A1Severe
Link profile
Domain authority 9; 41 referring domains, 26 of them low-value directories and citation farms.
SEO case study · Birth and postpartum doula collective · Portland
Mapleroot Doula Collective
How twelve doulas earned the links of a national parenting publisher
+287%organic enquiries
13 months · Portland, United States · Digital PR · Expert quotes · Resource link building · Unlinked mentions
Herbarium of earned links
- Collector
- Get Ranked On Top
- Locality
- Portland, Oregon
- Specimens
- 23 press features
- Det.
- +287% organic enquiries
Field notes · the challenge
Deep roots, no light.
A small collective with deep expertise had a domain authority of 9 and was buried under directories and national parenting sites.
Twelve doulas with a combined 140 years at Portland bedsides were invisible to the parents searching for them at 2 a.m. Directories resold their own profiles back to them, and national parenting sites answered every question with generic advice. Search engines had no reason to trust a small site that nobody else cited — so the job was not more pages, it was earning the citations the expertise already deserved.
doula portland
- 1doula-directory.exampleTop 10 Doulas in Portland, OR (2025 Update)
- 2national-parenting.exampleDo You Need a Doula? What to Know
- 3birthpro-listings.examplePortland Doulas — Compare Profiles & Prices
- 4localreviews.exampleBest Doulas Near Portland — Reviews
- 5carefinder.exampleFind a Birth Doula in Portland
Mapleroot sits at #27 — page three — behind five directory and publisher listings.
doula portland
- 1mapleroot.exampleMapleroot Doula Collective — Birth & Postpartum Doulas, Portland
- 2doula-directory.exampleTop 10 Doulas in Portland, OR
- 3national-parenting.exampleThe Fourth Trimester, Explained — with Mapleroot doulas
- 4mapleroot.examplePortland Postpartum Support Index: Year Two
- 5birthpro-listings.examplePortland Doulas — Compare Profiles
Two Mapleroot results on page one, plus a publisher article quoting its doulas.
Soil survey · the audit
Six findings from the ground up.
- A2Severe
Expertise signals
Twelve certified doulas, zero author pages — no credentials, no bylines, nothing for E-E-A-T to grip.
- A3Quick win
Unlinked mentions
37 mentions of “Mapleroot” across local news, forums and partner sites with no link back.
- A4Severe
Linkable assets
No resource a journalist or librarian would cite: no data, no checklist, no printable guide.
- A5Context
SERP landscape
“doula portland” page one held by four directories and two national sites; Mapleroot at #27.
- A6Moderate
Internal links
Services pages orphaned two clicks deep; blog posts never linked to the booking page.
The strategy · four species of link
Earned, never bought. Each tactic grows a different kind of specimen.
Built on our Authority plan: a thirteen-month authority programme where every link has to be one a journalist, librarian or editor chose to give.
Rosa publica
Digital PR
We turned 600 anonymised intake forms into the Portland Postpartum Support Index — an annual data story with county-level charts, pitched to regional and national desks under embargo.
6 pressed features · 6 features · 4 national-tier links
Filix vocis
Expert quotes
Each doula got a credentialed author page and a speciality. We answered 140+ journalist requests over the year, sending two-line quotable answers within 90 minutes.
7 pressed features · 8 features · 2 national publishers
Umbella bibliotheca
Resource link building
A printable birth-plan template, recovery checklist and partner handout — each built for librarians, nursing schools and charities who curate resource lists.
6 pressed features · 6 resource-page links · DR 47–77
Acer radix
Unlinked mentions
We crawled for every brand mention without a link and wrote a short, personal note to each editor. Nothing bought, nothing swapped — just a polite correction.
4 pressed features · 19 of 37 reclaimed
Collecting season · 13 months
The year, month by month.
- 01
Soil survey
Backlink audit, mention crawl, competitor gap across 6 SERPs.
groundwork · 41 referring domains
- 02
Author pages
Twelve doula profiles with credentials, specialities and schema.
groundwork · 44 referring domains
- 03
First reclaim
First 9 unlinked mentions contacted; regional news feature lands.
1 pressed · 52 referring domains
- 04
Resource kit
Birth-plan template and recovery checklist published.
1 pressed · 63 referring domains
- 05
Librarian outreach
120 curated resource pages pitched by hand.
2 pressed · 79 referring domains
- 06
National bloom
First national parenting publisher quote; DR crosses 20.
2 pressed · 98 referring domains
- 07
Hub rebuild
Services hub re-linked; blog to booking paths added.
3 pressed · 121 referring domains
- 08
Expert desk
Rapid-response quote rota across all twelve doulas.
