case study search engine

• Library Catalogue

Finding case studies

On this page, introduction, finding cases, sample cases, developing and analysing cases.

"Case studies" can mean examples from organizations provided simply to illustrate a point or descriptions of organizational situations designed to be interpreted and analyzed by a learner. The resources below provide a mix of all types of case studies.

This guide also includes some resources that will be of more use to students (e.g., the tips on finding case studies in databases) and other resources that instructors will find useful (e.g., the links to case clearinghouses).

If you don't find what you need here, don't hesitate to ask for help .

  New!  We've recently added another 600+ new cases to our Sage Business Cases resource! 

Try searching the SFU Library catalogue  and include ( case study OR case studies OR cases ) as part of your search. Check out these sample searches:

("case study" OR "case studies" OR cases) AND "organizational behavior"

("case study" OR "case studies" OR cases) AND "strategic management"

("case study" OR "case studies" OR cases) AND "project management"

Also try an Advanced Search  in which you look for case studies in the Subject field, combined with your specific need (entrepreneurship? strategy?) as a Keyword. Add case* in the Title field as well to increase your chance of getting books that contain large numbers of cases. You can also start by  searching for books that have cases in the title AND " case studies" in the subject .

In the SFU Library catalogue, try searching for theses & graduating projects by SFU Business students. Such publications often involve specific case studies. Try searching the catalogue  again, but this time combine the word theses (plural) with your topic. See these sample searches for example theses AND "electronic commerce"  // theses AND "electronic arts" .  Also, try Dissertations and Theses Abstracts and Index  for theses completed elsewhere. See our guide to Finding University Theses and Projects from Simon Fraser and Other Universities for more suggestions.

• In Business Source Complete enter your search terms, then either check off the Document Type Case study or include the Subject Case studies as part of your search.
• CBCA Fulltext Business offers similar ways of finding case studies: either choose the Document Type (click on More Search Options) Case study or include the Subject Case studies as part of your search.
• See the Sample cases area below for some specific journals focusing on business cases.

Websites & databases

Most cases sold by places such as Harvard or the Richard Ivey School of Business are not available via the library. You usually need to pay for the cases if you are not a faculty member, or if you are a faculty member and you want to assign cases in your class. If you are a student and a case has been assigned as a reading in your class, double check with your instructor to see if the case might have been pre-purchased for all members of your class.

Sage Business Cases A global and diverse collection of case studies designed to help students see theoretical business concepts put into practice. This collection is available to all SFU students, instructors, and alumni. See this blog post for further details.

Harvard Business School Cases Harvard's cases are available for direct purchase from the HBR Store .  Qualified and registered instructors  can access Harvard's Educator site to preview cases and access Teaching Notes and other supporting materials. Also see below for a discussion on how to find a small number of HBS cases in the Harvard Business Review.

The Case Centre (formerly the European Case Clearing House) "[T]he largest single source . . . of management case studies in the world. We hold and distribute all cases produced by the world's best-known management teaching establishments, as well as case studies in many languages produced by individual authors from almost every corner of the globe." Search for a case, then click on the link for an "inspection copy" (if available) and follow the links to register as a faculty member.

Richard Ivey School of Business - Cases Faculty can register to preview cases. Note that we have several books in the Ivey Casebook Series .

Cases online via the Harvard Business Review 

Try searching for Harvard Business Review in the Publication Name field in Business Source Complete, then checking the box to limit your search to the Document Type " case study."  Add in other terms to focus your search. 

Note that only a very small subset of all Harvard Business School (HBS) cases are published in the HBR.  The majority of Harvard's business cases are sold only to individuals and classes, not to libraries for use by the entire institution.

Journals that feature case studies

• Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases : provides "suitable, contemporary case materials for teaching topics in the organisation and management of information systems and on the social consequences of information technology." Note that this is a spin-off journal from the Journal of Information Technology which used to publish such cases. 
• International Journal of Case Studies in Management : Cases from 2003-2012 available via our CBCA database.
• International Journal of Management Cases : The IJMC is the official journal of the CIRCLE Research Centre. CIRCLE (Centre for International Research Consumers, Locations and their Environments) is a virtual research group in over 70 universities.
• Allied Academies International Conference: Proceedings of the International Academy for Case Studies (IACS)
• Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies : Presents classroom teaching cases, with instructor's notes, on any subject which might be taught in a Business School.
• Business Case Journal , Journal of Critical Incidents , and Journal of Case Studies : All from the Society for Case Research
• Asian Case Research Journal : Cases on Asian companies & MNCs operating in Asia-Pacific. No access to the most recent 12 months.
• Journal of Case Research in Business & Economics

