SEO Case Study: Traffic Growth by 612.8% through Technical Optimization + Content
A website specialized in online legal services for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses, including the creation of legal documents, consultations with lawyers, and assistance with business registration
– Conducting an audit to identify technical errors
– Configuring the proper functionality of technical files (robots.txt and sitemap.xml)
– Optimizing the website structure for search engines
– Analyzing Core Web Vitals and improving user experience
– Fixing errors identified in Google Search Console
– Developing a metadata template
Online legal services and the automation of legal processes. The platform provides access to legal documents, lawyer consultations, and tools for managing legal matters.
Main Areas:
- Small and Medium Businesses – Assistance with company registration, drafting contracts, employment contracts, and other documents.
- Individuals – Services for drafting wills, non-disclosure agreements, leases, marriage contracts, and other documents.
- Online Legal Support – Access to professional lawyers for consultations and resolving individual legal matters.
Target Audience: Individuals and businesses seeking affordable, simple, and quick solutions for legal tasks without the need for long-term collaboration with lawyers.
September, 2020 - present day
USA
Challenges of the project
About the project:
The project faced a lack of growth in organic traffic despite significant investments in SEO. The company actively managed a blog, regularly publishing articles on legal topics, and purchased backlinks to improve domain authority. However, these efforts did not yield the expected results.
One of the reasons for this could have been the absence of a clear SEO strategy. Without optimizing content for key queries and analyzing the competitive landscape, even high-quality articles failed to attract traffic. The content might have been irrelevant to the target audience or failed to address specific user problems.
Another weak point was the backlink strategy. Despite active link building, the quality and relevance of the links may not have met search engine requirements. The presence of toxic or irrelevant backlinks could have also negatively impacted the website’s ranking.
A comprehensive approach was needed to solve the problem. Conducting an SEO audit would help identify technical issues on the website, such as indexing problems or incorrect page structure. A keyword analysis would help focus on low- and medium-competition queries that attract interested users. Improving internal linking and creating higher-quality content could become key steps toward restoring organic growth.
Project analytics prior to collaboration
Project visibility:
The current project metrics indicate significant opportunities for SEO improvement. Let’s take a closer look:
1. Visibility: 0
Issue: Zero visibility indicates the absence of rankings for key queries in search engines. This could be due to:
- Lack of website optimization.
- Low quality or insufficient quantity of content.
- Indexing errors.
- Technical issues (e.g., misconfigured robots.txt, missing sitemap).
Recommendations:
- Check website indexing in Google Search Console (page coverage).
- Analyze metadata (title, description) and website structure.
- Evaluate page loading speed and mobile responsiveness.
- Ensure the site isn’t penalized (manual actions).
2. Estimated SEO Traffic: 343
Issue: Low traffic indicates the weak performance of the current strategy.
Recommendations:
- Conduct competitor analysis to identify their successful keywords.
- Develop a content strategy to attract organic traffic (e.g., publishing articles and blog posts).
- Build a stronger backlink profile with high-quality external links.
3. SEO Keywords: 747
Issue: While the number of keywords is decent, their effectiveness and ability to drive targeted traffic remain unclear.
Recommendations:
- Analyze keyword distribution (how many are in the Top 10).
- Optimize existing pages for high-frequency, low-competition keywords.
- Use semantic analysis to identify additional keywords.
Conclusion:
Strengths:
- The presence of 747 keywords indicates growth potential.
Weaknesses:
- Zero visibility shows that the current strategy isn’t delivering results.
- Low SEO traffic suggests that content is either not optimized or not competitive enough.
Team actions
Project Problematics:
- Lack of H1 optimization
Conclusion:
The H1 tag is a critical SEO element and plays a pivotal role in the successful promotion of a website. It serves as the main heading of a page, helping search engines and users understand its content.
Firstly, H1 enhances page optimization for relevant keywords. Search engines scan the H1 tag as one of the primary elements, and including keywords significantly boosts a page’s relevance. This improves the chances of achieving high rankings for target queries.
Secondly, H1 plays an important role in improving user experience. It provides immediate clarity on the page’s topic to visitors. A clear and informative heading helps users quickly find the information they need, increasing engagement and reducing bounce rates.
Third, the H1 has structural importance to the page. It sets the main context and sits at the top of the headline hierarchy. Proper use of H1 simplifies content navigation for both users and search engine crawlers.
Our Services: SEO Internal Website Optimization
Thus, optimizing H1 tags for target keywords not only improves SEO performance but also enhances user experience. This is a crucial step toward achieving high rankings in search engine results and boosting a website’s overall effectiveness.
Since the project was focused solely on technical optimization, the semantic core was not developed. Metadata and headings were created based on semantic parsing of main competitors, without an in-depth semantic analysis.
