Technical Audit: Higher DR and More Traffic for Sign Company
In this case study, we detail how a technical SEO audit that kicked off a HOTH X campaign led to a 6-point DR increase and a 183% boost in traffic in just 3 months.
It showcases the importance of strong technical SEO, which is a crucial but often overlooked aspect of marketing on search engines.
As you’ll soon find out, all it takes is one technical issue to wreak havoc on your search performance.
For this client, it was their slow site speed.
Poor loading speed is one of the worst technical SEO issues because it also negatively impacts your user experience.
Websites need to load and respond at the drop of a hat for modern internet users to stick around, which is definitely understandable (nobody likes waiting for a slow site to load, as you can likely attest to).
Also, search engines like Google run special tests on websites to ensure they load fast enough to appear in their search results.
Since internet users don’t like slow websites, search engines don’t, either.
So, if you aren’t able to pass Google’s Core Web Vitals test, it’ll be extremely difficult to achieve high rankings and strong user metrics (like good dwell time, which is how long each user spends on a page).
The good news?
Our technical SEO team will speed things up for you, paving the way for more traffic and a stellar user experience.
This was the case for the client in question today.
Soon after we fixed their site speed, their traffic increased significantly.
Keep reading to learn how we did it!
The Client: An OSHA Compliant Safety Signage Company
Our client runs an online store selling workplace safety signs for everywhere from construction sites to Office Space–style cubicle settings.
They’re OSHI and ANSI compliant, feature premium materials, and their team boasts 60 years of combined experience.
The problem?
Their website wasn’t generating much traffic, and they knew they had technical issues that they weren’t able to address (due to a lack of time and know-how, both of which are completely understandable).
In particular, they were struggling with loading times, and they weren’t sure what was to blame.
This often drives site owners up the wall because there are so many reasons why websites can slow down, and they aren’t always obvious.
Here are just a few:
- Large file sizes (i.e., uncompressed images and videos)
- A whole host of JavaScript issues (render issues, improper use of plugins, not minifying code, etc.)
- Redirect chains and loops
- Hosting and server issues
- Not using a CDN (content delivery network)
- Unoptimized CSS
- Invalid HTML
- Many other reasons!
Because of this, trying to fix the right issue to speed up your site can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
As you can likely attest to, nothing is worse than having a confusing technical problem and not knowing how to fix it.
This is the main reason why our technical audits come in handy; they pinpoint the cause of frustrating issues that are extremely difficult for site owners to diagnose.
For the client, their traffic and search rankings continued to fall because of their poor site speed, so they knew they needed professional help fast.
That’s when they got in touch with us and placed an order for a managed SEO campaign (HOTH X) and a Technical SEO Audit (plus fixes).
The Audit: Identifying, Reporting, and Resolving Site Speed Issues
To get started with the technical audit, we needed access to their Google Search Console account. Once access was granted, we began needling their website to uncover all its technical issues.
The major factors we audit during this process include:
- Overall site performance and speed
- Crawlability and indexing
- Meta tags
- Schema markup (crucial for appearing in Google Rich Results and generative AI responses)
- Link architecture
- Identifying broken links
These are the most important technical factors that can impact your search rankings and user experience.
As we’ve already mentioned, this client’s main issue was poor site speed, so it constituted the majority of our efforts (although we audited and improved the other factors as well).
It turned out the client had a myriad of issues impacting their site speed, not just one, and this is often the case. After optimizing their code, compressing large files, and resolving redirects, their site speed and performance saw significant improvements.
The Results: Improved Site Performance, 183% More Traffic, 6-Point DR Boost
After only 3 months of implementing the fixes, their organic visitors shot up by 183%.
Here’s what that looks like:
Why the dramatic upturn?
There are lots of reasons why, but the main ones were an enhanced user experience and improved site performance.
Their Domain Rating also improved by 6 points, which means stronger trust with Google and the ability to rank higher.
Their traffic value also went up after implementing the technical changes, which is more proof that technical audits yield a tangible ROI:.
In summary, the client is now set up for further SEO success now that their technical SEO is in tip-top shape.
Do you need help pinpointing frustrating technical issues that are holding back your website?
Don’t wait to check out our Technical SEO Services so that you can replicate these results for your business!
