Case study · E-commerce
Steal this519% more conversions. In 123 days.
In 123 days, an online store got 576 conversions. The 123 days before: 93. Users grew 72% too. Here’s my exact strategy, so you can steal it for your own business.
- Conversions
- 576
- was 93
- +519%
- Users
- 26K
- was about 15K
- +72%
- Engagement time
- 47s
- was about 54s
Google Analytics: Oct 1 – Jan 31 (123 days) vs the 123 days before.
Engagement time dipped 13.4%, which is common when lots of new visitors start arriving. Conversions still grew more than sixfold.
Watch what happens in January.
The receipts
Straight from Google Analytics
What I did
Promethean SEO
It’s my name for traditional SEO, Semantic SEO and Entity SEO working together. Search is changing fast, so I cover the fundamentals and the advanced stuff at the same time.
Audited everything
I checked the site against more than 200 points, then ran a lighter audit on competitors to see where the store was falling behind.
Fixed structured data first
Structured data was priority one. I fixed the existing errors and added the schema.org markup the store was missing.
Made it nicer to use
UX came next. Growth only lasts if you build an audience, and everyone likes a good experience.
Cut, sorted and categorized
I deleted pages that weren’t pulling their weight, listed the important ones in a spreadsheet and gave every page a parent category.
Planned content around questions
I built a content calendar from the “People also ask” questions around each product.
Linked with meaning
Related articles link to each other, products are linked only where they’re relevant, and every link’s text explains the page it leads to.
Added entities
The content names the real people, places, ideas and things in the niche, with links to their Wikipedia pages or official sites.
Earned links
I listed 100 relevant sites in the niche and reached out. Some were happy to link in return for useful content like infographics.
How it fits together
Three layers, one strategy
Traditional SEO
- 200+ point audit
- Structured data
- Better UX
Fix the foundations.
Semantic SEO
- Parent categories
- Question-led content
- Links that explain
Make the topics make sense.
Entity SEO
- People and places
- Ideas and things
- Trusted sources
Connect to the real world.
On top of all three: links from relevant sites, earned at a steady pace.
Before you copy this
Two things that matter
- Pro tip
Pace your links
Grow links at a natural pace: about 3 to 5 a month for a new site, 7 to 10 once you’ve been around a while, and 15 to 20 if you already rank well.
- Fine print
Adapt it to your site
Every site is different, so you’ll need to tune the details for yours. The ideas behind it stay the same.
