The Challenge
Our retail client brought a few goals to the drawing board during our kickoff: to develop the retailer’s web presence in the U.S., to improve organic search results and, of course, to boost revenue from their overall international search.
But also, to plug a major leak.
Before coming to us, the client had just launched a major site redesign meant to secure the site with HTTPS – an infrastructure change to make the site more secure. Unexpectedly, organic traffic fell by 75% and, like frames plopping off the wall, a multitude of Page One and Page Two rankings were lost.
So, what happened?
In short, they failed to approach the redesign with an SEO strategy in mind. Afterward, they no longer appeared on first-page results for their own brand name; consequently, organic revenue soon fell, too.
Our job was to do damage control – fast – while also offering a sustainable strategy moving forward.
The Strategy
We conducted full audits – both technical and strategic.
First, we had a look under the hood. Problems we detected:
- A large bundle of key pages had been deleted, creating error pages throughout the site
- The site’s new URL structure confounded search crawls
- Internal links were no longer up-to-date
- Critically, there were duplicate pages created – leaving room to ruin not just those pages’ shot at ranking well, but others, too.
Updating the architecture had to be top priority.
Following those fixes, we needed to fill in gaps where content had been lost, plus, create a new content-focused strategy. Because they’re an e-commerce business, we decided it made the most sense to begin by optimizing product pages based on user needs we identified through keyword research.
The Execution
Once the technical audit was implemented, we got to work on our longer-term content strategy for the website. We built store pages to be comprehensive, thoughtfully fleshed out with an abundance of high-impact keywords useful for customers. Additionally, these pages were built to be functionally helpful for casual users stumbling in – those looking to satisfy curiosities about the industry, even if they weren’t immediately ready to jump on board with a purchase. (Think: “How-to” guides and videos.) Ultimately, that would help build – or rebuild, as the case may be – their brand.
But these fixes weren’t immediate or, for that matter, easy to swallow.
Because the client was strapped for resources, we needed to convince them the investment would prove return. We got to work on a cost-benefit analysis demonstrating revenue they’d otherwise lose over time (because hey, money talks), nodded to successful conversion rates on similar pages, and got their approval within a week.
And it’s a good thing we did: Results poured in just months after implementation.
"There was so much going on for our client, but focusing our strategies on key areas like optimizing product pages, creating helpful content/videos, and resolving international and technical issues helped them get the results they needed to get them back on track."
- Drew Meyer, Seer Team Member