uber drivers make” (15,000 searches/month)
• “How much do DoorDash drivers make” (11,000 searches/month)
• “Mileage tracker app” (4,500 searches/month)

By publishing content optimized for these queries and linking them back to the Pay Insights Hub, we created a content ecosystem that reinforced itself, improving rankings across the board.

Phase 5: Lead Generation Enhancements

Finally, we helped the company implement gated content within the Pay Insights Hub. By restricting certain high-value insights (such as best times to drive and peak earnings hours), they were able to capture leads while still providing value to users.

With the groundwork laid, we moved into the results phase—where the real impact of our efforts became clear.

Results: The Impact of Our SEO Strategy

When we began our work in August 2023, the site had a minimal search presence.

It was ranking for only 778 keywords, with very few in high-ranking positions:

• 1-3 positions: 11 keywords
• 4-10 positions: 39 keywords
• 11-20 positions: 112 keywords
• 21-50 positions: The remainder of the rankings

The website was also struggling to attract organic traffic, pulling in just 500 monthly visitors despite years of growth since launching in April 2021.

However, once we executed our campaign, the impact was immediate and substantial.

By January 2024, the site had already surpassed 1,000 monthly visitors, with keyword rankings increasing to 1,210.

From there, the growth continued rapidly, reaching a peak in October 2024, when the site hit 4,700 monthly visitors and was ranking for 10,596 keywords:

• 1-3 positions: 94 keywords
• 4-10 positions: 533 keywords
• 11-20 positions: 2,700 keywords
• 21-50 positions: 7,269 keywords

Sustained Growth Despite Algorithm Shifts

While Google’s AIO update impacted the effectiveness of programmatic SEO strategies, the Pay Insights Hub remains a vital part of the website’s success.

These pages continue to generate a significant portion of the site’s traffic, while the long-form blog posts we created still dominate the highest-trafficked pages.

Today, the site consistently receives between 3,500 and 4,000 unique visitors per month—all from an initial three-month sprint of work.

The lasting impact of our SEO strategy is evident, proving that even a short-term campaign can deliver sustained long-term results.

Organic Link Acquisition & Authority Boost

One of the biggest wins from this engagement was the natural link-building effect.

The Pay Insights Hub has attracted backlinks from numerous high-authority domains (DR50+) without any outreach efforts.

The data-driven, media-friendly content we created continues to earn organic citations, strengthening the site’s domain authority and visibility.

Key Takeaways

• From 500 to 4,700+ monthly visitors in just over a year
• Keyword rankings increased from 778 to 10,596
• High-impact blog content still ranks and drives traffic
• The Pay Insights Hub continues to attract organic backlinks
• Sustained organic traffic (3,500-4,000/month) with no additional work

This case study highlights how a data-driven, strategic SEO approach can transform a website’s search presence in just a few months—delivering long-term traffic, authority, and user growth.