14 SEO Case Studies: Challenges, Solutions & Results

These web optimization case research illustrate that advertising ways like content material optimization, native web optimization, and strategic key phrase focusing on are more likely to set your model up for search engine success. Discover out what obstacles they overcame, what strategies they leveraged, and the way they achieved main ROI.

Right here, you’ll discover a handpicked roster of 14 inspiring case research:

1. Moneta Group
2. Escape the Room
3. DesktopReady
4. Honda Motor Co.
5. Zephyr
6. Profession Group Firms
7. Completely satisfied Ears Listening to Heart
8. DILO
9. Easly
10. Wind River
11. Samanage
12. Mommy’s Bliss
13. Forks Over Knives
14. Vimeo

Fixed key phrase analysis, constant content writing, user-friendly internet design, backlinking… a lot goes right into a stable, in-depth search engine marketing (web optimization) technique.

What’s extra, you may make investments a ton of effort into all these ways however nonetheless wrestle to get wherever close to the highest of search outcomes.

Two items of fine information: You’re not alone, and there are methods to get your rankings the place they should be.

Studying over real-world examples in web optimization case research may help encourage new methods and present you what’s attainable with the correct plan in place.

To provide you a head begin, we’ll cowl dynamic web optimization success tales from HawkSEM in addition to different companies. We’ll share a few of the greatest web optimization case research, full with ways, widespread challenges to beat, and outcomes to help your advertising efforts.

Get able to ramp up your web optimization.

14 web optimization case research for top-ranking inspiration

Hundreds of month-to-month site visitors hits, 2X conversion boosts, and pumped-up key phrase rankings are only a few of the unbelievable outcomes our purchasers have skilled with the correct web optimization providers.

However you’ll discover every model comes with a singular problem that informs the correct web optimization technique for them.

1. Moneta Group catches native leads with triple-boosted key phrase portfolio
   Moneta Group has over 20 years of expertise within the wealth administration house. Nonetheless, competitors elevated over time, so we would have liked to check these rivals and their key phrases intently.

   Whereas Moneta wished to enhance nationwide key phrase rankings total, their prime precedence was to face out in 4 native markets. In the event you’re additionally seeking to enhance visibility in your space, then take a look at the methods used on this native web optimization case research.
   Methods:

• Native web optimization – We constructed geo-specific internet content material to seize potential wealth administration purchasers within the 4 areas Moneta Group was enthusiastic about. On prime of that, our beefed-up quotation profiles for every workplace helped solidify unbiased native rating indicators.
• Aggressive evaluation to fill key phrase gaps – Moneta nonetheless wished nationwide key phrase rankings, so we needed to assessment their rivals to see what was lacking. We recognized key phrases with the bottom aggressive metrics and arranged them right into a brimming content material calendar to rank for each.
• Content material optimization – Moneta had a ton of nice content material on its web site, but it surely wanted a revamp for Google and new audiences. We carried out ongoing, on-page optimization, together with backlinking and key phrase improvement.

• Outcomes:
  • 326% enhance in internet natural key phrase portfolio
  • 164% enhance in natural key phrases in positions 1-3
  • Over 23% enhance in Google Analytics purpose completions

2. Escape the Room makes an actual impression — 4 million, to be precise
   With places throughout 18 cities and 10 years of trade experience, Escape the Room is a pacesetter within the stay recreation and leisure trade.

With all these places to handle, their advertising initiatives fell behind. That they had a considerable base however wanted strategic enter to work with the algorithm and keep a powerful digital footprint.
Methods:

• Metadata revamp – Escape the Room had 16 totally different places, and never each web site contained optimized metadata. However crawlers dive into these particulars, in order that they deserve some consideration. That’s why we added new web optimization parts like title tags and meta descriptions to maintain Google glad.
• Speedy load time – Sluggish web site pace can ship your viewers packing after only a few seconds. We dove into every web site’s property to take away something clunky and reduce load time. This additionally improved cellular responsiveness.
• High quality content material creation – From team-building concepts for firm workers to flee room ideas and tips, there was no scarcity of related content material to create for Escape the Room. We paired new items of content material with contemporary, snazzy web site designs to draw information-seeking readers, planting the seeds for conversion in a while.