Other online sources for cases

• CaseBase & CaseBase2: Case Studies in Global Business : Covers business case studies focused on issues in emerging markets and emerging industries across the globe.
• Business Ethics Case Studies : A few cases from Business Ethics Canada - St. Mary's University
• The Case Centre (formerly the European Case Clearinghouse) offers a selection of free cases .
• Business Gateway : Case studies from Scotland on starting and running a small business.
• The Times 100 : Free business case studies on real life companies. 
• Acadia Institute of Case Studies (Acadia University): Most studies are focused on small business and entrepreneurship and include teaching notes. Some of them even include short videos. Permission is granted for educational use. Note that the AICS site appears to be currently inaccessible, so we've linked to the Web Archive version of their site as of late 2019.
• Company-specific case studies: Intended as examples of how customers have used or could use their products: IBM , Intel , and LANSA .
• Advertising Educational Foundation: Case histories : "Case histories give you an inside look at the steps advertising agencies and advertisers take to create a campaign and how effective it can be. Case histories show the preceding issue/problem, the response and the outcome. Creative is included."
• MarketLine cases in Business Source : Mostly strategic analysis cases featuring large, global companies.
• Open Case Studies : An interdisciplinary collection of cases from UBC that are licensed to allow others to revise and reuse them. Very few of the cases are explicitly categorized as "business," but many of the cases on topics such as Conservation may be useful in a business context.

  An example of case analysis that might give you a sense of what's expected/possible: 

In 1989, the journal Interfaces published an HBS case and asked its readers to submit their analyses. Those analyses were then compiled into two subsequent articles, providing a useful example of the many ways business issues could be viewed and resolved.

Initial case : Porteus, E. L. (1989). The Case Analysis Section: National Cranberry Cooperative . Interfaces, 19 (6), 29–39. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/10.1287/inte.19.6.29 (Note: this case has been revised multiple times. If it is assigned in your class, make sure you are using the most current revision, mostly likely only available via HBS.)

Analyses:  #1: Porteus, E. L. (1993). Case Analysis: Analyses of the National Cranberry Cooperative -- 1. Tactical Options . Interfaces, 23 (4), 21–39. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/10.1287/inte.23.4.21

#2: Porteus, E. L. (1993). Case Analysis: Analyses of the National Cranberry Cooperative -- 2. Environmental Changes and Implementation . Interfaces, 23 (6), 81–92. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/10.1287/inte.23.6.81

• Rotterdam School of Management: CDC Case Writing Training Material Valuable advice to aspiring case writers via a 4-part series in our Sage Business Cases database.
• Why teach with cases? : reflections on philosophy and practice (2022 ebook)
• The ultimate guide to compact cases : case research, writing, and teaching   (2022 ebook)
• Writing, Teaching, and Using Cases : A January 2014 presentation by Leyland Pitt and Michael Parent (both of SFU). Michael and Leyland led a full-day workshop with a focus on case teaching.
• The case writing workbook : a guide for faculty and students : "Designed as an individualized workshop to assist case authors to structure their writing..."
• Guide for Contributors: Tips for Writing Cases : From the publishers of our SAGE Business Cases (SBC) database. Also see the SBC's  Author Guidelines .
• Learning Effectively with Case Studies: A Conversation between a Professor and a Former MBA Student
• The case study companion : teaching, learning and writing business case studies : All angles in one recent (2021) ebook!
• The Case Writer's Toolkit :  "... to help writers visualise concepts, signpost ideas, break down complex information and apply techniques in a practical manner."
• A Brief Guide to Case Teaching : A free guide from The Case Centre
• Teaching with Cases : A Practical Guide : "... focuses on practical advice for instructors that can be easily implemented. It covers how to plan a course, how to teach it, and how to evaluate it."
• Teaching & Authoring Tools : Part of the Ivey Cases site, this page offers documents and videos to help you create your own cases, as well as lists of additional resources.
• Application of a Case Study Methodology by Winston Tellis: (The Qualitative Report, Volume 3, Number 3, September, 1997). This academic article covers the social science methodologies involved in designing, conducting and analysing a case study. It also features a detailed bibliography.
• The Art and Craft of Case Writing (3rd ed. 2012): "[A] practical, comprehensive, and multidisciplinary guide that blends an informal, workshop-style with solid theory and practice." Includes a section on video, multimedia, and Internet cases.
• Basics of Developing Case Studies : Part of the Free Management Library , this site has some basic information on how to develop a case study, as well as links to some sample cases.
• A Guide to Case Analysis : Focus is on how to analyse company cases when learning strategic management techniques. (Depending on your browser settings, you may need to right click this link and open it in a new tab or download it.)
• Case Studies: Overview  (from Cengage): Covers both analysing and writing a case study from the perspective of a business student. From the same publisher: A student's guide to analysing case studies .
• Case Analysis Guide : Developed by a publisher to support students using a Strategic Management text, but applicable in many other situations.
• Short videos on how to approach a case study by the author of the Case Study Handbook: A Student's Guide
• Videos: What is the Case Method? : from The Case Centre

Also, try the subject heading " Case method " in the SFU Library catalogue for books on using the case method in your classes. Suggested sample case method books:

• Encyclopedia of case study research ( print )
• Case study research: design and methods (4th edition, 2009; print )
• Case study research: principles and practices ( online or  print )
• Case writing for executive education: a survival guide ( print )

You might also want to try checking an index of education articles such as ERIC : start with the subject heading (or Descriptor) Case Method (Teaching Technique) .  Alternatively, try our Education Source database using Case method (Teaching) as your subject search term. 

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30 Best SEO Case Studies: Real Examples & Results That Work

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How would you like to read the best SEO case studies ever published?

More importantly, how would you like to copy the best practices in search engine optimization that are based on real-world examples and not just theory?

