Today I’m gonna share with you an SEO case study which was one of my favorites because it was the most challenging and most successful SEO case study. We worked with the website last year 2023 and we worked hard on that site but initially, we didn’t see any results but me and my team stuck with our strategy and then after 5/6 months, we see mind-blowing results.
I’m talking about ShayariSkill. ShayariSkill is a popular blog website that focuses on curated collections of Shayari (poetry), quotations, and other creative content. We were tasked with improving its organic traffic, search visibility, and overall user engagement.
Challenges:
- The site needed better keyword targeting and overall SEO optimization to reach its potential audience.
- Traffic had plateaued, and engagement rates needed improvement.
- The competitive nature of poetry and creative content websites demanded strategic and highly detailed SEO efforts.
Strategy and Execution:
- Keyword Research & Strategy: We started by conducting detailed keyword research, targeting around 50 high-impact keywords. Our goal was to balance high-traffic keywords with long-tail keywords that had less competition but strong conversion potential.
- On-Page SEO Optimization: We implemented robust on-page SEO strategies, achieving a 90+ score on RankMath’s metrics. This included:
- Optimizing meta tags, headers, and image alt text.
- Crafting engaging, keyword-rich content.
- Enhancing website speed and mobile responsiveness.
- Internal Linking Strategy: A strategic internal linking approach was vital. We began with pillar content (key thematic pages) and subsequently created sub-content that linked back to these pillars. This internal linking structure improved site navigation, helping both users and search engines understand the hierarchy and importance of content.
- Backlink Building: To increase domain authority and improve rankings, we built high-quality backlinks through various methods:
- Profile links
- Comment links
- UGC (User-Generated Content) links
- Guest posting on relevant blogs and platforms
- User Experience & Technical SEO: We prioritized user experience, particularly due to the image-heavy nature of the site. We optimized images for faster loading times and applied technical SEO best practices, including:
- Fixing broken links
- Implementing schema markup
- Improving mobile responsiveness
- High-Quality Content: The content on the site focused heavily on visual appeal and readability, which aligned with user expectations. The combination of engaging content and SEO optimization helped us achieve significant organic growth.
Results:
Google Search Console Metrics:
- Organic Clicks: 8.19 million
- Total Impressions: 64.9 million
- Average Ranking CTR: 12.6%
- Average Keywords Ranking Position: 3.7
Google Analytics Metrics:
Demographics: Our primary traffic came from:
- India, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United States, France, United Kingdom, Canada, Bangladesh, and Germany.
User Platform Insights:
By Device:
- Android: 4.8 million users
- iOS: 445k users
- Windows: 64k users
- Linux: 24k users
- Macintosh: 3.9k users
By Platform:
- Mobile: 5.2 million users
- Desktop: 93k users
- Tablet: 20k users
- Smart TV: 46 users
Browser Usage:
- Chrome was the most popular browser, followed by Safari, Android WebView, Samsung Internet, Opera, and UC Browser.
Impact of Google’s Spam Core Update
On March 4th, 2024, Google announced a major spam core update that affected around 70% of all websites in search rankings. Unfortunately, ShayariSkill was impacted as well, leading to a significant drop in traffic. We saw a loss of over 70% of our traffic post-update, but despite the setback, the site still manages to attract over 300k monthly visitors.
Conclusion
Over 12 months of SEO efforts, ShayariSkill achieved remarkable growth in organic traffic, impressions, and engagement metrics. While the Google update presented a setback, the foundation we built ensures that ShayariSkill continues to maintain a steady flow of visitors. We are confident that with continuous efforts and adaptation to new SEO strategies, the site can recover and reach new heights in the future.