Overview

In the competitive landscape of online fashion, our client's website, a small DR9 fashion site, was struggling to attract traffic and lagged far behind its competitors, despite having valuable content and products to offer.

The problem?

An SEO strategy that didn't quite hit the mark.

The Challenge

The site lacked a high number of backlinks - a crucial ranking factor in the eyes of search engines. But how to overcome the competitors with a more extensive backlink profile? We knew it wouldn't be easy, but we were ready for the challenge.

The Solution

We devised and implemented a 4-step SEO strategy, emphasizing comprehensive keyword research, strategic site architecture, effective interlinking, and selective link-building.

Step 1: Comprehensive Keyword Research and Search Intent Analysis

First, we dug deep into keyword research, understanding not just the most searched keywords, but the search intent behind each query. We used this data to identify potential areas of content expansion and improvement.

Step 2: Strategic Site Architecture and Topical Authority Map

We then designed a site architecture and a topical authority map, focusing on covering all sub-topics within the main fashion topic. This provided a comprehensive view of the content needed to fulfill the search intent of our target audience.

Step 3: Effective Interlinking

Next, we interlinked these pages, ensuring that not only users but also search engine crawlers could easily navigate and understand the site's content. This improved site usability and created a web of internal links that effectively distributed page authority throughout the site.

Step 4: Selective Link Building

Lastly, we engaged in a selective link-building strategy that focused not only on the homepage but also on the pillar pages and sub-topic pages. By building guest posts and link insertions, we were able to increase the site's overall domain authority without needing a high quantity of backlinks.

Results

Our 4-step process resulted in a significant increase in traffic, pushing the site's monthly visitors from a few hundreds to a staggering 41,239 monthly visitors. And, while the first three steps were critical in getting ahead of the competition, step 4 acted as the gasoline dumped on the fire, supercharging the site's authority and visibility.

Moreover, our client's site was able to accomplish this feat without needing to match the backlink volume of their competitors, thanks to the comprehensive and strategic approach taken.

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Key Takeaways

• Comprehensive keyword research and understanding search intent are essential for identifying content expansion opportunities.
• Strategic site architecture and topical authority mapping help cover all sub-topics within the main topic and fulfill the search intent of the target audience.
• Effective interlinking improves site usability and distributes page authority throughout the website.
• Selective link building, including guest posts and link insertions, can boost domain authority without relying solely on a high quantity of backlinks.
• The 4-step SEO strategy resulted in a significant increase in traffic, with monthly visitors skyrocketing from a few hundred to over 41,000.
• A holistic and strategic approach to SEO can yield remarkable results, even in competitive industries, by focusing on user intent, site architecture, interlinking, and selective link building.

‍Conclusion

This case study demonstrates that a thoughtful and holistic approach to SEO can yield excellent results, even when facing challenges. By understanding user search intent, architecting the site strategically, implementing effective interlinking, and building links selectively, we were able to significantly grow traffic and outperform competitors in a highly competitive industry.