• Outcomes:
  • Achieved an account-wide peak of 62% impression share
  • Hit a document quantity 4 million month-to-month impressions
  • Reached an all-time-high account-wide advert place of 1.1 for the model

3. DesktopReady waves howdy from the highest of the SERPs
   A brand new web site launch precipitated DesktopReady to expertise a site visitors droop, regardless of being a pacesetter of their trade with over 1 million customers on their desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) resolution. How might they keep their main place on this house with infinite competitors and minimal natural site visitors?
   We knew what we needed to do.
   Methods:

• Technical web optimization audit – New web site launches typically miss the mark with web optimization. We carried out a full audit to catch all points affecting the location’s enchantment to SERPs.
• Content material throughout – We optimized outdated content material with new focused key phrases and created new content material to focus on extra certified leads and foster web site site visitors.
• web optimization help for social media profiles and YouTube – Consider it or not, your social profiles matter, too. So, we optimized DesktopReady’s social media to enrich its sturdy internet content material and backlink profile.

• Outcomes:
  • Elevated customers by 409%
  • Grew backlinks from 822 to 1,340
  • Jumped from 4 to 468 phrases in SERP rankings
• Key phrase revamps, backlink methods, and content material creation are usually not the best duties to finish on a marketer’s infinite to-do checklist. Fortunately, an SEO agency can examine all these packing containers for you.

4. Honda doubles site visitors and reaches 30 million folks
   Honda Motor Co. wished to advertise their new Civic hatchback and Accord fashions to South American audiences. The issue? They had been competing for key phrases with their dealership companions.
   On prime of that, Honda simply wasn’t reaching their goal demographic with their present content material.
   Methods:

• New and improved key phrase targets – We wanted to get Honda and its sellers on the identical web page. So, we seemed on the digital advertising targets for all events and created new key phrase targets for every to comply with.
• Viewers analysis – Honda had a goal demographic, however web optimization campaigns simply weren’t reaching them. We sat down to debate the model’s distinctive promoting factors and linked them to their clients’ wants by way of tailor-made web optimization content material and key phrase analysis.

• • Outcomes:
    • 30% lower in CPC (price per conversion)

• 40% enhance in supplier inquiries

5. Zephyr sees huge good points in lead quantity and market share
   When main SaaS firm Zephyr got here to us, their digital advertising technique was overly broad and lacked cohesion. With campaigns and targets in place, they wanted assist reigning every part into a pointy message and aligned strategy.

   With so many workforce members and initiatives at play, everybody was hamster-wheeling and struggling to remain caught up.

   This lapse in cohesion created a hodgepodge of combined messaging, and, not surprisingly, they weren’t bringing in as many certified leads as they desired.
   Methods:

• Huge-picture technique: The very first thing we did was get everybody on board about find out how to set up each initiative to work collectively cohesively. With an aligned, collaborative imaginative and prescient, we created a extra unified technique for all digital advertising campaigns.
• Touchdown web page redesign and optimization: We tackled inventive from the get-go and redesigned a touchdown web page that was working in opposition to Zephyr by not participating its guests. Plus, the lead type was lengthy and convoluted. With an enticing, dynamic new touchdown web page design and a extra environment friendly lead type, Zephyr noticed quick outcomes–we’re speaking double the lead quantity than the unique touchdown web page.