2 pressed · 146 referring domains
- 09
Index launch
Portland Postpartum Support Index released under embargo.
3 pressed · 171 referring domains
- 10
Survey follow-up
National publisher runs the survey data as a lead story.
2 pressed · 196 referring domains
- 11
Seasonal angle
Winter-babies pitch; partner handout picked up by extension sites.
3 pressed · 222 referring domains
- 12
Citations
Index cited in a community funding paper; mentions reclaimed.
2 pressed · 246 referring domains
- 13
Year two
Index refreshed; collection stands at 23 pressed features.
2 pressed · 268 referring domains
Plate II · the collection
Twenty-three press features, pressed and pinned.
Drag the month or press play: each earned feature is collected onto the sheet in the month it was published.
Herbarium Mapleroot · Plate II · dotted outlines are specimens not yet collected
13 / 13
- Referring domains
- 268
- Press features
- 23
- Top-10 keywords
- 96
Pressed this month
- No. 22 City daily newspaperIndex, year two: what changed
- No. 23 Perinatal mental-health charityCo-authored partner guide
Accession register
No. 1 · month 3
Regional evening news desk
Postpartum care gaps in Multnomah County
Digital PR · DR 61
No. 2 · month 4
City lifestyle weekly
Twelve doulas, one waiting list
Unlinked mentions · DR 48
No. 3 · month 5
Nursing school resource hub
Free birth-plan template
Resource link building · DR 55
No. 4 · month 5
Parenting podcast show notes
What a night doula actually does
Expert quotes · DR 39
No. 5 · month 6
National parenting publisher
The fourth trimester, explained
Expert quotes · DR 82
No. 6 · month 6
Oregon public library guides
Postpartum recovery checklist
Resource link building · DR 74
No. 7 · month 7
Regional business journal
Cooperative pay models in care work
Digital PR · DR 66
No. 8 · month 7
Hospital birth-centre blog
Questions to ask before 36 weeks
Expert quotes · DR 58
No. 9 · month 7
Neighbourhood association site
Directory listing, now linked
Unlinked mentions · DR 31
No. 10 · month 8
National health magazine
Doula vs midwife: the honest guide
Expert quotes · DR 79
No. 11 · month 8
Lactation consultants' network
Shared feeding-support resource
Resource link building · DR 47
No. 12 · month 9
Statewide data report
Portland Postpartum Support Index
Digital PR · DR 71
No. 13 · month 9
Family finance site
What a doula costs in Oregon
Expert quotes · DR 64
No. 14 · month 9
University extension pages
Partner's birth-support handout
Resource link building · DR 77
No. 15 · month 10
National parenting publisher
Survey: 1 in 3 parents unsupported
Digital PR · DR 82
No. 16 · month 10
Wellness trade newsletter
Mention reclaimed with a link
Unlinked mentions · DR 44
No. 17 · month 11
Regional radio website
Winter babies and the holiday gap
Digital PR · DR 68
No. 18 · month 11
Midwifery student forum wiki
Glossary of birth terms
Resource link building · DR 52
No. 19 · month 11
Parenting app editorial
Recovery timeline, week by week
Expert quotes · DR 60
No. 20 · month 12
Community health council
Index cited in funding paper
Unlinked mentions · DR 57
No. 21 · month 12
National women's health site
Birth trauma and doula support
Expert quotes · DR 76
No. 22 · month 13
City daily newspaper
Index, year two: what changed
Digital PR · DR 73
No. 23 · month 13
Perinatal mental-health charity
Co-authored partner guide
Resource link building · DR 63
Determination · the results
What the collection grew into.
Headline
+287%
organic enquiries
Organic enquiries per month, 15 in month 1 to 58 in month 13.
Referring domains
41 → 268
Press features
23
Organic sessions
+219%
Top-10 keywords
12 → 96
Modelled scenario for a fictional business — not a client result. Rankings and traffic are never guaranteed; see our Terms.
Keyword positions, month 0 → month 13
| Keyword | Monthly searches | Before | After | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| doula portland | 880 | 27 | 2 | |
| postpartum doula portland | 390 | 34 | 1 | |
| birth doula cost oregon | 210 | — | 3 | |
| night doula portland | 170 | 41 | 2 | |
| doula vs midwife | 6,600 | — | 7 | |
| postpartum recovery checklist | 2,400 | — | 4 | |
| birth plan template | 9,900 | 88 | 6 | |
| how to choose a doula | 1,300 | 63 | 5 | |
| fourth trimester support | 720 | — | 3 | |
| doula collective portland | 90 | 9 | 1 |
“—” means not ranking in the top 100. Searches are modelled US monthly averages.
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