A fictional business. The figures are a modelled scenario, not a client result.
Wrenfold JoineryBespoke staircase joinery · Bristol
+88
referring domains in 18 months
A nine-person workshop that makes oak and walnut stairs by hand, competing for page one against national chains with ten times the links. We drew the plan as a staircase: one tread per publication that chose to link — and climbed it.
Strong craft and a thin backlink profile meant the site sat on page three for its most valuable commissions.
The commissions that matter to Wrenfold — a cantilevered oak flight for a Clifton townhouse, a walnut helical for a barn conversion — are researched for months, and the research starts on Google. For “bespoke staircases Bristol” the workshop sat at #27, behind three national stair chains whose sites were thin but whose link profiles were deep.
The craft was already being written about. The press simply wasn’t linking, the architects who specified the stairs credited them only in print, and there were no project pages for anyone to link to. The brief: earn authority from the people who actually judge joinery, without buying a single link.
Modelled: the chains averaged roughly 410 domains, but under 15% came from editorial design or architecture sources — the gap a specialist could close.
34 referring domains, 22 of them directories or trade listings with no editorial weight.
Three national stair chains averaged 410 referring domains — mostly paid placements and supplier footers.
41 press and blog mentions of “Wrenfold” or its projects with no link back.
No project pages: 60+ finished staircases lived only on Instagram, so there was nothing to link to.
Architects credited the joinery in print, but their websites linked to nobody.
“Bespoke staircases Bristol” ranked #27; the money page was a 140-word gallery.
Four tactics, one rule: every link must come from a source a client or architect would trust. The engagement ran on our Authority plan — editorial link building and digital PR — with monthly pitch calendars and a shared placements log.
Stories the design and home press actually want, built from the workshop rather than about it.
Joint project pages with the practices who specify the stairs, so every shared job earns a credit both ways.
A selective calendar of craft and regional design awards, entered with press-ready assets.
The press had already written about the stairs — it just hadn’t linked. We asked, politely, with a better image.
Section B–B · The climb
Month
00
Earned
+0
Domains
34
Scroll to climb. The first named placement lands in month 1.
Survey · 35 domains
Link and mention audit; competitor gap mapped against the three national chains.
Survey · 37 domains
Project archive photographed and drawn; 24 staircases chosen as linkable case pages.
Foundations · 40 domains
Project pages live. First unlinked-mention reclaim batch: 9 sent, 3 links.
Foundations · 44 domains
Architect partnership template agreed with the first two practices.
Foundations · 49 domains
Award calendar set: six entries shortlisted from 31.
First flight · 55 domains
“The 400-year oak” pitched to home and timber press under embargo.
First flight · 61 domains
Oak story lands in 4 titles; two syndicate it with links.
First flight · 67 domains
Part K CPD session hosted; 11 practices attend, 3 add project credits.
Landing · 73 domains
Regional craft award shortlist: profile links from organiser and two sponsors.
Landing · 79 domains
Bespoke-vs-catalogue cost study released; 7 domains cite the data.
Landing · 85 domains
Commercial staircase page rebuilt with drawings, timber guide and pricing bands.
Second flight · 91 domains
Drawing-board time-lapse offered as an embed; 5 credited embeds in a month.
Second flight · 97 domains
Heritage woodwork prize win; press round-ups link the project page.
Second flight · 103 domains
Mention monitoring turned weekly; reclaim rate settles at 38%.
Upper flight · 109 domains
Second architect cohort onboarded; CAD details listed on supplier sites.
Upper flight · 114 domains
Design-week talk; event and speaker pages link back.
Upper flight · 118 domains
Annual round-ups pick up the year’s projects; DR passes 42.
Landing · 122 domains
122 referring domains. Hand-over: pitch calendar and reclaim playbook for the team.
Modelled scenario for a fictional business — not a client result. Rankings and traffic are never guaranteed; see our Terms.
Month-end DR: 21 → 27 → 36 → 43
Trailing twelve months, sampled each quarter.
| Keyword | Vol / mo | Month 0 | Month 18 | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bespoke staircases bristol | 320 | #27 | #2 | Up 25 places |
| oak staircase makers | 880 | #41 | #6 | Up 35 places |
| staircase joinery bristol | 210 | #19 | #1 | Up 18 places |
| cantilevered stairs uk | 590 | #63 | #8 | Up 55 places |
| spiral staircase bespoke | 720 | #58 | #9 | Up 49 places |
| staircase renovation bristol | 260 | #24 | #3 | Up 21 places |
| bespoke joinery bath | 170 | #35 | #5 | Up 30 places |
| floating staircase cost | 1,300 | #74 | #12 | Up 62 places |
Next drawing
Links earned from the people who judge your work — press, partners and awards — built on our Authority plan.