Below, you’ll find a list of the top 30 SEO case study examples along with the results and key findings. By studying these SEO case studies and applying the lessons learned on your own site, you can hopefully achieve similar results for your SEO campaigns.

Table of Contents

Best SEO Case Studies

How i increased my organic traffic 652% in 7 days  – backlinko seo case study.

Learn how Brian Dean used the “Skyscraper Technique 2.0” to increase his organic SEO traffic to one of his web pages by 652%. This same approach helped a brand new post hit the #1 spot in Google within a few weeks. The case study is full of screenshots, key findings, and guided steps for you to follow.

SEO Investment – Google Search Central Case Study

Find out how an investment in SEO and implementing applicable structured data can improve user experience and increase organic traffic on Google Search.

How to Create a Squeeze Page That Converts at 74.5%  – Gotch SEO Case Study

See how Nathan Gotch used 9-step approach to create a squeeze page that converts at 74.5%. The tactics revealed in this case study also boosted another one of the pages by 69%, so you know it’s a proven method that works.

From 126 to 121,883 Unique Visitors in Under 6 Months – Ahrefs SEO Case Study

This SEO case study example focuses on Northmill, a Fintech company founded in Stockholm. It reveals how you can analyze your business competitors to develop higher-quality content that will gain a huge amount of traffic and convert those readers into customers. Read it to find out exactly what Northmill did during an SEO campaign to go from 126 unique visitors to 121,883 in under 6 months.

Ranking in 24 Hours in the Competitive SEO Niche – SEO Chatter Case Study

This case study was a partnership between SEO Chatter and Keyword Chef. It shows you how much organic traffic and money was earned by publishing 45 blog posts based on keywords found with the Keyword Chef tool. You’ll also discover the steps taken to get those posts to rank in the top 10 positions on Google within 24 hours or less after publishing.

From 0 to 75,000 Visits A Year – Ryan Darani Case Study

Find out complete details on the challenges, limits, budgets, and timeframes for a client that went from 0 clicks per day to now 300-400 on average with only 60 pieces of content on the site.

How We 4x’d Traffic and Doubled Revenue in E-Commerce – Diggity Marketing SEO Case Study

This is one of the best SEO case studies for e-commerce. Inside, you’ll learn how an e-commerce client grew their traffic by 417% in 8 months. You’ll get the exact SEO strategies deployed, content improvements, and backlink tactics. The results speak for themselves: an extra $48,000 in additional monthly revenue was achieved for a total of 112% increase in overall revenue.

Diggity Marketing is also featured on my SEO secrets page and is a good resource for more SEO success case studies.

6-Step Process That Generated 150,732 Visits  – Robbie Richards SEO Case Study

In this SEO case study, you’ll learn a repeatable 6-step process that one SEO marketer used to get his client to #1 in Google. This strategy helped him outrank big name brands like Mashable, and increase organic traffic by 11,065% in just 6 months.

Scaling an Outdoor Niche Site to a $175K Exit – The Website Flip SEO Case Study

Get a complete month-by-month breakdown of how one business bought a website on Flippa and scaled it for a $175,000 exit. You’ll learn every step they took with SEO and site improvements from day one of the purchase at $23,000 and the sale 22 months later, all while making $100,938 revenue on top of the final sales price.

How Long Does It Take to Rank for A Keyword  – Bloggers Passion SEO Case Study

Find out how long it really takes for a keyword to hit the first page of Google in this case study. SEO for a new post can take some time to kick in before the page generates thousands of visitors from search. But how long do you have to wait? Is it one week, 30 days, or longer? Read this data-packed example to find out as well as get actionable steps you can take to speed up the ranking process.

Traffic Improves SEO and Affects Google Rankings – Cognitive SEO Case Study

This company tracked a strong correlation between a spike in traffic from a Reddit post to an increase in Google rankings for an ultra-competitive keyword. Find out how they experienced a boost from the 74th position to the 8th in Google search results in just one day.

$780 Revenue In Month 1 with An Aged Domain – Stream SEO Case Study

This is an ongoing case study of a website built on an aged domain. In this first post, you’ll learn how the aged domain was resurrected and what SEO steps were taken in the first month to generate $780.

Large Images In Google Search – Google Search Central Case Study

Learn how having large images in Discover on Google can improve click-through rates and increase visits to publisher websites.

How I Increased SEO Traffic by 600% in 24 Months  – WordStream SEO Case Study

The author of this case study took a site from 20,000 monthly visitors to over 150,000 (a 600% increase) with mostly on-page SEO updates and internal linking methods. He even unpublished 90% of the content on the blog. Learn the four SEO techniques that he used in the right way to explode the search traffic.

A Case Study of Winning in Local SEO  – SEMrush Blog SEO Case Study

This case study talks about how to improve local SEO for a business. It uses the example of a local taxi company in a competitive market. Local SEO can be tough to crack because you’re dealing with two sets of algorithms: organic search results and maps; and maps can be fairly tricky to get ranked in. Find out what courses of action the author took to get this taxi business to appear within the local map pack for almost all main search queries within the city itself.

