SEO Agency for IT Companies
Find out how Vixen Digital helped Qlic, a leading IT support company, improve rankings, get quality traffic and convert more business using effective SEO strategies.
Results
6 months comparison data
SEO Agency Brief
Qlic came to us for SEO support in particular for their Qlic nonprofit business area. They had a separate website for the branch but it did not rank well for key terms, organic traffic was low and they could not see the impact of this traffic on the business.
SEO was a new investment area for Qlic and they approached it cautiously. Before signing up for a retainer, we suggested two projects that will show them the quality of our work as well as help us estimate the next steps and the correct size of the retainer. Today, Qlic has been a happy retainer client looking to build on the excellent results already achieved.
Section 1:
Technical SEO Audit for IT Companies
One of the initial projects we embarked on with Qlic was a full technical audit. This would allow us to provide valuable and actionable insight to Qlic they can use right away, regardless of whether they will continue the service longer term.. And, it would allow us to estimate how much of the time we would need to spend on technical fixes if Qlic decided to sign up for the retainer.
This in-depth analysis looked at several critical areas of technical health such as Domain health (HSTS headers, domain level redirects and canonicals…), URLs (design of URLs, duplication…), architecture, linking, content and much more.
The areas for improvement were then clearly prioritised into Critical, High, Medium and Low with a description for Qlic of why this is important and how to fix it.
Following the audit, Vixen also reviewed the changes made by the client and supported them in any follow-up questions they might have.
Section 2:
Keyword Research and Content Mapping
The second initial project Vixen and Qlic worked together on was keyword research and content mapping. The goal was to dig deep into the topics that Qlic wants to cover that align with their non-profit audience. Vixen’s experience in the charity and the IT sector came in very handy here. We were able to really understand both the pain points of their audience, the search intent and how their services help to solve them. This allowed us to approach the keywords research using semantic SEO practices. We looked at the topics that were important and grouped the keywords and related questions based on topical relevance.
Following the approval by the client, Vixen mapped out the keywords and topics against their existing website to see what they already ranked for. To get a comprehensive state of play picture we didn’t simply download a report from SemRush. We used several tools to explore how the terms and the ranking pages are performing. For example, we looked at Google Search console data on a page level as well as key Google Analytics metrics and Screaming Frog page-level technical data.
This data was then reviewed and analysed strategically to decide the priority level for optimising the pages that rank – the low-hanging fruit with low effort and high impact was prioritised first.
The analysis included elements such as:
- Are the keywords the right ones in the first place?
- Is there any cannibalisation? – pages ranking for similar keywords that are competing against each other
- Which keywords have first-page positions, have traffic and are relevant to our topics?
- Are the pages converting or simply bringing in irrelevant traffic?
Based on priority we then created optimisation documents for each of the ranking pages, explaining exactly how Qlic can increase their rankings. We worked closely with the Qlic team to make the changes and in some cases, we directly edited their website. The aim was not only to do it for them, we wanted to build capacity within the Qlic team so that they can understand and learn the how and the why. This way even if they did not sign up for a retainer, they could take this learning forward in-house.
Additionally, we also extracted the keywords and topics that Qlic did not rank for but that were deemed relevant in the keyword research. This data will subsequently be used to create bespoke content calendars that will allow Qlic to produce more targeted content in the future.
Section 3:
Retainer SEO Strategy for IT Companies
The initial projects not only allowed Qlic to see some starting results and the quality of our work, but it was also useful for us to estimate how many days a retainer Qlic actually needs to achieve their SEO goals.
Today, Qlic has a retainer that perfectly fits their budget and goals and works with us across SEO strategies.
Their SEO strategy spans areas such as:
- Content – Based on custom content calendars and with the help of their in-house team, we produce several targeted pieces of content a month. This content is ranking well and bringing relevant traffic that actually converts into calls and form fills. Furthermore, we are tracking performance on all levels: rankings, sessions and conversions.
- Link Building – We are working on building relevant links with trusted sources that help the new content rank without hiring the link profile of Qlic.
- Onsite SEO – We are continuously looking for more on-page optimisation opportunities across the site. For example, published content is reviewed every 3 months and improved further for higher rankings.
- Technical SEO – Ensuring your website is in good technical standing is an ongoing process. Things don’t just stop with a technical audit. We are continuously monitoring the website and improving all technical elements even further.
