the challenge
InvenioIT, a software company, already had a strong online presence with decent E-E-A-T and a robust blog section that established them as a topical authority. The client was proactive about their website’s performance and sought to further optimize it.
The primary challenges were:
- Blog post cannibalization.
- The impact of AI Overviews (AIO) on organic traffic.
- Service page cannibalization.
- The need for guidance on creating high-performing content briefs.
The starting point
InvenioIT had a well-performing website with:
- Decent E-E-A-T.
- A strong blog section demonstrating topical authority.
the process
A comprehensive SEO strategy was implemented to address the identified challenges and further enhance the website’s performance.
The process involved a combination of SEO activities:
Technical and Content Audit
- A technical SEO audit was conducted, and minor errors such as redirection and schema markup issues were resolved.
- A content audit was performed to identify low-performing blog posts and address keyword cannibalization.
Content Optimization
- Low-performing blog posts with no backlinks were removed (404).
- Content from valuable but thin blog posts was merged into better-performing pages targeting the same keywords.
- The performance of the consolidated pages was assessed, showing increased rankings and clicks.
Addressing AI Overviews (AIO) Impact
- The impact of Google’s AIO was assessed. While clicks to main-performing blog posts decreased, impressions and positions remained largely unchanged.
- Long-tail and question-based blog posts and pages were heavily featured in People Also Ask (PAA) and AIO.
Content Brief Guidance
Detailed guidance was provided to the client on creating winning content briefs, including:
- Keyword research and clustering.
- Page formatting.
- Adding short intros with key insights.
- Logical text grouping.
- Strategic internal linking.
- External citations for credibility.
- Natural integration of secondary keywords.
- Creating content rich with closely related sections to satisfy search intent.
This guidance resulted in the creation of high-ranking new service pages and blog posts.
Service Page Cannibalization
- Cannibalization was addressed on main service pages, particularly for “Datto Siris 5”.
- Competing service pages were slightly optimized, and internal links with exact keyword anchor text were added.
- Less relevant pages were deoptimized or put on draft, including some blog pages that captured a lot of “Datto” keywords.
The results
The implemented strategy successfully maintained and improved the website’s performance, even with the challenges posed by AI Overviews.
- The site overcame negative traffic tendencies from AIO, maintaining steady performance.
- Core service pages improved their performance and achieved leading positions for key terms like “Datto Siris 5” and “Datto Siris 5 pricing.”
- Competing pages were deoptimized or redirected.
- The site maintained stable traffic from informational queries and is heavily featured in different informational queries in AIO for related keywords.
- The client achieved first-page ranking and a featured snippet for the high-converting keyword “Datto Siris 5 pricing,” outranking the product creator, Datto.
- The client is featured in AIO and has a featured snippet for “Redstor Salesforce Backup pricing.”
- The client also ranks well for keywords like “BullPhish ID Pricing” and “Datto EDR pricing.”
Screenshots:
Proofs of Top Rankings (using a VPN)
If you’re a software company looking to maximize your online presence, overcome challenges like AI Overview competition, and drive targeted traffic, let’s talk about taking your SEO to the next level.
