Case Study: Increasing E-Commerce Site Traffic by 11,212% in 10 Months
Paw parents only want what’s best for their fur babies, but it can be difficult to find trusted, clean dog supplements online.
In an industry plagued with misleading labels and substandard products, a soon-to-be Growth Machine client looked to fill the void. Founded in 2017, the company offers effective dog supplements made with only whole-food ingredients. But to help furry friends everywhere lead happier, healthier lives, they needed to boost online traffic to drive more e-commerce sales.
In March 2021 — four years into business — the company attracted just 2,951 monthly organic sessions. They had zero keywords ranking #1, #2, or #3. The client partnered with Growth Machine for content marketing, SEO strategy, and eventually link building to drive traffic and promote product sales. By February of 2022 (less than one year into our partnership) we were able to scale their traffic to 166,853 organic sessions — a whopping growth rate of 11,212%. At the end of the project, we left them with 2,538 keywords ranking in the top 3 spots.
Here’s how we did it.
The Problem: Trying to Attract E-Commerce Sales With No Content or SEO Strategy
While the client operated an e-commerce site, there was no strategic content marketing or SEO plan to drive traffic. In fact, prior to working with us, the client didn’t have Google Analytics installed, showing they weren’t monitoring or creating an effective strategy toward traffic growth.
To boost online sales and get trusted dog supplements into the hands of consumers, the client’s goals were twofold:
- Optimize existing content: The client partnered with Growth Machine so we could rewrite existing content to directly address customer pain points, while positioning it to move up the ranks in Google.
- Create a new SEO content marketing plan: We conducted keyword research and built an effective content marketing and SEO strategy to attract (and convert) new customers online.
The Strategy: Building an Effective SEO Strategy to Boost Online Sales
The client aimed to boost online sales while becoming the trusted resource for dog health online. To accomplish both, we developed a bespoke SEO, content, and link building strategy to help convert new site visitors into paying customers.
The Keywords: Developing a Content Plan to Solve Customer Pain Points
The client didn’t just want to produce better dog supplements — they wanted to improve furry friends’ overall quality of life.
To accomplish just that (and attract dog parents looking to do the same), we developed a custom content strategy tailored to their audience in two ways:
- Answer questions about pet health: We targeted keyword phrases such as, “Can dogs eat grapes?” or “Why does my dog sleep so much?” to help answer pet owner questions. Every article was highly sourced and backed by scientific findings.
- Offer solutions for improving pet health: Our team drafted articles on topics such as “Tetanus in dogs” or “Dog sneezing” to help pet owners improve the overall quality of life of their pet. Within each post, our writers included a call to action (CTA) with supplements that could help the ailment, thereby boosting online sales.
Since the supplement industry (even pet supplements) is highly saturated, our keyword strategists targeted long tail keywords with medium-to-low competition to help build up a library of traffic. Over time, our targeted keywords became increasingly granular, focused on dog behavior and health, what foods they could (and could not) eat, and specific breed topics (e.g., “Husky life expectancy” and “English bulldog skin bumps”) to attract new customers.
The Writers: Writing Science-Backed Articles
The client aimed to become a trusted resource for pet wellness and the go-to online authority on dog nutrition and clean pet supplements. In addition, their target reader was highly educated, prioritizing high-quality supplements made from responsibly sourced ingredients and without any fillers or unnatural ingredients.
To capture their target audience, we hired writers who could write science-backed articles with lots of citations on very granular topics. These writers had to strike a balance between 1) cutting through misinformation online to write about health issues such as “UTI in dogs” and “Beagle lifespan,” and 2) writing friendly, upbeat articles that any pet owner would want to read.
The Link Building: Becoming a Trusted Resource Online
Before launching our SEO and content strategy, the client experienced little to no online traffic. Less than a year into our partnership, the company crossed the six-digit threshold for monthly organic visitors — a feat accomplished without link building.
Shocked by the online traffic growth, the client decided to invest in link building at roughly the one-year mark. This helped them to boost their domain authority, thereby allowing them to become the go-to resource for pet health online.
The result? The project was so successful that even after the company started writing content in-house (thanks to how fast they were growing), they continued to partner with us on link building.
The Results: Hitting 166,853 Visitors in Just 10 Months
Growth Machine’s content and SEO strategy scaled the client’s traffic exponentially. In just 10 months, the site went from 2,951 to 166,853 monthly organic sessions — a jaw-dropping increase of 11,212%.
Our client also wanted to boost product sales, and with Growth Machine’s targeted SEO strategy, they received roughly 164,000 new, warm leads to convert into paying customers.
In the midst of the project, the client completed a website redesign project, causing a 11% dip in overall traffic (a common occurrence with the launch of a new website). Even so, the homepage experienced a 22.24% increase in views.
At the start of the project, our client had no #1 rankings. With our SEO, content, and link building strategy in place, the client moved to the coveted #1 spot on Google for 1,418 keyword phrases by the end of our work together. Most of these keyword phrases attracted four digits in monthly traffic, with some competitive phrases bringing in 8,000+ unique visitors alone.
By the end of the project, the client ranked in the top three spots on Google for 2,892 keyword phrases. Today, thanks to Growth Machine’s link building strategy — coupled with the client’s continued dedication to publishing new content in-house — the site has 90,128 total ranking keywords, up from 1,451 at the project start.
What Could You Do With 164k New Site Visitors?
If you run an e-commerce site but haven’t invested in a content and SEO strategy, you’re leaving cold, hard cash on the table.
Our team scaled our client’s online traffic by 11,212% in less than one year by optimizing existing content and targeting new keyword phrases. Thanks to our link building strategy, the client became the go-to authority on dog health and supplements online. Even after our team stopped publishing new content, the client still has 985 #1 keywords on Google.
At Growth Machine, we help e-commerce sites boost online sales by exponentially scaling their online traffic. To see how we can develop a content strategy and SEO plan unique to your brand, contact us to schedule a consultation.
