Case Study: How $1.5k SEO Reversed 7-Mo Decline

Goals and constraints

We inherited a site where effort and spend were not translating into search growth. The mandate was to stop a seven-month organic decline, fix technical debt that was suppressing crawl and indexing, and turn a high-expertise blog into a predictable lead-generation channel - all under tight budget and production constraints.

Constraints we had to design around:

• Budget: $1,500 allocated to SEO activities, including technical work and ongoing support.
• Content production bottleneck: the client insisted all content be written personally (high expertise, but inconsistent output).
• Time pressure: the first performance checkpoint was set at 6 months, which forced strict prioritization.

Introduction

This case study shows how we reversed a sustained organic decline for a UK-based B2B email marketing agency by rebuilding the technical foundation first, then standardizing content production and internal linking, and only then scaling link acquisition with a quality-first approach.

The core lesson is simple: when indexing, crawl paths, and page classification are broken, additional content and backlinks tend to underperform. Once we removed technical blockers and aligned the information architecture to search intent, we could finally turn the client’s expertise into compounding organic growth.

Client context

The client is a specialized B2B agency in email marketing and CRM automation operating in the UK market. They came to us after months of traffic decline and disappointing outcomes from prior SEO activity. The most painful part was the mismatch between inputs and outputs: they had acquired more than 250 backlinks, yet visibility did not improve.

In parallel, technical debt kept accumulating. Hundreds of 404 pages, duplicate meta tags, weak indexing hygiene, and missing structured data diluted crawl budget and eroded search engine trust. Even good content struggled to rank because Google could not reliably crawl, classify, and connect the site’s pages.

Content quality was not the issue - consistency was. The owner produced strong, experience-driven articles, but publishing was unpredictable (for example, 10 posts in a week followed by no output for two months). That created indexing “spikes,” missed trend windows, and prevented the blog from behaving like a dependable acquisition channel.

Timeline mattered. The client first engaged us in spring 2024 for a deep technical audit and recommendations. After that, they went through a redesign and rebrand, implementing structural and template changes based on our requirements. Full-scale execution from our side started in fall 2024.

Strategy

We built the strategy around a single principle: remove constraints before adding fuel. In practice, that meant technical stabilization first, then information architecture and on-page standards, then content scaling and link building. We prioritized hypotheses using the ICE model (Impact, Confidence, Effort) to stay disciplined under the $1,500 budget.

Our working hypotheses

• H1 - Technical priority beats link building: without fixing 404s, indexing hygiene, and page classification, new backlinks would leak value.
• H2 - Intent-aligned information architecture increases crawl flow: better structure reduces cannibalization, clarifies topical clusters, and makes internal linking scalable.
• H3 - Schema.org accelerates comprehension and improves SERP presentation: implementing Article/BlogPosting, Service, Organization, BreadcrumbList, WebSite, and FAQ markup makes page types explicit and can unlock richer snippets.
• H4 - Editorial standards convert “good ideas” into “rankable assets”: the owner’s expertise needed repeatable structure (H1-H3 logic, intent matching, internal links, and E-E-A-T signals).
• H5 - Semantic clustering based on market leaders shortens time-to-fit: we used leading product-category patterns in email marketing as references to align topic clusters with how the market searches.

Competitive benchmark and gap

We benchmarked direct competitors and a product-category leader in the space. Competitors won with disciplined structure, consistent templates, and clean indexing fundamentals. Our opportunity was to combine those operational standards with the client’s deeper real-world expertise - and package it in formats that search engines and readers could process quickly (checklists, frameworks, FAQ blocks, and decision-style sections).

Execution

Execution followed a strict order: technical cleanup, architecture and templates, then content operations and internal linking, then quality-first link building. This sequencing is what allowed the same budget to finally produce measurable outcomes.

1) Technical SEO remediation

We addressed the most damaging issues first: hundreds of 404s, broken images, duplicated meta signals, and weak indexing controls. The objective was to stop wasting crawl budget and ensure every high-value URL could be crawled, rendered, and categorized correctly.

• Resolved 404 pages and implemented appropriate redirects.
• Optimized images: removed broken assets, compressed oversized files, and replaced part of the media with new AI-generated images to reduce weight and improve consistency.
• Refreshed sitemap, robots.txt, and canonical logic.
• Implemented Schema.org for key page types (Organization, Article, Service, FAQ).

2) Information architecture and internal linking system

The redesign phase was critical. We guided the structure and page templates to reflect search intent: clearer separation between service pages, blog content, and case-style proof. This reduced overlap and made it easy to route informational traffic toward commercial intent pages.

• Rebuilt the site structure to better match how prospects search and how competitors organized hubs and supporting pages.
• Expanded service pages to include what is included, expected outcomes, and simplified case examples (some were short-form, but still effective).
• Introduced breadcrumb navigation to reinforce hierarchy for users and crawlers.
• Created an internal linking map connecting blog posts, services, and case content so each page had a clear “next step.”
• Added a prominent link to a third-party reviews profile (Clutch) from the homepage to strengthen trust and support conversion into leads.

3) Content operations - trend capture plus re-optimization

Because the client wrote all content personally, we focused on making output predictable without diluting expertise. We built SEO briefs that preserved the owner’s voice while enforcing search-ready structure: intent mapping, headings, entity coverage, TL;DR sections, and FAQ blocks where relevant.

We also updated approximately half of the existing posts. This re-optimization was not cosmetic - it was designed to monetize existing traffic by linking high-visibility informational pieces to newly expanded service pages.

4) Link building - quality over volume

Prior link acquisition had been heavy but ineffective. We shifted to a cleaner mix: 85% guest posts on credible sites (including donor sources already appearing in competitor profiles) and 15% crowd links on relevant forums and communities, written as contextual expert commentary.

