Ryan Purkey

100%​ ​Increase​ ​of​ ​Organic​ ​Channel​ ​Traffic--Mobile​ ​Growth​ ​of​ ​12,000%​ ​by​ ​Ryan​ ​Purkey Case​ ​Study​ ​-​ ​Service​ ​Provider​ ​Review​ ​Site Analytics​ ​on​ ​Increasing​ ​Search​ ​Engine​ ​Traffic​ ​And​ ​Mobile​ ​Engagement Introduction I​ ​took​ ​on​ ​a​ ​client--a​ ​Service​ ​Provider​ ​Review​ ​Site--that​ ​had​ ​stagnating​ ​organic​ ​channel​ ​traffic​ ​and​ ​low​ ​engagement​ ​from​ ​mobile​ ​specifically. Over​ ​the​ ​years,​ ​their​ h ​ istorically​ ​desktop​ ​traffic​ ​had​ ​migrated​ ​to​ ​mobile​​ ​and​ ​organic​ ​rankings​ ​were​ ​being​ ​mis-interpreted​ ​as​ ​not being​ ​as​ ​localized​​ ​when​ ​they​ ​were.​ ​Finally,​ ​an​ ​interstitial​ ​mobile​ ​webpage​ ​caused​ ​indexation​ ​and​ ​ranking​ ​issues​​ ​for​ ​mobile​ ​users,​ ​not to​ ​mention​ ​much​ ​lower​ ​engagement. Fixing​ ​these​ ​issues​ ​caused​ ​average​ ​organic​ ​weekly​ ​sessions​ ​to​ ​go​ ​from​ ​12,000​ ​Users​ ​to​ ​25,000​ ​Users.​ ​Nearly​ ​all​ ​these​ ​gains​ ​were​ ​made​ ​in mobile​ ​which​ ​grew​ ​12,000%​ ​as​ ​average​ ​weekly​ ​users​ ​went​ ​from​ ​1000​ ​to​ ​12000.​ ​Mobile​ ​trends​ ​are​ ​now​ ​so​ ​strong​ ​for​ ​this​ ​client​ ​that​ ​they​ ​have dedicated​ ​resources​ ​to​ ​building​ ​out​ ​a​ ​mobile​ ​app. Historic​ ​Decline Due​ ​to​ ​a​ ​lack​ ​of​ ​insight​ ​into​ ​Google​ ​Analytics​ ​prior​ ​to​ ​becoming​ ​a​ ​client,​ ​mobile​ ​traffic​ ​had​ ​dropped​ ​off​ ​dramatically​ ​and​ ​stagnated​ ​for​ ​two and​ ​a​ ​half​ ​years. The​ ​most​ ​obvious​ ​result​ ​of​ ​this​ ​is​ ​seen​ ​in​ ​the​ ​chart​ ​above.​ ​ ​While​ ​the​ ​site​ ​had​ ​gone​ ​through​ ​multiple​ ​iterations​ ​during​ ​this​ ​time​ ​the​ ​main results​ ​were​ ​the​ ​same:​ m ​ obile​ ​underperformed​.​ ​From​ ​a​ ​search​ ​perspective​ ​the​ ​biggest​ ​issue​ ​was​ ​that​ ​the​ ​site​ ​was​ ​not​ ​responsive​ ​and providing​ ​the​ ​same​ ​URL​ ​for​ ​mobile​ ​and​ ​desktop​ ​users. The​ ​site​ ​also​ ​failed​ ​to​ ​be​ ​mobile-friendly,​ ​causing​ ​strikes​ ​in​ ​Google​ ​there,​ ​and​ ​didn’t​ ​correspond​ ​well​ ​to​ ​how​ ​localized​ ​mobile​ ​search​ ​is applied.​ ​Wherever​ ​a​ ​device​ ​is​ ​located​ ​you​ ​can​ ​pretty​ ​much​ ​append​ ​that​ ​to​ ​any​ ​given​ ​mobile​ ​search. 2 Understanding​ ​Rankings I​ ​showed​ ​my​ ​client​ ​that​ ​something​ ​which​ ​appeared​ ​like​ ​a​ ​non-localized​ ​search​ ​(ex.