• • Outcomes:
    • 100% enhance in Zephyr’s lead quantity with the brand new touchdown web page

(Picture: Profession Group Firms)

6. Profession Group Firms boosts job purposes with key phrase revamp
   Think about you’re an employer with a ton of job listings, and also you aren’t receiving any purposes. Career Group Companies, a staffing company, confronted this downside. The wrongdoer? Much less-than-stellar web optimization was hiding their listings from potential candidates.
   We started working with tried-and-true web optimization ways to enhance the model’s reference to its viewers, drive extra site visitors, and enhance utility quantity.
   Methods:

• Key phrase portfolio enlargement – We wanted to grasp why folks on the lookout for sure jobs weren’t touchdown on Profession Group Firms’ listings. The reply was just a few changes to their key phrase portfolio, together with long-tail variations and key phrase phrases that included particular job titles and industries.
• Information-driven technique – Our proprietary tech, ConversionIQ™, helps us decrypt all the information to disclose the entire image of your web optimization and content material advertising campaigns. We used our platform to assemble subtle knowledge throughout a number of channels and determine certified and unqualified results in inform a better web optimization technique.
• New content material property – Profession Group Firms wished to focus on variety, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and channel company-wide targets of their content material. Naturally, we created new content material property to accommodate these targets and optimized present content material as nicely.

• Outcomes:
  • 43% enhance in job itemizing web page views from natural site visitors
  • 71% enhance in entrances from natural searches on to job itemizing pages
  • Vital development within the candidate pipeline

7. Content material, colours, and CTAs carry Completely satisfied Ears Listening to Heart an almost 4X site visitors enhance
   Happy Ears Hearing Center is a Phoenix-based audiology workplace that provides specialised ear healthcare providers to purchasers.

   The corporate had two web optimization targets: one, to seize the native viewers that will greatest profit from their providers. And two? Set up their model as a nationwide trade professional on listening to points.

   We tackled a wider internet of key phrases and consumer expertise enhancements to garner extra conversions.
   Methods:

• Person expertise enhancement – Don’t you hate clicking on an internet web page solely to be met with an extended, boring block of textual content? We spiced issues up on Completely satisfied Ears’ web site with colours, digestible headers, and interesting calls to motion (CTAs). This led to extra native conversions and appointments.
• Expanded key phrase targets – Completely satisfied Ears needs to be a web based go-to for all issues listening to. So, we needed to analysis what its viewers was plugging into Google and develop that throughout the entire nation.

• Outcomes:
  • 245% enhance in whole natural key phrase rankings
  • 396% enhance in natural site visitors
  • 44% enhance in native conversions
  • Vital development within the candidate pipeline

Completely satisfied Ears had its audiology providers on level. With added give attention to the web consumer expertise, readers benefited from their information and experience.

8. Extra visuals and up to date key phrases assist DILO get better misplaced rankings
   DILO is a gas-handling product and repair supplier with a long time of expertise, however even its longstanding web optimization wasn’t resistant to a web site redesign in 2019.
   We’ve seen it earlier than: misplaced site visitors and dropped key phrase rankings from a brand new launch or migration. And in DILO’s case, these misplaced rankings had been high-value key phrases that it actually wanted to get again in an effort to re-establish its place within the trade.
   Methods:

• On-page optimization – We at all times conduct a technical web optimization audit after a redesign. This time, we fastened just a few pace and navigation points. Subsequent step? Content material optimization with up to date goal key phrases and meta tags.
• Visible content material – The gasoline trade isn’t the simplest to understand, even with an organized, complete article. We launched extra infographics and charts into DILO’s content material to enhance natural site visitors and the consumer expertise.

• Outcomes:
  • 36% enhance in natural clicks inside 6 months
  • 24% enhance in Google clicks for high-value key phrases inside 3 months
  • 46% enhance in Google impressions inside 3 months

9. Easly hits the web optimization floor operating with 70 new items of optimized content material
   Easly is a Canada-based platform that gives capital advances on SR&ED grants to revolutionary new manufacturers.

   The corporate was new to the digital advertising world and got here to HawkSEM with a brand-new web site. It was our job to get it off the web optimization floor with related content material and authority to enchantment to their audiences.

   Methods:

• New content material to the max – We needed to begin from scratch, and 70 new items of content material did the trick. After all, we had to make sure the data was flawless and correct to seize area of interest audiences for this model. And we wrote for each potential buyer within the funnel, from curious onlookers to conversion-ripe audiences.
• Area authority – Easly was nonetheless contemporary to Google’s eyes. They didn’t have sufficient exterior or inside hyperlinks to channel credibility and thought management. We centered on creating linkable content material that naturally introduced backlinks from different respected trade gamers.
• Technical tidbits – New web sites at all times have just a few snags. We enhanced web site pace and adjusted some internet parts to enhance the cellular expertise.