How To 4x Organic Traffic In 6-Months Using Pure SEO Basics – Authority Builders SEO Case Study

This is an interesting case study on SEO because the site that was studied had increased organically from 7,000 visitors per month to about 68,000 between January to April. The site owner was doing a lot of things right but many simple things were also being done wrong. Find out here how you don’t need fancy SEO tricks to get high rankings and traffic to your blog or website. Once the author performed a technical SEO audit and put into place some off-page optimization strategies like link velocity, anchor text ratios, and relevance, the site’s traffic quadrupled in the next 6 months.

How to Rank in the First 2 Results on Google – Leanne Wong SEO Case Study

In this case study, you’ll learn five essential steps to optimize your blog posts to rank in the first #2 results on Google. The author used these same methods to rank above 1 million competing pages. She talks about using medium tail keywords, Google’s predictive search queries, strategic keyword placement, and more.

How To 14x Search Traffic In 8 Months – Matthew Woodward SEO Case Study

Matthew Woodward is an expert in search engine optimization and he publishes a lot of SEO case study examples. This one in particular is worth the read because it shows you how SEO doesn’t have to be complicated to get exponential results. Inside, you’ll learn how to create a strong plan of action based on 7 steps. Using these same strategies in this case study, the author We increased traffic on an affiliate website from 2,732 visitors per month to 38,420 in just 8 months (14x higher or 1,306% to be exact).

Data-Informed Strategy Delivers Results – Rise Interactive SEO Case Study

This is an SEO case study for the American Egg Board (AEB), a U.S. The AEB is best known for its long-running slogan, “The Incredible, Edible Egg”, and the Just Mayo scandal. The AEB relies heavily on organic traffic to drive awareness; however, it was experiencing a steady decline in traffic and organic visibility, year-over-year. Learn how the Rise Interactive agency used an integrated site-wide keyword strategy, an SEO-first approach on the site structure, and ways to capitalize existing SEO equity to generate an 87% increase in mobile traffic and 22% improvement in desktop traffic.

How an Integrated, Keyword-Driven Blog Strategy Increased Organic Traffic to a Leading Analytical Laboratory’s Blog by 58% – TopRank Marketing SEO Case Study

This is one of the shortest and best SEO case studies you’ll ever find. You can read through it in under 3 minutes. But don’t let the length fool you; the data and actionable takeaways are priceless. Discover how Innovatech Labs, a leading analytical laboratory in Minnesota, used an integrated keyword-driven blog strategy that consisted of a five-step targeted plan to generate an increase of 58% traffic to the blog. As an indirect improvement, the site also received a 33% growth in newsroom traffic to qualified product pages and 19% increase in overall pageviews.

Organic Visitors Increased by 87%, Located in Target Local Cities – Wastecycle SEO Case Study

The client behind this case study is Wastecycle, a sustainable waste management company that provides a recycling and waste management service. Wastecyle wanted to get more business by reaching customers looking for local skip hire and Hallam digital marketing agency provided local SEO strategies to achieve this goal. Read the SEO case study to find out how the agency generated an 87% increase in organic visitors in local cities, 150% increase in clicks for the targeted term “skip hire”, and 297 varied phrases achieving page one rankings on Google.

How We Ranked on the First Page of Google for 4 Competitive Keywords in Just 8 Months – OutreachMama SEO Case Study

This case study is a few years old but everything in it still highly relevant for today. Find out how a link building company used a 3-step strategy to rank on the first page of Google for four target keywords and in the top 3 results for two of those keywords. The case study explains the way the company built links, what pages were targeted, the anchor text used, and the timelines for each phase.

Design Modo Penalty Removal Boosts Organic Traffic by 61.79% – Reposition SEO Case Study

This is a good SEO success case study to read because it focuses on Google penalty removals. You can skim through in less than one minute too. Design Modo, a resource for digital designers and developers, had an apparent partial penalty that had gradually decreased its organic traffic month on month. Reposition SEO agency got involved and found out that the root of the penalty was due to Design Modo’s outbound links rather than the usual inbound links. After a few tweaks and a reconsideration request to Google, the organic traffic increased 61.79% along with an 86% improvement in all keyword rankings.

An Increased In Total Organic Users By 555% – Victorious SEO Case Study

This case study follows the journey of Oji Vape, a wholesale vaping supplied company, that initially got burned by an agency that used outdated SEO tactics that no longer applied to Google’s constantly evolving algorithms. After switching to Victorious SEO agency, Oji Vape experienced a 555% increase in organic visitors within 8 months. This has translated to a 745% improvement in goal completions that took into account sales inquiries by phone and online form submissions. Find out what Victorious did to achieve these amazing results.

Content Strategy for a B2B Furniture Supplier – Web Talent Marketing SEO Case Study

This case study goes beyond SEO tactics and enters the realm of conducting a good content strategy. The B2B furniture supplier client had invested in search engine optimization for a few years with a primary focus on link building. But the newly hired agency felt like the furniture company needed to diversify its SEO strategy in order to remain competitive in the organic search results and acquire new customers that were not familiar with the brand. After a bit of work, the agency achieved these results: 34,878 organic entrances to blog posts (48% of all organic traffic), increased conversions from blog entrances by 70%, 74 keywords on page one of Google search results, and 13 featured snippet results.

