The Upper Ranks

NJ 08701, new-jersey · Marketing agency

Visit website

The Upper Ranks is a white-hat link building agency based in Lakewood, New Jersey, founded in 2011 by David Farkas, who trained under early link-building pioneer Eric Ward. The agency has grown into a specialized team of 50+ link builders organized into outreach, prospecting, content, editorial, and SEO functions, with named department leads including Annie Lawton (Outreach Director), Martin Clover (Prospecting Director), Hallee Dunsky (Content Director), Susan Gibson (Managing Editor), and Spencer Tanner (SEO Director). Rather than offering full-service digital marketing, the company focuses almost exclusively on earning editorial backlinks through guest posting, resource page link building, broken link building, and manual outreach, with supplementary technical SEO, content strategy, and local SEO available. The agency reports serving 500+ SEO teams and over 1,500 clients, building roughly 30,000 links annually, and holds 13 verified reviews on Clutch along with coverage/mentions in Semrush, Ahrefs, Forbes, HubSpot, Moz, and Inc.

Our take

The Upper Ranks is an established (since 2011), specialized white-hat link building agency in Lakewood, NJ with a 50+ person team, verified Clutch reviews, and media recognition.

Strengths

• 15 years in business under the same founder, with a well-documented origin story and named leadership team
• Verified third-party review presence (13 reviews on Clutch)
• Media mentions/features across established SEO and business publications (Ahrefs, Semrush, Forbes, HubSpot, Moz, Inc)
• Deep specialization in one discipline (link building) rather than spreading thin across many services
• Endorsements from recognizable named individuals in the SEO industry

Risk factors

• Premium pricing — minimum project size of $5,000+ and hourly rates of $100-149 may exclude small businesses
• Marketed client list is self-reported and was not independently verified as active, paid engagements
• Narrow specialization means clients still need to source other services elsewhere

Best fit for

• SEO agencies and consultants needing white-label link building capacity
• Mid-size to large businesses and publicly traded companies with a dedicated SEO/content budget
• Startups or established brands specifically needing authoritative backlink acquisition

Who should look elsewhere

• Very small businesses or startups with marketing budgets under roughly $5,000/month
• Businesses wanting a single vendor for full-service marketing rather than a link-building specialist

Hiring advice

Confirm the $5,000+ minimum fits your budget before engaging, request the downloadable case studies and ask for references specific to your industry.

How it compares

Unlike the other New Jersey agencies reviewed here, The Upper Ranks is a deep specialist in a single SEO discipline (link building), with a scale well above typical small local agencies.

Conclusion

For businesses with an established SEO budget seeking specialized, white-hat link acquisition, The Upper Ranks' tenure, team scale, and independent review presence make it a credible option.

Frequently Asked Questions