​ ​“plumbing​ ​services”)​ ​was​ ​actually​ ​being​ ​translated​ ​by Google​ ​as​ ​“plumbing​ ​services​ ​in​ ​Santa​ ​Monica​ ​California”​ ​due​ ​to​ ​the​ ​location​ ​based​ ​personalized​ ​search​ ​associations​ ​being​ ​applied​ ​to​ ​where the​ ​mobile​ ​device​ ​making​ ​the​ ​search​ ​is​ ​located. The​ ​URLs​ ​were​ ​then​ ​organized​ ​geographically​ ​across​ ​mobile​ ​and​ ​desktop​ ​(ex.​ ​/ca/santa-monica/).​ ​This​ ​allowed​ ​for​ ​bulk​ ​redirection​ ​of previous​ ​iterations​ ​to​ ​all​ ​point​ ​towards​ ​one​ ​targeted​ ​page​ ​for​ ​the​ ​Google​ ​index.​ ​This​ ​also​ ​allowed​ ​for​ ​Geolocation​ ​in​ ​schema​ ​markup. I​ ​also​ ​used​ ​a​ ​VPN​ ​and​ ​Apple’s​ ​Simulator​ ​tool​ ​(simulating​ ​various​ ​iPhones)​ ​to​ ​screen​ ​record​ ​ ​how​ ​search​ ​results​ ​change​ ​from​ ​city​ ​to​ ​city​ ​even with​ ​the​ ​exact​ ​same​ ​search​ ​phrase.​ ​After​ ​my​ ​client​ ​understood​ ​these​ ​points​ ​it​ ​was​ ​easy​ ​for​ ​them​ ​to​ ​see​ ​the​ ​need​ ​to​ ​apply​ ​changes​ ​and create​ ​a​ ​dramatic​ ​increase​ ​in​ ​organic​ ​and​ ​mobile​ ​traffic. Removing​ ​an​ ​Interstitial Mobile​ ​traffic​ ​landing​ ​pages​ ​in​ ​Google​ ​Analytics​ ​went​ ​from​ ​one​ ​universal​ ​interstitial​ ​page​ ​to​ ​specific​ ​cities​ ​and​ ​locations.​ ​Engagement​ ​went​ ​up 30%​ ​even​ ​before​ ​the​ ​mobile​ ​version​ ​of​ ​the​ ​site​ ​became​ ​fully​ ​responsive​ ​as​ ​users​ ​were​ ​spending​ ​3​ ​minutes​ ​on​ ​site​ ​versus​ ​2.5​ ​previously.​ ​A portion​ ​of​ ​the​ ​earlier​ ​time​ ​on​ ​site​ ​was​ ​also​ ​spent​ ​navigating​ ​the​ ​excess​ ​mobile​ ​pages​ ​versus​ ​going​ ​directly​ ​into​ ​content,​ ​so​ ​engagement​ ​was even​ ​higher​ ​than​ ​the​ ​bulk​ ​measured​ ​amount​ ​of​ ​time​ ​on​ ​site.​ ​Ecommerce​ ​conversions​ ​also​ ​increased​ ​demonstrating​ ​a​ ​higher​ ​usability​ ​and trust​ ​than​ ​the​ ​previous​ ​version​ ​of​ ​the​ ​site.​ ​ ​Usability​ ​was​ ​a​ ​big​ ​win​ ​both​ ​in​ ​rankings​ ​and​ ​performance​ ​here. Conclusion There​ ​are​ ​nearly​ ​endless​ ​factors​ ​that​ ​can​ ​go​ ​into​ ​what​ ​determines​ ​how​ ​a​ ​site​ ​ranks.​ ​I​ ​was​ ​able​ ​to​ ​find​ ​the​ ​improvements​ ​for​ ​my​ ​client​ ​that not​ ​only​ ​increased​ ​these​ ​rankings,​ ​but​ ​provided​ ​a​ ​better​ ​site​ ​once​ ​users​ ​clicked​ ​through.​ ​ ​Hopefully​ ​now​ ​you’ll​ ​have​ ​some​ ​solid​ ​ideas​ ​of​ ​how you​ ​can​ ​improve​ ​your​ ​own​ ​site.​ ​And​ ​if​ ​not,​ ​feel​ ​free​ ​to​ ​work​ ​with​ ​me​ ​to​ ​help​ ​you​ ​along.​ ​ ​ ​~​ ​ ​ ​Ryan​ ​Purkey​ ​@​ ​ ​https://rquadrant.com 3