"It Depends" SEO Case Study: Elevating Organic Growth for a Premium Cattery and Pet Adoption Center

Introduction

Client Overview: The client is a specialized cattery, breeder, and pet adoption center focusing on a specific species of cat (details undisclosed due to NDA). Their business is unique in that it caters to a highly selective audience. Adopting a kitten or cat from this center requires potential owners to meet stringent criteria, making this a high-ticket and exclusive offering. As a result, even with 2.54K organic clicks, only less than 100 adoptions were successfully completed, reflecting the selectiveness of their adoption process.

Objective: The primary goal was to increase organic traffic and improve visibility in local search results over a six-month period. This would help attract the right audience—those who meet the adoption criteria—thereby driving qualified leads and ultimately increasing the number of successful adoptions.

SEO Action Plan

Phase I: Information Gathering

Actions Performed: I started by thoroughly understanding the website’s history, the client’s specific goals, and the adoption criteria. This foundational knowledge was crucial for crafting a customized SEO strategy that aligned with the client's unique business model.

Outcome: This phase provided the necessary insights to guide the following steps, ensuring that the strategy was tailored to attract the right audience.

Graph Analysis: The initial section of the graph shows modest fluctuations in clicks and impressions, reflecting the baseline performance before any significant SEO changes were implemented.

Phase II: Site Structure Optimization

Actions Performed: Given the site's needs, I prioritized revamping the site structure before conducting keyword research. This involved creating a clean, logical URL structure and strategic interlinking of key pages, which were essential for enhancing user experience and improving crawlability.

Outcome: The restructuring laid a solid foundation for further SEO work, which was reflected in the initial uptick in organic clicks and impressions.

Graph Analysis: You’ll notice the first significant rise in clicks and impressions following the site structure optimization, marked by the green line on the graph in early February.

Phase III: Keyword Research

Actions Performed: With a solid structure in place, I conducted in-depth keyword research using tools like Semrush and Ahrefs . I focused on identifying keywords that not only aligned with the client's offerings but also targeted the high-value, selective audience most likely to meet the adoption criteria.

Outcome: This research informed the subsequent content revamp and technical optimizations, ensuring that the site was targeting the most relevant keywords.

Graph Analysis: Post-keyword research, the graph shows continued growth in impressions and a gradual rise in clicks, signaling the effectiveness of the keyword strategy in attracting qualified traffic.

Phase IV: Content Revamp

Actions Performed: Instead of creating new content, I focused on revamping existing content to align it with the newly identified keywords and user intent. This included adding schema markup and FAQs to further enhance content relevance and visibility.

Outcome: The content updates led to improved engagement metrics and a steady increase in organic clicks.

Graph Analysis: The second green line, around March, correlates with the content revamp, which shows a noticeable rise in clicks and CTR, indicating that the content was resonating more with the target audience.

Phase V: On-Page & Technical Optimization

Actions Performed: I implemented critical technical SEO fixes, including improvements to site speed, mobile usability, Schema markup, and Core Web Vitals optimization. I also ensured that the site was fully optimized for local search queries, considering the client's specific geographic market. Thanks Screaming Frog for giving us such a great tool.

Thanks to the input from Samy Ben Sadok, I was able to fix some major flaws in my Navigation and Technical SEO and improve my overall SEO Strategy.

Outcome: These technical enhancements improved the site’s overall performance, contributing to better rankings and an enhanced user experience.

Graph Analysis: Following the technical optimizations in early April, the graph shows another increase in impressions, demonstrating that the site was more effectively reaching its target audience.

Phase VI: Local SEO and Citation Management

Actions Performed: Given the importance of local visibility for this business, I began Local SEO efforts early on. This included ensuring NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) consistency across all directories, particularly after the client’s business address changed. I also focused on garnering local reviews and submitting the site to relevant directories.

Outcome: The client saw a marked improvement in local search visibility, which drove more relevant traffic to the site.

Graph Analysis: The graph in late April shows another green line corresponding to the Local SEO efforts. This period reflects a significant spike in impressions and a steady climb in clicks, signaling improved local visibility.

Phase VII: Content Creation and NLP-Based Optimization

Actions Performed: I started creating new blog content based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) principles and Semantic SEO practices I learned from Koray Tu?berk GüBüR and Muhammad Hamid Khan . This content was designed to meet user intent more effectively. Additionally, I used SEO Stack by Daniel Foley Carter to analyze and cull dead pages, and consolidate and improve weaker pages, ensuring they met EEAT guidelines. Thanks to Surfer it became almost automatic.

Outcome: This phase resulted in a more engaged audience and a steady increase in organic traffic, with the new content resonating well with the selective target audience.

Graph Analysis: The spikes in traffic and impressions from June onwards, as indicated by the green lines, are a direct result of the NLP-based content and ongoing content optimization efforts.

Phase VIII: Link Building and UX Improvement

Actions Performed: To further strengthen the site’s authority, I focused on link building, particularly with local pages that enhanced the user experience. Continuous UX improvements were also made based on user feedback and behavior analysis.

Outcome: These strategies bolstered the site’s domain authority and improved user satisfaction, which in turn supported sustained growth in organic clicks.

Graph Analysis: The growth in clicks and impressions from July through August, highlighted by the green lines, corresponds to the link-building efforts and UX improvements, showing the cumulative effect of these enhancements.

Ongoing Continuous Improvement

Actions Performed: Throughout the six-month period, I closely monitored Google Search Console (GSC) data and made adjustments as needed. Regular audits using tools like SEO Stack , Surfer , inLinks , Screaming Frog , Semrush , and Ahrefs helped maintain alignment with the latest EEAT guidelines, and I continued to refine the content and SEO strategy based on data insights.

Outcome: The continuous improvement approach ensured that the site maintained its growth momentum, even amidst Google’s core and spam updates.

Graph Analysis: The red and purple lines on the graph indicate Google’s core and spam updates. The site’s performance remained stable or improved during these updates, reflecting the robustness of the SEO strategy.

Results

Key Metrics:

• Total Clicks: Increased from 0 to 2.54K in 6 months. (now 1k+ each month)
• Total Impressions: Rose to 310.39K
• Average CTR: Improved to 0.8174%
• Average Position: Enhanced to 19.53
• Adoptions: Less than 100 successful adoptions, which aligns with the highly selective criteria.
• Conversion Rate: 0.03%
• Sales: $170,000
• Profit: $100,000

Graphical Analysis:

The GSC graph clearly demonstrates the impact of each phase of the SEO efforts over the six months. Key takeaways include:

• Green Lines: Annotations which represent major SEO changes, each corresponding to a significant rise in clicks and impressions.
• Red Lines: Represent Google Core Updates, where the site's performance remained stable or improved due to proactive optimizations.
• Purple Lines: Show Spam Updates, where the site’s resilience and quality content helped it maintain and even grow its organic traffic.

Summary:

This case study illustrates the tangible impact of a customized and adaptive SEO strategy. Despite the challenges of targeting a highly selective audience and external factors like Google updates, the client’s site saw consistent growth in organic clicks and impressions, ultimately leading to a successful, albeit selective, adoption process.

Conclusion

This case study demonstrates how a strategic, data-driven SEO approach can drive significant results, even for a niche business with a highly selective audience. By focusing on continuous improvement and adapting to changes, I was able to achieve and exceed the client’s goals, making a meaningful impact on their mission to find homes for their exclusive cats.