Importantly, links were routed primarily to commercial pages and the homepage to concentrate authority where lead capture happens - rather than scattering equity across dozens of blog URLs.

Tooling stack used: SE Ranking for technical audits, keyword tracking, competitor and backlink analysis; Google Search Console and Google Analytics for indexing and behavioral validation; SurferSEO and PageOptimizer Pro for content optimization support; Google Sheets for planning and briefs; and Collaborator for sourcing guest posts and crowd placements.

Data transparency: we set up an integrated Looker Studio dashboard combining Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and SE Ranking outputs so the client could validate progress in real time.

Within the first year after implementation, we moved the site from “technically constrained and inconsistent” to “crawlable, structured, and compounding.” The results below combine signals from technical audit tooling, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics, cross-checked to avoid single-source bias.

Technical SEO - from fragile to stable

The technical Health Score improved from 53/100 to 89/100 (+36 points). Critical errors reduced dramatically: the majority of 404s were removed or redirected, images were optimized, and Schema.org was deployed across core page types. The practical impact was improved crawl rate and increased search engine trust in site quality.

Organic traffic - sustained growth, not one-off spikes

Organic traffic increased from ~400-500 visits/month to a stable 1,000+ visits/month, with peaks above 1,500+. That represents more than +150% organic growth over the year and surpassed the initial KPI of +20% in the first six months.

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Keyword visibility - real movement into revenue-adjacent positions

Visibility improved where it matters most: high-ranking positions. The share of tracked queries in the top 5 increased from 2.8% to 9.4%. The share of queries in the top 20 improved from 7.7% to 10.6%. While top-100 coverage decreased from 56% to 45%, the quality of rankings improved because more queries moved into traffic-producing ranges instead of sitting at the back of the SERP.

Backlinks - growth with cleanup

The backlink profile grew from 1.7K links from 577 domains to 2.2K links from 706 domains. Importantly, about 40% of the baseline links had medium-level toxicity, so we focused on cleaning and improving the overall profile rather than pursuing raw volume. This supported service page growth in competitive terms within email marketing.

Content performance - more pages earning, less dependency on a few hits

Before the work, top pages typically delivered 100-200 visits and performance relied heavily on a small set of posts. After implementing briefs, internal linking, and content refreshes, the number of top-performing pages increased from 118 to 204. Traffic also distributed more evenly across articles, typically ranging 50 to 250+ visits per post, which reduced volatility and made the blog a predictable acquisition layer.

Behavioral signals - better engagement on commercial pages

In Google Analytics, engagement improved after the architecture, internal linking, and trust signals were implemented. Service pages reached an average time on page of 30-50 seconds, bounce rate decreased, and depth of visit improved - all consistent with users landing on informational content and then taking the next step into commercial pages.

Beyond SEO metrics, the client also reported improved conversion into leads after adding third-party review visibility on the homepage and strengthening service pages with clearer proof and tighter alignment to search intent.

What changed and why it worked

The outcome was not tied to a single trick. It came from removing systemic blockers, then building a repeatable operating system for SEO that matched the client’s realities: limited budget, founder-written content, and a competitive SERP.

• Problem: backlinks were purchased, but technical errors and indexing friction prevented authority from turning into rankings. Change: we fixed 404s, indexing controls, and structured data before scaling anything else. Why it worked: links and content finally flowed into crawlable, classifiable URLs.
• Problem: good content existed, but it was not consistently aligned to intent or formatted for search. Change: we introduced editorial standards and SEO briefs that preserved expert voice while enforcing rankability. Why it worked: the same expertise started matching real queries, and pages became easier to understand for both users and Google.
• Problem: traffic concentrated on a few pages, creating volatility. Change: we refreshed roughly half the legacy posts and built internal links to expanded service pages. Why it worked: more pages started earning, and internal linking converted informational demand into commercial exploration.
• Problem: the niche moves quickly, and missed trends cost traffic. Change: the content plan prioritized trend capture alongside evergreen clusters. Why it worked: new pages could capture demand while re-optimized pages maintained stable baseline traffic.
• Problem: prior link building was not producing movement. Change: we shifted to a quality-first mix (85% guest posts, 15% crowd links) and cleaned toxic links. Why it worked: authority improved while risk and noise decreased, supporting service page competitiveness.
• Problem: visitors needed a trust nudge to convert. Change: we added third-party review proof to the homepage and strengthened service page specificity. Why it worked: better perceived credibility supported lead conversion from the growing organic audience.

Lessons and next steps

This project reinforced a pattern we see often in B2B services SEO: if the technical substrate is weak, SEO becomes an expensive set of disconnected tactics. Once the foundation and content system are in place, progress becomes easier to forecast and scale.

Key lessons we would apply again:

• Sequence matters more than “more work”: technical fixes first, then IA, then content scaling, then link building. This is how we made a $1,500 budget perform.
• Founder-written content can scale with the right system: briefs, templates, and update cycles preserve expertise while improving consistency.
• Re-optimization is often the fastest lever: updating roughly half the existing posts and linking them to service pages helped convert existing demand into commercial outcomes.
• Clean authority beats loud authority: removing toxic links and focusing on relevant placements supported growth more than repeating volume-first tactics.
• Trust signals are part of SEO ROI: improved rankings bring visitors, but reviews and proof help turn visitors into leads.

Next steps for scale: continue publishing on a predictable cadence using the established briefs, expand service-page case proof over time (even short-form), and keep link acquisition selective and aligned with competitor donor patterns. On the technical side, maintain the audit cadence to prevent 404 accumulation and template regressions, ensuring crawl efficiency stays high as the site grows.