• Outcomes:
  • 2,500% enhance in referring domains
  • 40+ featured snippet outcomes on Google
  • 1,500% enhance within the model’s key phrase portfolio

Individuals love reassurance, particularly earlier than making a purchase order. A content material library brimming with trade information and useful ideas delivers that assurance to each readers and search engine crawlers.

(Picture: Adobe Inventory)

10. Wind River triples CTR with PPC and web optimization administration
    Wind River is a world SaaS model that helps firms with digital transformation for important intelligence methods within the aerospace, medical, automotive, and protection areas.

    They initially got here to us for PPC services, however each cohesive advertising technique leverages web optimization, too.

• Inside linking – We improved web site navigation and natural rankings by discovering related placements for inside hyperlinks throughout Wind River’s content material.
• Content material analysis – Tech niches are ample with potential content material, however you actually need to make sure viewers relevance earlier than you begin writing. We carried out aggressive evaluation and key phrase analysis to tell our content material calendar.
• Technical and on-page web optimization – We coated our technical bases by cleansing up metadata and title tags. On prime of that, we ensured logical formatting for internet content material with H1s and H2s, in addition to up to date all items of content material with related key phrase targets.

• Outcomes:
  • 20% lower in advert spend
  • 294% enhance in clickthrough price (CTR)
  • 39% enhance in customers

11. Samanage reaps natural site visitors with a poppin’ content material calendar
    Asset administration and service-desk SaaS model Samanage operates throughout 50 totally different nations. Regardless of their international presence, they nonetheless had bother rating within the SERPs.

    A custom-coded WordPress template impeded them from making technical web optimization adjustments to enchantment to Google’s crawlers. Plus, their weblog wasn’t aligned with a cohesive web optimization technique, in order that they enlisted advertising company Tinuiti to assist them get on monitor.

    Methods:

• Sturdy content material technique – Tinuiti printed over 65 items of content material for Samanage throughout numerous varieties. They began with keyword-targeted weblog posts and expanded to whitepapers, touchdown pages, and extra evergreen content material to enhance internet visibility.
• Weblog redesign – Brainstorming methods to enhance conversion price optimization? Take a web page from Tinuiti’s playbook and optimize your weblog’s design parts with total web site A/B testing.

• Outcomes:
  • 42.14% enhance in natural site visitors YoY
  • Excessive rankings for non-branded key phrases

12. Mommy’s Bliss builds belief with new audiences by way of link-building
    Whenever you’re a mom-and-pop store, advertising is perhaps as simple as a Fb advert or bodily signal. However whenever you begin increasing, issues get extra hectic.

    Mommy’s Bliss sells high-quality child merchandise and skilled immense development that spurred a whole web site redesign. These two occasions can significantly throw your web optimization technique off-course.

    Fortunately, assist from HawkSEM made all of the distinction, as showcased on this ecommerce web optimization case research.
    Methods:

• Backlinking for credibility – Mommy’s Bliss expanded its viewers, so new guests may not have been conscious of the corporate’s sturdy values and credentials. That’s why we would have liked to launch a backlinking technique to determine E-A-T (experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness). Give it some thought: dad and mom have to really feel 100% assured in a model earlier than buying a product for his or her children.
• Each day web optimization administration – HawkSEM affords all purchasers a devoted supervisor to supervise progress, strategize enhancements, and catch any snags earlier than they turn into greater issues. We dealt with all of the web optimization oversight so Mommy’s Bliss might give attention to creating new merchandise for its booming viewers.

• Outcomes:
  • Over 65% enhance in natural periods 12 months over 12 months
  • 79% enhance in whole key phrase rankings
  • Doubled purpose completions

13. Forks Over Knives leverages search knowledge to get better misplaced site visitors throughout COVID
    
    The pandemic saved folks at dwelling and away from Forks Over Knives’ web site. The well being way of life model seen a droop in natural search site visitors, together with a lower in search quantity for his or her goal key phrases.