Example of correct H1 implementation by a competitor:
Example of queries for the project:
Project Problematics:
- Duplicate internal technical Pages
| Redirect Type | From | To |
| Canonical Mirror Definition | www.site.com | site.com |
| Trailing Slash Handling in URL | site.com/page | site.com/page/ |
| Redirect from Duplicate Main Pages | site.com/index.html site.com/home site.com/index.php | site.com |
| Unnecessary Slashes in URL | site.com/page/// | site.com/page/ |
| URL in Lowercase Only | site.com/Page/ site.com/PAGE/ | site.com/page/ |
In the .htaccess file, regular expressions have been set up for pages with slashes to redirect them to versions without slashes (for the entire website):
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\?
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\&
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\=
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\.
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ![^\/]$
RewriteRule ^(.*)\/$ /$1 [R=301,L]
Project Problematics:
Lack of Meta-Data Optimization:
Example for the Home Page:
Example of Service Page:
Our Actions:
During the optimization of meta-data for the main pages, a template was developed to standardize their creation. This ensures consistency in structure, relevance to key queries, and simplifies further SEO work. Here’s an example of the optimized template:
For the Home Page:
- Title: Legal Services for Business and Individuals | ….Legal
- Description: 【…..Legal】 provides professional legal services: consultations, transaction support, dispute resolution, and much more. ➤ Reliability, experience, and results!
For Corporate Clients:
- Title: Legal Services for Companies: Contracts, Transaction Support | …..Legal
- Description: Looking for reliable legal support for your business? 【…..Legal】 offers services for drafting contracts, protecting interests, and resolving disputes. ➤ Contact us!
For Individual Clients:
- Title: Legal Assistance for Individuals: Consultations and Protection | …..MeLegal
- Description: Get professional legal assistance: consultations, document drafting, and dispute resolution. ➤ 【…..Legal】 — your trusted partner.
Project Problematics:
- Lack of Core Web Vitals Optimization
Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics used by Google to evaluate the quality of user experience on websites. These metrics are crucial for all aspects of web development, as they directly affect a site’s ranking in search engines.
The main Core Web Vitals metrics include:
1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
Measures the load time of the largest content element in the visible area of the page. Ideal time: 2.5 seconds or faster.
2. First Input Delay (FID)
Tracks the time from the first user interaction with an element on the page (e.g., clicking a button) to when the browser begins processing that action. Goal: 100 milliseconds or faster.
3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Evaluates the visual stability of a page by measuring how often elements shift during loading. Good value: 0.1 or less.
These metrics help developers improve websites by making them faster, more user-friendly, and more stable. Optimizing Core Web Vitals is not only a way to enhance the quality of web pages but also a method to improve rankings in search results.
Achievements after Optimization
Thanks to the work of the project’s technical specialists, the Core Web Vitals metrics reached the following values:
Project Problematics:
- Errors in Handling the rel=canonical Attribute
Conclusion:
Proper use of the rel=”canonical” tag is a key aspect of successful site promotion, as it helps search engines avoid issues with duplicate content and correctly distribute link equity. The main problems arise when an incorrect URL is specified in the canonical tag, which leads to loss of traffic and lower rankings. Additionally, the presence of multiple canonical tags on a single page can cause confusion for search engines. The absence of a canonical tag on pages with duplicate content can dilute link equity and harm SEO performance. Errors in self-referencing canonicals can create conflicts between pages. To avoid these problems, it is important to monitor the correctness of links, use the tag on all relevant pages, and regularly check its functionality with SEO tools.
Example of Correct Use of the rel=”canonical” Tag
Project Problematics:
- Incorrect Use of HTML Markup:
The RegisTeam team conducted work on the correct markup of HTML code, using exclusively semantic tags for creating pages, in accordance with modern web development standards. Semantic markup plays a crucial role in improving search engine interaction with the site, as well as enhancing its accessibility for users.
Special attention was paid to the proper application of header tags (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, and h6). These tags are used by search engine crawlers for semantic analysis of the page, and their correct structure directly impacts the site’s ranking. Header tags such as h1, h2, and h3 are particularly important for search engines. Inconsistent or incorrect use, such as the absence of logical nesting or using multiple h1 tags on a single page, can negatively affect SEO. In the complete absence of h-tags in the HTML code, the site loses the ability to effectively convey information to search algorithms, significantly complicating SEO efforts.
The header structure is not only important for search engines but also for users, helping them navigate the page more easily. The h1 tag is the main heading of the page, typically placed at the top of the content, and should contain the main theme of the page. Tags h2-h6 are used to create a nested structure of subheadings, ensuring logical and convenient content segmentation. Proper application of this hierarchy improves text perception, enhances navigation, and contributes to the quality evaluation of content by search engines.
Project Problematics:
- Incorrect Configuration of Technical Files:
Conclusion:
Proper configuration of the robots.txt file plays a key role in site optimization, as it allows for managing the behavior of search engine bots. This file helps exclude technical pages, duplicate content, and temporary sections from indexing, improving the crawling efficiency and focusing the bots’ resources on important pages. Errors in configuration can lead to traffic loss, blocking of crucial sections, or, conversely, exposing unwanted pages, negatively impacting SEO.
