SEO Audit
Performed a comprehensive search engine optimization audit to identify opportunities to improve organic search visibility for core service keywords relevant to the IT support services provided by IT Support Specialists, carefully analyzing various on-page and off-page factors affecting the website's ability to rank well in search engine results.
Business Goal: To rank better and then to rank for new services after a strategic reorganization of the company.
Project Overview
During the Summer of 2023, I was given the opportunity to complete a comprehensive search engine optimization audit for IT Support Specialists, an up and coming IT services provider that helps smaller companies in the greater Cleveland area with their technological needs.
With the IT services market becoming more crowded and competitive in recent years, ITSS aimed to boost its organic search presence and online visibility, in order to attract more potential clients searching for such services.
To accomplish this goal of improving search rankings, ITSS and I collaborated to devise a strategic plan that would involve optimizing its website content and structure, as well as implementing other SEO best practices tailored to its core service offerings and target keywords.
My Responsibilities
Familiarize With Industry
To start, I familiarized myself with IT Support Specialists' services and researched competitors in depth, taking the time to fully grasp their business offerings, target audience, and unique value propositions. This involved carefully studying their website content, service descriptions, and other materials to gain a comprehensive understanding of their operations. Additionally, I conducted a thorough competitive analysis, benchmarking their website against other prominent IT service providers in the greater Cleveland area and beyond, evaluating factors such as content quality, user experience, and overall online presence.
These key steps of internal learning and comprehensive competitive analysis laid the groundwork for developing a tailored and effective SEO strategy that would address IT Support Specialists' specific needs and goals within the competitive landscape they operate in.
Find Areas Of Improvement
The next part after thoroughly reviewing IT Support Specialists' website and those of their competitors was to locate specific areas that needed to be improved from an SEO perspective.
After extensively researching and collecting relevant data through various analytical tools and techniques, I was able to identify key areas of opportunity that needed to be optimized in order to enhance IT Support Specialists' organic search visibility and performance. This involved a meticulous examination of factors such as website structure, content quality and relevance, technical SEO elements, backlink profile, local SEO considerations, and alignment with current search engine algorithms and best practices.
Present Recommendations
The final part was to present the comprehensive findings and in-depth research conducted throughout the audit to the IT Support Specialists' team. They were pleased to receive such a thorough and insightful report, providing a clear roadmap for enhancing their online presence and SEO efforts. The team found the research invaluable, offering fresh perspectives and highlighting areas for improvement. They expressed gratitude for the level of detail and expertise, stating that the findings would guide their future digital marketing strategies and lead to improved services and competitiveness.
Final SEO Presentation
The slide deck presented here was a pivotal report I created and delivered to the IT Support Specialists team, laying the groundwork for actionable SEO enhancements. This in-depth presentation communicated findings from a comprehensive technical and content audit of the website.
My Tools
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Screaming Frog
I used Screaming Frog to analyze technical SEO issues like broken links, duplicate content, and also to see heading tags.
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Semrush
I used SEMrush to analyze the website's organic rankings, backlinks, and keyword gaps compared to top-ranking competitors.
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SpyFu
I used SpyFu to analyze the website's rankings for target keywords, identify top-ranking competitor sites, and compare advertising metrics.
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Wordpress
WordPress enabled review of on-page content and site optimization opportunities.
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Basecamp
Basecamp provided a centralized platform for our audit team to collaborate, store findings, and share files.
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Google Slides
Leveraging Google Slides, I created visual presentations to easily communicate audit results and recommendations with impactful charts.
My Results
After conducting a rigorous SEO audit that revealed optimization opportunities, I executed targeted enhancements including on-page fixes to improve website structure and content relevance, new content creation aligned with target keywords and user intent, and an expanded the key keyword scope to capture additional relevant search queries.
These concerted efforts, implemented systematically over the course of the project, drove a significant 65% surge in organic site traffic for IT Support Specialists within a span of 8 months. This substantial increase in targeted organic traffic demonstrated the effectiveness of the SEO strategy and optimizations performed. Upon successful project completion, IT Support Specialists had firmly established improved organic visibility through securing rankings for a broader set of new, highly relevant keywords, effectively spreading greater brand awareness and connecting with more potential customers through prominently displayed listings on search engine results pages.