313% More Organic Traffic with REAL Examples – From the Future SEO Case Study

This case study examines the SEO results from 3 different websites, in 3 totally different niches, that all have different conversion metrics for “success.” Learn what steps were taken to run an SEO campaign for each website to meet the key goals for success.

How We Got a 32% Organic Traffic Boost from 4 On-Page SEO Changes – Moz SEO Case Study

In this case study, you’ll learn about Wall Street Oasis, an online community focused on careers in finance with over 2 million visits per month. Inside, you’ll discover two of the site’s main SEO problems as a large forum with over 200,000 URLs and the simple solutions that helped it regain its growth trajectory.

A 48% Boost in Year-On-Year Organic Traffic – Brand New Copy SEO Case Study

This case study focuses on Field & Lawn, a marquee hire company that operates throughout the UK. As a result of the hired agency’s efforts, Field & Lawn saw a 48% increase in Year-on-Year traffic, a 5% reduction in bounce rate, and a significant ranking improvement for almost all 42 targeted keywords. Find out what methods were used to gain these increases in visibility and how you can copy them for your own success.

How I Ranked 1800+ Keywords on Page 1 of Google in Just 6 Months – Shane Barker SEO Case Study

In this SEO case study, you’ll discover exactly how Shane Barker ranked 1800+ keywords on the first page of Google search results. He outlines a 6-step strategy that any business can use to achieve similar metrics. What’s also nice about this case study is that the author has a lengthy FAQ section at the end where he answers common questions people have about the methods used for growth with search engine optimization.

7 Steps To 197,514 Monthly Traffic – Apollo Digital SEO Case Study

In this SEO case study, you’ll discover the step-by-step formula of the entire search engine optimization process that Apollo Digital uses to rank its clients’ websites. This study in particle focuses on a SaaS business process management software and how it went from around 8,000 monthly visitors to about 200,000 in less than 2 years. You’ll get everything explained in detail like the content writing process, interlinking strategies, visual improvements, headline tweaking, and of course, SEO tactics.

Read More Case Study Examples

I also have more digital marketing case studies with real results from other industry experts that you can study and use to improve your online marketing campaigns:

• Affiliate marketing case studies
• Content marketing case studies
• Digital marketing case studies
• Email marketing case studies
• PPC case studies
• Social media case studies

What Is an SEO Case Study?

An SEO case study is an in-depth study of search engine optimization in a real-world context. It can focus on one SEO tactic or a group of SEO strategies to find out what works in search engine optimization to improve traffic and organic visibility.

Are Case Studies Good for SEO?

Case studies are good for SEO because you can learn about how to do search engine optimization in an effective way. Instead of just studying the theory of SEO, you can learn from real examples that applied SEO methods to achieve success.

In addition to learning from case studies, you can also get valuable insights from my SEO books list that contains expert search engine optimization training.

Summary for the Best SEO Case Studies

I hope you enjoyed this list of the best SEO case studies that are based on real-world results and not just theory.

As you discovered, the SEO case study examples above demonstrated many different ways to perform well in search engines. By studying the key findings from these examples, and applying the methods learned to your own site, you can hopefully achieve the same positive outcome. New SEO success case studies are being published every month and I’ll continue to update this list as they become available. So keep checking back to read the current sources of information on search engine optimization.

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14 SEO Case Studies: Challenges, Solutions & Results

Christina Lyon

Take inspiration from these successful SEO case studies to rise through the ranks.

Here, you’ll find: 

• What exactly an SEO case study entails
• A handpicked roster of stellar case studies to inspire
• Unique SEO tactics that led to big results
• How case studies can benefit your biz

Constant keyword research, consistent   content writing , user-friendly web design, backlinking … so much goes into a solid search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

What’s more, you might invest a ton of efforts into all these tactics but still struggle to get anywhere near the top  of search results.

Two pieces of good news: You’re not alone, and there are ways to get your rankings where they ought to be.

Reading over a good SEO case study can help inspire new strategies and show you what’s possible with the right plan in place.

To give you a head start, we’ll cover dynamic SEO success stories from HawkSEM as well as other agencies. We’ll share the best tactics, common challenges to overcome, and results to support your marketing efforts. 

Get ready to ramp up your SEO.  First, let’s get back to basics.

What is an SEO case study?

An SEO case study highlights how a consultant or agency partnered with a specific client to drive significant, notable SEO results .

When brands want to beef up their SEO strategy, they often partner with an SEO agency or professional to help them achieve desired outcomes.

A case study helps paint a clear picture of how a brand went from point A to B on the search engine results page, or SERP   — with “B” being results like skyrocketed organic traffic , greater conversion rates , and high keyword rankings. 

But SEO isn’t the same for every brand. Sure, there are overarching categories like content and keywords. But different niches, budgets, and goals distinguish SEO tactics and results across the board. 

Reviewing an SEO case study helps you identify success markers and the strategies used to achieve that success.

With these insights, you can glean tips and tactics to apply to your brand’s SEO strategy. 

14 SEO case studies for top-ranking inspiration

Thousands of monthly traffic hits, 2X conversion boosts, and pumped-up keyword rankings are just a few of the incredible results our clients have experienced with the right SEO services. 

But you’ll notice each brand comes with a unique challenge that informs the right SEO strategy for them. 

