The Challenge
Even for a brand as massive as ESPN, Premier League search rankings are a battlefield. Despite producing best-in-class content and having strong technical SEO resources in-house, ESPN found themselves outranked by smaller competitors for some of the league's most valuable keywords — including core terms like: - Premier League results - Premier League fixtures - Premier League scores - Premier League standings - Premier League table These weren’t long-tail keywords. These were highly transactional, high-volume terms where first-page rankings can deliver massive audience growth. What ESPN needed wasn’t more content or technical tweaks — they needed firepower in off-site authority.
The Strategy
ESPN engaged LSEO specifically to deploy a targeted link-building campaign aimed at driving page-level authority where it mattered most: Premier League category and subcategory pages. The plan was simple but highly tactical: Identify ESPN’s most valuable Premier League keyword targets. Build high-quality backlinks directly to the corresponding content pages. Track ranking movement monthly to continuously optimize link acquisition focus. Support ESPN’s in-house content and technical SEO teams by delivering authoritative off-site signals Google values. The entire campaign was designed to help ESPN leapfrog entrenched competitors in one of the UK’s fiercest search verticals.
