On April 8, 2020, Google launched a series of blog posts where they present the importance of search engine optimization and showcase several case studies to show that SEO can be an excellent investment for businesses.
It’s not often that Google recommends SEO, and the fact that they committed to posting this series on the Google Webmaster Central Blog shows just how vital SEO has become for modern businesses. Digital marketing expert and SEO consultant Roy Hinkis, who has more than 12 years of experience working with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, believes that case studies are crucial for business owners and SEOs alike and that following them can offer important insights on what makes a successful SEO strategy.
In their inaugural post, Google experts explain how using nothing but Google Search Console helped a human resources platform achieve a 15% increase in organic search traffic. By following the guidelines mentioned there, they managed to gradually fix issues such as duplicate content and poorly written meta tags and ultimately reached a 9% increase in conversions.
But this is just one successful example. As Roy Hinkis explained many times in his interviews with publications like Business Insider, Search Engine Journal, and MOZ, SEO is not a field for one-size-fits-all solutions, and what works for one website may not work for another. This is why he always starts his day by reading the latest SEO news and analyzing various case studies.
Through case studies, business owners can see for themselves how a well-optimized website can accelerate business growth, and SEO consultants can see how various strategies apply to businesses. The example featured in Google’s first case study covers basic Google Search Console errors, but Roy Hinkis points out that SEO can be much more complex than that.
For this reason, webmasters should work with a consultant who can evaluate their current performance through on-site and off-site testing and generate a list of actionable steps to improve SEO. For example, in one of his case studies for Similar Web, Roy Hinkis explained how by de-indexing pages with very low CTRs and poor engagement stats, they lost half a million organic visits, but improved rankings in the long run.
SEO case studies are a great way to generate new ideas tested by other methods, illustrate theories, and show webmasters how various elements of their website are related to SEO performance. For businesses that have been affected by a Google penalty, case studies can also work as a starting point for developing a strategy to bounce back.
Over the years, Roy Hinkis has offered consultancy services to many start-ups. This process involves hours of extensive research, and one of the essential steps is reading case studies of how similar start-ups managed to take off.
Of course, there aren’t too many high-quality case studies out there, and webmasters shouldn’t try to copy a strategy step-by-step without checking if it matches their company’s long-term goals. Instead, they should research as much as possible, communicate with their marketing team, and develop a sustainable strategy that works in the long run. Apart from SEO, this may include diversifying through channels such as social media and PPC.