  Moneta Group catches local leads with triple-boosted keyword portfolio

Moneta Group has over two decades of experience in the wealth management space. Still, competition increased over time, so we needed to study those competitors and their keywords closely. 

While Moneta wanted to improve national keyword rankings overall, their top priority was to stand out in four local markets.  If you’re also looking to boost visibility in your area, then check out the strategies used in this local SEO case study . 

Strategies:

• Local SEO – We built geo-specific web content to capture potential wealth management clients in the four areas Moneta Group was interested in. On top of that, our beefed-up citation profiles for each office helped solidify independent local ranking signals. 
• Competitive analysis to fill keyword gaps – Moneta still wanted nationwide keyword rankings, so we had to review their competitors to see what was missing. We identified keywords with the lowest competitive metrics and organized them into a brimming content calendar to rank for each one. 
• Content optimization – Moneta had a ton of great content on its website, but it needed a revamp for Google and new audiences. We conducted ongoing, on-page optimization , including backlinking and keyword development. 

Results: 

• 326% increase in net organic keyword portfolio
• 164% increase in organic keywords in positions 1-3
• Over 23% increase in Google Analytics goal completions

  Escape the Room makes a real impression — 4 million, to be exact

With locations across 18 cities and 10 years of industry expertise, Escape the Room is a leader in the live game and entertainment industry. With all those locations to manage, their marketing initiatives fell behind. 

They had a substantial base but needed strategic input to maintain a strong digital footprint. 

Strategies: 

• Metadata revamp – Escape the Room had 16 different locations, and not every website contained optimized metadata. But crawlers dive into these details, so they deserve some attention. That’s why we added new SEO elements like title tags and meta descriptions to keep Google happy. 
• Speedy load time – Slow site speed can send your audience packing after just a few seconds. We dove into each website’s assets to remove anything clunky and decrease load time. This also improved mobile responsiveness. 
• Quality content creation – From team-building ideas for company staff to escape room tips and tricks, there was no shortage of relevant content to create for Escape the Room. We paired new pieces of content with fresh, snazzy website designs to attract information-seeking readers, planting the seeds for conversion later on. 
• Achieved an account-wide peak of 62% impression share
• Hit a record number 4 million monthly impressions
• Reached an all-time-high account-wide ad position of 1.1 for the brand

  DesktopReady waves hello from the top of the SERPs

A new website launch caused DesktopReady to experience a traffic slump, despite being a leader in their industry with over 1 million users on their desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) solution. How could they maintain their leading position in this space with endless competition and minimal organic traffic ?

We knew what we had to do. 

• Technical SEO audit – New website launches sometimes miss the mark with SEO. We conducted a full audit to catch all issues affecting the site’s appeal to SERPs . 
• Content all around – We optimized old content with new targeted key terms and created new content to target more qualified leads and foster website traffic . 
• SEO support for social media profiles and YouTube – Believe it or not, your social profiles matter, too. So, we optimized DesktopReady’s social media to complement its strong web content and backlink profile. 
• Increased users by 409%
• Grew backlinks from 822 to 1,340
• Jumped from 4 to 468 terms in SERP rankings

Keyword revamps, backlink strategies, and content creation are not the simplest tasks to complete on a marketer’s endless to-do list. Luckily, an SEO agency can check all those boxes for you. 

  Honda doubles traffic and reaches 30 million people

Honda Motor Co. wanted to promote their new Civic hatchback and Accord models to South American audiences. The problem? They were competing for keywords with their dealership partners. 

On top of that, Honda just wasn’t reaching their target demographic with their existing content. 

• New and improved keyword targets – We needed to get Honda and its dealers on the same page. So, we looked at the digital marketing goals for all parties and created new keyword targets for each to follow. 
• Audience research – Honda had a target demographic, but SEO campaigns just weren’t reaching them. We sat down to discuss the brand’s unique selling points and linked them to their customers’ needs via tailored SEO content and keyword research . 
• 30% decrease in CPC (cost per conversion) 
• 40% increase in dealer inquiries
• 200% increase in traffic

  Zephyr sees massive gains in lead volume and market share

When leading SaaS company Zephyr came to us, their digital marketing strategy was across the board and lacked cohesion. With campaigns and goals in place, they needed help reigning everything into a sharp message and aligned approach. 

With so many team members and initiatives at play, everyone was hamster-wheeling and struggling to stay caught up. 

This lapse in cohesion created a hodgepodge of mixed messaging, and, not surprisingly, they weren’t bringing in as many qualified leads as they desired. 

• Big picture strategy: The first thing we did was get everyone on board about how to organize each and every initiative to work together cohesively. With an aligned, collaborative vision, we created a more unified strategy for all digital marketing campaigns.
• Landing page redesign and optimization: We tackled creative from the get go and redesigned a landing page that was working against Zephyr by not engaging its visitors. Plus, the lead form was long and convoluted. With an engaging, dynamic new landing page design and a more efficient lead form, Zephyr saw immediate results–we’re talking double the lead volume than the original landing page. 
• 100% increase in Zephyr’s lead volume with the new landing page
• $250 decrease in CPA

  Career Group Companies boosts job applications with keyword revamp

Imagine you’re an employer with a ton of job listings, and you aren’t receiving any applications. Career Group Companies , a staffing agency, faced this problem. The culprit? Less-than-stellar SEO was hiding their listings from prospective candidates. 

