In short: over five years of regular digital PR campaigns, Green Flag Digital helped moveBuddha grow from 582 referring domains in 2021 to 4,322 in December 2025, a gain of 3,740. Domain rating rose 14 points, double the competitor median, and branded search grew 704%. It is the long-run version of what our digital PR agency does.
moveBuddha digital PR case study at a glance
| Client | moveBuddha, a moving marketplace with a popular moving cost calculator |
| Engagement | Regular data-driven digital PR campaigns over 5 years |
| Referring domains | 582 in 2021 to 4,322 in December 2025, a 643% increase |
| Domain rating | +14 over 5 years, against a +7 competitor median |
| Branded search | Up 704% over the engagement |
| Voice share | From 3rd to 1st in the space, with 32.3% of overall traffic (SpyFu) |
| Coverage | The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC Make It, Bloomberg, CBS News, LA Times and hundreds more |
The Problem: moveBuddha needed a foundation under traffic growth
A fortuitous traffic spike during the pandemic housing boom, begging to be made permanent. A popular moving calculator. The knowledge it could all go away. And who’s booking when there’s a trust gap between your reputation and your inbound prowess? moveBuddha needed to support its success with:
- Credibility to make it less likely its inbound traffic could be displaced by competitors
- The trustworthiness to turn traffic into more bookings
Our Approach: Turning Data into Authority
The “trust factor” that turns traffic into buyers and organic traffic into branded searches is key to capitalizing on SEO wins, gradually shifting the conversation to brand and protecting digital marketing efforts from the winds of search engine storms. So, we suggested a series of data stories built on the moving calculator’s goldmine traffic and digital PR as a distribution channel to increase:
- Voice share compared to competitors
- Domain authority
- Branded search growth
- Backlinks from high-authority sites as trust signals
The Results: High-Intent Pages Soaring Above Pandemic Move-Craze Levels
Today, moveBuddha’s high-intent calculator is logging ~10K more monthly views than it did at the height of 2021’s relocation craze, even though 2.8M fewer Americans moved last year than in 2021.
Its voice share is up: moving from 3rd overall to 1st in the space in the 5 years since running regular digital PR campaigns, with 32.3% overall traffic today (SpyFu).
Domain authority has also outperformed competitors, increasing at twice the median rate, including 28% this year, even working against a logarithmic scale makes it increasingly tough to scale the rankings.
And branded search? That’s up 704% over our engagement (including >7% in 2025 YoY).
moveBuddha has built a lasting reputation from authoritative media placements, and has seen its data stories shared by outlets like The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC Make It, Bloomberg, CBS News, LA Times and hundreds more.
Top-Performing Digital PR Campaigns for moveBuddha
Will These Be the Most Populated U.S. Cities in 2100?
- Data forecast + custom slider-style designs
- 90+ links
The Annual moveBuddha Migration Report
- 185+ links
- Covered by Southern Living, Business Insider
The Top City Everyone Wants to Move to in Every State in 2025
- Proprietary data study + interactive data-visuals
- 12 media placements in first 2 months
- Covered by Apartment Therapy and iHeart
Key moveBuddha digital PR wins:
- Referring domains increased from 582 in 2021 to 4,322 in December 2025
- 494.39K engagements over 5 years, or about 98.9K per year1
- CAGR from 2021 to 2024 of the number of articles mentioning moveBuddha: 83.7%
- +14 domain rating increase over 5 years, double the industry average
- 643% increase in referring domains
- Up 28.82% in referring domains since January 2025
Industry Competitor Average2
- +7 median domain rating increase over 5 years
- ~250% increase in referring domains
1 Total engagement = Number of times coverage was shared, commented on, or linked in social media networks tracked by Muckrack
2 We used Similarweb to analyze the 5 sites with the most similar audiences to moveBuddha. Not all are moving aggregator/booking sites.
Frequently asked questions
moveBuddha grew from 582 referring domains in 2021 to 4,322 in December 2025. That is 3,740 new referring domains and a 643% increase, compared with roughly 250% for the competitor set over the same period.
Three stand out. A data forecast of the most populated U.S. cities in 2100, with custom slider designs, earned 90+ links. The annual moveBuddha Migration Report earned 185+ links. A proprietary data study on the top city people want to move to in every state earned 12 media placements in its first 2 months.
moveBuddha’s domain rating rose 14 points over 5 years, double the +7 median of the 5 sites with the most similar audiences. Its referring domains grew 643% against roughly 250% for that group, and its voice share moved from 3rd to 1st in the space.
In this engagement it did. Branded search for moveBuddha rose 704% over the course of our work together, as its data stories were shared by national outlets and hundreds of other sites.
A single strong campaign can land placements within weeks, as the 2025 top cities study did. The larger gains here, in domain rating, voice share and branded search, came from running campaigns regularly for 5 years so the authority compounded.
Sitting on data nobody has turned into a story?
moveBuddha’s calculator data became five years of national press. Tell us what data you have, and we will tell you plainly what stories are in it. More on the method on our link building page.
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