    However the issue wasn’t their rankings. They nonetheless held prime spots for his or her goal key phrases, folks simply weren’t typing them into Google anymore. Search intent had modified, and advertising company Wpromote knew the key phrases wanted to alter, too.
    Methods:

• Development analysis – Wpromote used Google Developments knowledge to grasp how folks had been shifting their search queries and which key phrases had been changing the outdated ones.
• Content material technique shift – When life offers you new key phrases, you make new recipes (no less than, that’s what Forks Over Knives did throughout the pandemic). Everybody was on the lookout for recipes, so Wpromote used pattern knowledge to foretell essentially the most extremely searched recipes to create content material for.

• • Outcomes:
    • 278,000 natural periods for his or her “banana recipes” pages

• 41% enhance in whole natural periods month over month (MoM)

• #1 trafficked all-channel touchdown web page since publishing

Individuals adapt with the instances, and your web optimization technique ought to, too.

14. Vimeo takes technical web optimization to the following stage for higher visibilityEven enterprise-level SaaS companies like Vimeo need to stay sharp on their SEO. With over 260 million customers importing a whole bunch of 1000’s of movies every day, it’s not stunning that indexing and construction knowledge points arose.

    Clients struggled to conduct primary web optimization duties to optimize their movies, like indexing APIs, including structured knowledge to their websites, submitting sitemaps, and past. That means? They weren’t getting as many eyes on their video content material.

    The answer? Vimeo received on board with Google’s web optimization greatest practices to enhance visibility and searchability for his or her energetic clients.
    Methods:

• Permitting clients to index movies at scale – Vimeo streamlined the indexing course of to permit embedded movies to point out up on Google’s SERPs. By utilizing iframe embeds and noindex in tandem, embedded Vimeo movies from buyer web sites’ could possibly be listed and thus, present extra visibility to their very own internet web page with out the mess of including particular person markups for every video.
• Making Key Moments searchable – Ever looked for find out how to boil an egg and needed to skip previous the primary three minutes to get to the directions? Annoying, proper? Fortuitously, you gained’t have this downside anymore as a result of time-stamped segments of Vimeo’s video content material now present up in Google Search. By including Clip markup to all video pages and rolling out Search markup (auto-generated Chapters that Google identifies as Key Moments), Vimeo clients can now appeal to extra natural site visitors to particular segments inside every video.

• With regards to visibility and video content material, Google and Vimeo go collectively like PB&J.

What’s an web optimization case research?

An web optimization case research highlights how a advisor or company partnered with a particular shopper to drive important, notable web optimization outcomes.

When manufacturers wish to beef up their web optimization technique, they typically associate with an web optimization company or skilled to assist them obtain desired outcomes.

A case research helps paint a transparent image of how a model went from level A to B on the search engine outcomes web page, or SERP — with “B” being outcomes like skyrocketed natural site visitors, better conversion charges, and excessive key phrase rankings.

However web optimization isn’t the identical for each model. Positive, there are overarching classes like content material and key phrases. However totally different niches, budgets, and targets distinguish web optimization ways and outcomes throughout the board.

Reviewing an web optimization case research helps you determine success markers and the methods used to realize that success.

With these insights, you’ll be able to glean ideas and ways to use to your model’s web optimization technique.

The takeaway

Whether or not you’re operating a small enterprise or an enormous ecommerce operation, web optimization success is important for a contemporary on-line advertising technique.

Every of those web optimization case research reveals key takeaways and ways you’ll be able to apply to create the best technique for your enterprise targets.

And in the event you nonetheless want a hand? HawkSEM’s web optimization specialists have over a decade of expertise serving to purchasers such as you enhance conversion charges, enhance site visitors, and smash some other web optimization targets in your roster.

Our purchasers get pleasure from a median of 4.5x ROI after working with us. So, let’s flip your web optimization into one among our success tales. Book a call today.

This submit has been up to date and was initially printed in August 2023.