We got to work with tried-and-true SEO tactics to improve the brand’s connection with their audience, drive more traffic, and improve application volume.

• Keyword portfolio expansion – We needed to understand why people looking for certain jobs weren’t landing on Career Group Companies’ listings. The answer was a few adjustments to their keyword portfolio, including long-tail variations and keyword phrases that included specific job titles and industries. 
• Data-driven strategy – Our proprietary tech, ConversionIQ ™, helps us decrypt all the data to reveal the whole picture of your SEO and content marketing campaigns. We used our platform to gather sophisticated data across multiple channels and identify qualified and unqualified leads to inform a greater SEO strategy . 
• New content assets – Career Group Companies wanted to highlight diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and channel company-wide goals in their content. Naturally, we created new content assets to accommodate these goals and optimized existing content as well. 
• 43% increase in job listing page views from organic traffic
• 71% increase in entrances from organic searches directly to job listing pages
• Significant growth in the candidate pipeline

  Content, colors, and CTAs bring Happy Ears Hearing Center a nearly 4X traffic increase

Happy Ears Hearing Center is a Phoenix-based audiology office that offers specialized ear healthcare services to clients. The company had two SEO goals: one, to capture the local audience that would best benefit from their services. And two? Establish their brand as a national industry expert on hearing issues. 

We tackled a wider net of keywords and user experience improvements to garner more conversions. 

Strategies : 

• U ser experience enhancement – Don’t you hate clicking on a web page only to be met with a long, boring block of text? We spiced things up on Happy Ears’ website with colors, digestible headers, and engaging calls to action (CTAs). This led to more local conversions and appointments. 
• Expanded keyword targets – Happy Ears wants to be an online go-to for all things hearing. So, we had to research what its audience was plugging into Google and expand that across the whole country. 
• 245% increase in total organic keyword rankings 
• 396% increase in organic traffic
• 44% increase in local conversions

Happy Ears had its audiology services on-point. With added focus on the online user experience, readers benefited from their knowledge and expertise.

  More visuals and updated keywords help Dilo recover lost rankings

DILO is a gas-handling product and service provider with decades of experience, but even its longstanding SEO wasn’t immune to a website redesign in 2019. 

We’ve seen it before: lost traffic and dropped keyword rankings from a new launch or migration. And in DILO’s case, those lost rankings were high-value keywords that it really needed to get back in order to re-establish its place in the industry. 

• On-page optimization – We always conduct a technical SEO audit after a redesign. This time, we fixed a few speed and navigation issues. Next step? Content optimization with updated target keywords and meta tags.
• Visual content – The gas industry isn’t the easiest to grasp, even with an organized, comprehensive article. We introduced more infographics and charts into DILO’s content to improve organic traffic and the user experience . 
• 36% increase in organic clicks within 6 months
• 24% increase in Google clicks for high-value keywords within 3 months
• 46% increase in Google impressions within 3 months

  Easly hits the SEO ground running with 70 new pieces of optimized content

Easly is a Canada-based platform that provides capital advances on SR&ED grants to innovative new brands. 

The company was new to the digital marketing world and came to HawkSEM with a brand-new website. It was our job to get it off the SEO ground with relevant content and authority to appeal to their audiences. 

• New content to the max – We had to start from scratch, and 70 new pieces of content did the trick. Of course, we had to ensure the information was flawless and accurate to capture niche audiences for this brand. And we wrote for every potential customer in the funnel, from curious onlookers to conversion-ripe audiences. 
• Domain authority – Easly was still fresh to Google’s eyes. They didn’t have enough external or internal links to channel credibility and thought leadership. We focused on creating linkable content that naturally brought backlinks from other reputable industry players. 
• Technical tidbits – New websites always have a few snags. We enhanced site speed and adjusted some web elements to improve the mobile experience. 
• 2,500% increase in referring domains
• 40+ featured snippet results on Google
• 1,500% increase in the brand’s keyword portfolio

People love reassurance, especially before making a purchase. A content library brimming with industry knowledge and helpful tips delivers that assurance to both readers and search engine crawlers. 

Wind River triples CTR with PPC and SEO management

Wind River is a global SaaS brand that helps companies with digital transformation for vital intelligence systems in the aerospace, medical, automotive, and defense spaces. 

They originally came to us for PPC services , but every cohesive marketing strategy leverages SEO, too. 

• Internal linking – We improved site navigation and organic rankings by finding relevant placements for internal links across Wind River’s content. 
• Content research – Tech niches are abundant with potential content, but you really need to ensure audience relevance before you start writing. We conducted competitive analysis and keyword research to inform our content calendar. 
• Technical and on-page SEO – We covered our technical bases by cleaning up metadata and title tags. On top of that, we ensured logical formatting for web content with H1s and H2s, as well as updated all pieces of content with relevant keyword targets. 
• 20% decrease in ad spend
• 294% increase in clickthrough rate (CTR)
• 39% increase in users

  Samanage reaps organic traffic with a poppin’ content calendar

Asset management and service-desk SaaS brand Samanage operates across 50 different countries. Despite their global presence, they still had trouble ranking in the SERPs . 

