Headway

The Challenge

Headway is a globally operating forex broker. I was hired as a freelancer by one of its affiliated partners to build and optimize an affiliate website capable of driving forex registrations at scale. The website had a design framework in place but required full technical configuration, SEO infrastructure setup, and a growth strategy. The initial scope targeted Indonesia only. No CDN, no optimized technical foundation, and no SEO strategy existed at the start of the engagement.

My Approach

Working independently as a freelance specialist, I built the entire SEO and technical stack from scratch across three workstreams:

• Technical Infrastructure Setup. Configured the domain-to-server connection, set up Cloudflare CDN and caching rules, implemented HTTPS, and established canonicalization to ensure the site was crawlable, fast, and technically sound from day one.
• On-Page and Off-Page Optimization. Conducted keyword research targeting navigational and transactional search intent. Implemented meta tags, header tag hierarchy, and internal linking structure. Built off-page authority through a targeted link-building campaign.
• International Market Expansion. After establishing strong rankings in Indonesia, I identified high-potential international markets through Search Console and Semrush data. Expanded targeting to capture organic demand in Uzbekistan, South Africa, Malaysia, Nigeria, Namibia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, focusing on markets with high forex registration intent and comparatively lower SEO competition.

The Outcome

The 6-month engagement resulted in 12,491 total new registrations with a 41.45% registration rate increase. The site achieved Top 3 average rankings across 8 countries. The peak impact was recorded on 20 November 2023, with 485 new registrations in a single day, a direct reflection of the compound effect of technical optimization, off-page authority building, and international market targeting working in sync.