Authority gap
14
referring domains
Against 410–1,240 for the three established jump operators. Authority, not content, was capping every commercial ranking.
160 mThe edge · the challenge
Great drop. No authority.
Better-known jump operators had decades of links. This new swing had a great product but almost no domain authority.
Every list of Queenstown thrills was decided by link equity built up over decades. The swing had the highest free-fall in the region and glowing reviews, yet sat on page five for the phrase that mattered most, buried under operators the press had been linking to since the 1990s.
The brief: earn the links a 30-year-old brand would have, in 9 months, without buying a single one.
Referring domains · modelled
- Operator A · est. 19881,240
- Operator B · est. 1996860
- Operator C · est. 2009410
- Kereru Canyon Swing14 → 110
The gap is not closed — it does not need to be. Topical, recent links from adventure and travel press moved rankings faster than raw volume.
138 mFirst ledge · the diagnosis
What the link audit found
Lost links
23
links to 404s
Launch coverage pointed at a retired booking subdomain and old press-kit PDFs, leaking the only equity the site had earned.
Unlinked mentions
31
brand mentions
Blogs, forums and two newspapers named the swing without linking — the cheapest wins on the board.
Linkable assets
0
pages worth citing
No data, no media kit, no stats page. Journalists had nothing to link to except the booking widget.
Anchor profile
82%
naked URL anchors
Almost no topical anchors around adrenaline, canyon swing or Queenstown activities to tell search engines what it was.
Imagery
640
uncredited image uses
Jump photos circulated on travel sites and aggregators with no credit or link back — reclaimable at scale.
115 mMid-air · the strategy
Four ropes, one anchor
Built on our Authority plan (digital pr & links): every tactic pointed links at a handful of pages that could rank — the swing page, the Scream Index and the Queenstown adrenaline guide.
01Digital PR
+38 RDData-led stories journalists could not get elsewhere — the Scream Index and the drop-physics explainer — each built as a citable page with embeddable charts.
02Viral stunts
+21 RDTwo consent-first stunts timed to slow news days: a breakfast-TV live cross and a 91st birthday jump, each with a press pack ready before the first pitch.
03Travel-blogger outreach
+19 RDA vetted list of independent travel writers hosted on quiet mid-week slots, with a disclosure brief and no paid links — just a story worth writing.
04Link reclamation
+18 RDMonthly sweeps for broken links, unlinked mentions and uncredited images, turning equity the swing had already earned into links it could keep.
96 mThe fall · 9 ledges, 9 months
Every ledge, a headline
Month 1 · Reclaim
86 m · 4 RD total
Alpine Wire · reclaimed link
“New canyon swing opens above the gorge with a 160 m free-fall”
Found launch-week coverage pointing at a dead booking subdomain; 301s and polite fix-requests restored the first links.
Month 2 · Reclaim
77 m · 11 RD total
Southern Lakes Gazette
“The swing locals say is scarier than the bungy”
Turned 31 unlinked brand mentions into a tracked outreach list; 7 editors added the link within a fortnight.
Month 3 · Data story
67 m · 19 RD total
Adrenaline Quarterly
“We measured 4,000 screams. Here is the loudest second in Queenstown”
Shipped the Scream Index — decibel data from consenting jumpers — as a linkable page with embeddable charts.
Month 4 · Stunt
58 m · 31 RD total
Kiwi Morning · broadcast
“Live on air: a weather presenter takes the canyon swing at sunrise”
Pitched a sunrise live cross to breakfast TV; the segment page and clip embeds became the strongest links of the run.
Month 5 · Bloggers
48 m · 44 RD total
Wanderlog South · travel blog
“Queenstown in 72 hours: the one thrill worth skipping the gondola for”
Hosted 14 vetted travel writers on mid-week slots with a clear disclosure brief; 11 published original reviews.
Month 6 · Stunt
38 m · 58 RD total
The Tasman Traveller
“A 91-year-old grandmother just swung 160 metres for her birthday”
Consent-first human story released with photos and a fact sheet; syndicated across four regional mastheads.
Month 7 · Data story
29 m · 71 RD total
Outdoor Gear Review
“Why canyon swings feel faster than bungy, explained by physics”
Commissioned a physics explainer with a local university lecturer; science desks linked the interactive drop calculator.
Month 8 · Bloggers
19 m · 85 RD total
Nomad Notes NZ
“The 12 best adrenaline activities in Queenstown, ranked by fear”
Refreshed listicle placements with new footage and safety stats; earned inclusion in 9 evergreen roundups.
Month 9 · Reclaim
10 m · 96 RD total
Lakes District Weekly
“Canyon swing named the region's breakout attraction of the season”
Swept image hotlinks and award mentions for attribution; closed the run at 96 new referring domains.
0 mCanyon floor · the swing back up
+96
referring domains in 9 months
+96
Referring domains
44 → 4
"queenstown adrenaline" position
+153%
Organic bookings
18
Broadcast & press mentions
Broadcast · 4Press & online · 14
Modelled scenario for a fictional business — not a client result. Rankings and traffic are never guaranteed; see our Terms.
Keyword climb
Google NZ positions, month 0 vs month 9. Volumes are modelled monthly searches.
| Keyword | Volume | Before | After | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| queenstown adrenaline | 2.4k | 44 | 4 | |
| canyon swing queenstown | 3.1k | 19 | 1 | |
| queenstown bungy alternative | 880 | 38 | 3 | |
| scariest swing in the world | 1.6k | 64 | 5 | |
| best adrenaline activities nz | 1.9k | 52 | 6 | |
| things to do in queenstown | 18k | 71 | 12 |
Baseline: 14 referring domains at month 0; 110 at month 9.
Get a plan like this
Authority earns links through stories worth covering — digital PR, outreach and reclamation, reported monthly.