Project Problematics:
- Incorrect Server Configuration: Non-existent pages, i.e., pages that should return a 404 error code, were returning a 200 OK status instead:
Conclusion:
Incorrect server settings, where non-existent pages return a 200 OK status instead of a 404 error, negatively affect SEO. Search engines begin to index such pages, which disperses the crawling budget and reduces the priority of important pages. This can lead to duplicate content, deteriorating user experience due to the absence of expected content, and an increase in bounce rate. As a result, the overall evaluation of the site by search engines decreases, which negatively impacts its ranking. To resolve this, the server must be configured to ensure that non-existent pages return the correct 404 error code.
Actions taken to resolve the server response code error:
1. Server settings audit
A complete analysis of the server settings was conducted to identify the reasons why non-existent pages were returning a 200 OK status instead of a 404 error.
2. HTTP response settings correction
The server was configured to correctly return a 404 error code for all non-existent pages.
3. Creation of a custom 404 page
An informative and user-friendly 404 error page was developed, directing users to useful sections of the site, improving the user experience.
4. Review of the sitemap and robots.txt file
The sitemap.xml file was updated by removing links to non-existent pages. Adjustments were made to the robots.txt file to prevent the indexing of such pages.
5. Monitoring and verification
Regular monitoring of the site’s status was set up to ensure proper functioning of the settings and to promptly identify potential issues.
6. Use of webmaster tools
The website was checked using Google Search Console and other webmaster tools, allowing the identification and resolution of indexing issues.
Project Problematics:
- Redundant code with unnecessary elements:
Conclusion:
Redundant code on a website can hinder content analysis by search engines, slowing down the indexing process and increasing page load times. This negatively impacts user experience and SEO performance. To avoid such issues, it is crucial to regularly optimize the code by removing unnecessary elements and duplicate styles. Large CSS blocks should be moved to external files to reduce the size of the HTML code and speed up page loading.
The RegisTeam successfully resolved the issue of redundant HTML code by removing unnecessary elements and styles and implementing optimization practices to improve website performance.
Project Problematics:
- Lack of a “Search by city” strategy implementation
Example of a competitor’s structure:
A well-thought-out and properly implemented site structure is the cornerstone of a successful SEO strategy. It ensures easy navigation for users, simplifies indexing for search engines, and helps achieve high rankings in search results.
Project Problematics:
- Lack of dedicated Service Pages.
Example of a competitor’s service structure:
Results
Website visibility growth:
Growth in website visibility dynamics by queries:
Growth in traffic dynamics:
Summary
The technical aspect of optimization remains a crucial part of a website’s promotion strategy. Thanks to high-quality technical SEO, a thorough audit, and the implementation of all technical tasks by the programming team, website traffic grew from 1,371 to 6,092 in just four months. These results confirm the effectiveness of the audit and the implementation of necessary changes.
After successfully completing the technical optimization, the client decided to continue working with the RegisTeam. The team is now focused on creating and optimizing blog content, as well as developing city-specific and additional service pages identified during the competitor audit.
Traffic spike after implementing the content strategy and expanding the site structure (growth: approximately 612.8%):
Additionally, the team is actively working on popularizing the project by placing backlinks in press releases, which helps strengthen the website’s rankings and further increase its visibility in search engines.
*The case study only discloses information that is within the parameters approved under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) between the parties
PM-Casebook: Negotiations, Deadlines, Success
In project management, every task is a new challenge—especially when dealing with complex technical projects that require seamless collaboration between multiple teams. This case focuses on an SEO project where the main obstacles were the site’s technical limitations and a lack of coordination between developers and SEO specialists.
Project Challenges: Technical Limitations and Developer Collaboration
The client approached us with a problem—low organic traffic. Our initial analysis revealed that the primary bottleneck was technical issues on the website, including slow loading speeds, duplicate pages, incorrect indexing, and mobile optimization problems. However, implementing the necessary changes came with three major difficulties:
– Developers were not invested in SEO. The client’s team prioritized functionality over technical SEO.
– Delays in implementing changes. Any technical adjustment required lengthy approval processes and could be postponed for weeks.
– The client underestimated the importance of technical optimization. They expected rapid traffic growth through content alone, but without fixing technical issues, the numbers continued to decline.
Solution: Negotiation, Justification, and Control
To turn things around, we implemented a phased approach:
1. Negotiations with the client and developers – We clearly explained how technical issues impacted traffic and established a priority system, ensuring that the most critical fixes were addressed first.
2. Data-driven analytics – We demonstrated the actual traffic loss due to technical problems and provided a forecast for potential growth after implementing the necessary fixes.
3. Flexibility and compromises – We suggested alternative solutions requiring minimal developer involvement but delivering significant results (e.g., caching optimization, image compression, and redirect configuration).
4. Strict deadline monitoring – We engaged the client in overseeing deadlines to speed up implementation and minimize delays.
Results: Technical Fixes = 612.8% Growth
After resolving key technical issues, organic traffic skyrocketed. As a result, we were able to increase the traffic.