- Up-skilling internal staff – a big part of the strategy is working closely and in partnership with the Qlic staff. Every action is aimed at not simply delivering the service but also making sure the internal team understands the why and the how.
We have also enabled Qlic to actually track the impact of their marketing. While we were clear that perfect attribution does not exist these days when buyers rely heavily on un-trackable channels (e.g. Dark Social), we enabled Qlic to at least get an idea of their conversion data by creating several conversion goals in their Google Analytics.
"Vixen has really transformed our SEO. The team has been amazing throughout our whole SEO process. I can't thank them enough!"
Section 4:
SEO Results So Far
Up to now, we have seen some remarkable results from our work with Qlic, in terms of rankings, traffic and conversions.
Qlics visibility for the topics and keywords they wanted to rank for has grown by 8.43%, and they rank in positions 1-3 for 9 key terms. When we started, they did not have any key terms in those positions.
“We have noticed an improvement in the quality of the enquiries we are getting relative to what we had before."
Recently, the volume of SEO conversion has also started to increase. Just before the holiday season, June brought Qlic a record number of conversions from organic so far, with an increase of 95.10% in conversion rate relative to May.
Section 5:
SEO Strategy Going Forward
Empowered by the results so far, Qlic has decided to invest further in its online presence. They are in the process of planning the redesign of their website, and Vixen is excited to be part of the project.
To kick things off, we conducted an initial analysis of the user flows on the website and the existing journeys. This was done using several tools, including Hotjar, to fully understand how users are navigating the website. We also explored the architecture in more detail and provided initial thoughts to Qlic on changes needed to serve non-profits better. There are many UX opportunities there and ways to improve the website we can see already.
But rather than simply going head first into a redesign or planning a migration in a checkbox way (e.g.. focusing simply on redirects or replying just on ScreamingFrog and other tools to make our conclusions) we suggested we go back to the marketing basics and explore our audience in depth. The initial analysis showed us the current user journeys, but how can we improve them, and who are actually these users we are talking about? We suggested we run a workshop with the team that will help us develop marketing basics such as:
- Persona profiles – The nonprofit sector does not have a homogenous user base. Within it, you have personas that have different problems, are asking different questions and are looking for different solutions. The first step is to understand who these people are and how we can help them find what they are looking for on the website
- User journeys – Once we know who they are, we need to plan how the website will guide them to the answers they are looking for. Ultimately, we want the relevant users to call or submit a form. But the journey here is not linear. How people buy has changed drastically, and an effective user journey needs to account for this.
Going back to the basics will not only allow Qlic to launch a much more user-friendly website, but it will also have an impact on other channels and on how customers are understood and served by the company at large. It will feed into SEO (e.g. new topic opportunities), social channels (how the team structures their calendars) and other channels. And, hopefully, bring together sales and marketing in a meaningful way.
Section 6:
Main Takeaways – Best SEO Practices for IT Companies
If you are an IT company looking to succeed in SEO, our work with Qlic IT has several best practices you should keep in mind. Your SEO strategy should include the elements we discussed here (such as technical audit, keyword analysis etc.) but it should also take note of some of the main learnings we gained from this account.
Here are 3 best practices SEO you can take forward for your IT service business:
- Make sure you are tracking conversions from the get-go – while there is no such thing as perfect attribution, you still don’t want to rely only on traffic and rankings. While those are metrics you need to track, without conversion tracking, you won’t at least have some kind of indicator of the quality of that traffic. One of the things we regret doing is not setting this up from the initial project in September, which would give us more and better data today. Lesson learned, and now we quote for this even in the initial stages.
- Content, content and content BUT strategically – make sure your keyword research is on point and think of topical relevance, not just individual keywords. And make sure you are producing content at scale and at speed while maintaining quality. One of the great things about working with Qlic has been the relationship with the team. They understand that unless you are producing content, Google will kind of forget about crawling your site. But it’s not about churning any kind of content! Write in-depth, relevant pieces that cover your topic area better than your competitors.
- Not all tasks are created equal and be smart about what you prioritise – whether it’s prioritising which pages to optimise first or which technical issue to fix, you need to be always looking at the effort versus impact element. Don’t trust agencies that make you spend hours changing Image Alt texts!
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