Last month we completed a project for IRS.com. I just finished writing an SEO case study (it may be better classified as a white paper) highlighting the process we went though with our client and ensuing results.
The entire case study is fairly lengthy, so I’m including just the summary in this post.
Just five months of working with Tax Center produced extremely positive results. The website is now better positioned in the search engines than it was before and it is receiving more traffic because of that positioning.
This project was different from most for a couple of reasons. First, it was shorter. Most content strategies are at least 12 months in length. Second, we began working with Tax Center at the beginning of their most important months of the year (as opposed to implementing our plan in the offseason for taxes).
This means that we needed to implement a strategy that did all of the following:
A) Got results without adversely affecting current search engine positioning,
B) Resulted in accelerated returns (meaning immediately), and
C) Laid the groundwork for long term performance beyond the scope of the project (future tax seasons).
We began the project by performing an in-depth audit of the site. The audit pointed to several key areas of improvement – basic SEO fundamentals, a more trusted user experience, and more high-value content. We based our strategy on those key areas.
The results were quick, and significant. First, the site was better positioned in the search engines:
- The number of pages on the site that come up in search results went UP 686%
- The number of pages on the site that are on the first page of Google search results went UP 175%
Second, more people visited the site in the 2011 tax season than in 2010:
- 49% more people visited the site
- Traffic coming from the search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) was more than 4 times higher
The content created yielded an immediate return. The ROI for the more than 250 pieces of content we created and posted was better than 127%. That means the client more than made their money back for the cost of the content in less than 5 months.
The positive results don’t necessarily end with the passing of the 2011 tax season. The groundwork laid for the client will continue to bear fruit in the offseason and in future tax seasons. All of these numbers may increase in the future as the new content gets more inbound links.
Here’s the full case study.
What are your thoughts? Any feedback? I encourage you to participate in the comment section below.