Case Study: How I Increased Organic Traffic by 120% in Just 6 Months

In the fast-paced world of SEO, results are everything. In this case study, I’ll walk you through how I helped a mid-sized e-commerce website achieve a 120% increase in organic traffic within just six months—without spending a dime on ads.

This project highlights not only the power of consistent, strategic SEO but also how technical fixes, content strategy, and data-led decisions can drive real business outcomes.

🚦 The Starting Point: Stagnant Traffic & Missed Opportunities

When I began working on the website, it averaged around 5,000 organic visits per month. Despite having a decent content base and product offering, traffic had plateaued, and search visibility was stagnant.

Initial observations:

• Slow-loading pages and poor mobile performance
• Several orphaned and thin-content pages
• No keyword targeting strategy—many pages competed for the same terms
• Minimal use of structured data or internal linking
• No active link-building or digital PR efforts

Tools used in the initial audit:

• Google Search Console
• Google Analytics 4
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• SEMrush
• Hotjar (for UX behavior analysis)

🧩 Strategy Phase: What I Planned

After identifying the key bottlenecks, I created a 3-phase roadmap:

• Fix Technical SEO Issues
• Revamp Content and Keyword Targeting
• Boost Authority & UX Engagement

Let’s break down what each phase looked like.

⚙️ Phase 1: Technical SEO Overhaul

• Fixed crawl budget waste by removing thousands of low-value URLs from indexing.
• Created a clean XML sitemap and updated the robots.txt file to guide bots effectively.
• Implemented canonical tags and fixed duplicate content issues.
• Optimized Core Web Vitals: improved LCP, CLS, and TTFB scores.
• Ensured all templates used mobile-first design principles.

Result: Faster, more crawlable site → quicker indexing and higher crawl frequency.

📝 Phase 2: Content Optimization & Keyword Strategy

• Performed deep keyword research using SEMrush and GSC data.
• Created a topic cluster model to organize content around core themes.
• Pruned 30% of underperforming content that had low/no traffic.
• Optimized existing blogs and product/service pages for intent-aligned keywords.
• Added internal links between related content to boost contextual relevance.

Key wins:

• CTR increased by 22% for several target pages.
• Average position improved from page 3 to page 1 for 25+ keywords.

🔗 Phase 3: Authority Building & UX Improvements

• Secured 10+ high-quality backlinks via guest posting, niche directories, and HARO.
• Designed clear CTAs and UI enhancements based on Hotjar scroll and click maps.
• Added schema markup for FAQs and reviews, which led to rich results.
• Improved page layout and content readability, reducing bounce rate.

📊 Results After 6 Months

Here's a snapshot of the impact (based on GSC and GA4 data):

Metric	Before	After 6 Months	% Change
Organic Traffic	5,000/mo	11,000+/mo	+120%
Avg. CTR	2.1%	3.7%	+76%
Bounce Rate	62%	44%	-18%
Avg. Keyword Rankings	Position 27	Position 11	Up 16 spots

• Top blog articles started ranking for Featured Snippets.
• Homepage began appearing for branded + high-intent queries.
• Engagement increased significantly, leading to higher conversions.

⚠️ Challenges Faced

• De-indexing low-quality pages temporarily dropped traffic (~week 2).
• Internal team delays for technical implementation.
• Had to educate stakeholders on SEO being a long-term game—not a quick fix.

✅ Key Takeaways

1. SEO is a compound effect—consistent small wins lead to big gains.
2. Intent > volume when choosing keywords.
3. Technical SEO sets the foundation, but content and UX drive growth.
4. Use Hotjar or similar tools to validate assumptions with real user behavior.

🔚 Conclusion

This project reaffirmed that data-led SEO, when done right, delivers serious results. In just six months, we more than doubled organic traffic—and more importantly, built a scalable content and technical foundation for long-term growth.