A custom-coded WordPress template impeded them from making technical SEO changes to appeal to Google’s crawlers. Plus, their blog wasn’t aligned with a cohesive SEO strategy , so they enlisted marketing agency Tinuiti to help them get on track. 

• Robust content strategy – Tinuiti published over 65 pieces of content for Samanage across various types. They started with keyword-targeted blog posts and expanded to whitepapers, landing pages, and more evergreen content to improve web visibility. 
• Blog redesign – Brainstorming ways to improve conversion rate optimization ? Take a page from Tinuiti’s playbook and optimize your blog’s design elements with overall website A/B testing. 
• 42.14% increase in organic traffic YoY
• High rankings for non-branded keywords

Mommy’s Bliss builds trust with new audiences via link building

When you’re a mom-and-pop shop, marketing might be as easy as a Facebook ad or physical sign. But when you start expanding, things get more hectic. 

Mommy’s Bliss sells high-quality baby products, and experienced immense growth that spurred an entire website redesign. Those two events can seriously throw your SEO strategy off-course.

Luckily, help from HawkSEM made all the difference, as showcased in this ecommerce SEO case study .

• Backlinking for credibility – Mommy’s Bliss expanded its audience, so new visitors might not have been aware of the company’s strong values and credentials. That’s why we needed to launch a backlinking strategy to establish E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness). Think about it: parents need to feel 100% confident in a brand before purchasing a product for their kids. 
• Daily SEO management – HawkSEM offers all clients a dedicated manager to oversee progress, strategize improvements, and catch any snags before they develop into bigger problems. We handled all the SEO oversight so Mommy’s Bliss could focus on creating new products for its booming audience. 
• Over 65% increase in organic sessions year over year
• 79% increase in total keyword rankings
• Doubled goal completions

Forks Over Knives leverages search data to recover lost traffic during COVID

The pandemic kept people at home and away from Forks Over Knives’ website. The health lifestyle brand noticed a slump in organic search traffic , along with a decrease in search volume for their target keywords . 

But the problem wasn’t their rankings. They still held top spots for their target keywords , people just weren’t typing them into Google anymore. Search intent had changed, and marketing agency Wpromote knew the keywords needed to change, too. 

• Trend research – Wpromote used Google Trends data to understand how people were shifting their search queries and which keywords were replacing the old ones. 
• Content strategy shift – When life gives you new keywords, you make new recipes (at least, that’s what Forks Over Knives did during the pandemic). Everyone was looking for recipes, so Wpromote used trend data to predict the most highly searched recipes to create content for. 
• 278,000 organic sessions for their “banana recipes” pages
• 41% increase in total organic sessions month over month (MoM)
• #1 trafficked all-channel landing page since publishing

People adapt with the times, and your SEO strategy should, too.

Even enterprise-level SaaS businesses like Vimeo need to stay sharp on their SEO . With over 260 million users uploading hundreds of thousands of videos on the daily, it’s not surprising that indexing and structure data issues arose.

Customers struggled to conduct basic SEO tasks to optimize their videos, like indexing APIs, adding structured data to their sites, submitting sitemaps, and beyond. Meaning? They weren’t getting as many eyes on their video content.

The solution? Vimeo got on board with Google’s SEO best practices to improve visibility and searchability for their active customers.

• Allowing customers to index videos at scale – Vimeo streamlined the indexing process to allow embedded videos to show up on Google’s SERPs. By using iframe embeds and noindex in tandem, embedded Vimeo videos from customer websites’ could be indexed and thus, provide more visibility to their own web page without the mess of adding individual markups for each video.
• Making Key Moments searchable – Ever searched for how to boil an egg and had to skip past the first three minutes to get to the instructions? Annoying, right? Fortunately, you won’t have this problem anymore because time-stamped segments of Vimeo’s video content now show up in Google Search. By adding Clip markup to all video pages and rolling out Seek markup (auto-generated Chapters that Google identifies as Key Moments), Vimeo customers can now attract more organic traffic to specific segments within each video.  

When it comes to visibility and video content, Google and Vimeo go together like PB&J.

The takeaway

Whether you’re running a small business or a giant ecommerce operation, SEO success is vital for a modern online marketing strategy. 

Each of these SEO case studies shows key takeaways and tactics you can apply to create the most effective strategy for your business goals.

And if you still need a hand? HawkSEM’s SEO experts have over a  decade of experience helping clients like you improve conversion rates , boost traffic, and smash any other SEO goals on your roster. 

Our clients enjoy an average of 4.5x ROI after working with us. So, let’s turn your SEO into one of our success stories. Book a call today . 

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Reviews & Comparisons

8 seo case studies: examples that will energize your strategy.

Looking to level up your SEO strategy, but need help figuring out where to start? What if you could learn from real-world examples of companies that have successfully improved their rankings and attracted more organic traffic?

I’ve got many compelling SEO case studies from the years I’ve spent learning everything I can about search engine algorithms. I hope these stories help spark ideas and develop strategies you can model in your own efforts.

By seeing what has worked for other businesses, you’ll gain invaluable insights on refining your approach and achieving your SEO KPIs . The case studies we’ll explore cover various industries, goals, and tactics — from revamping on-page content to building high-authority backlinks to recovering from Google penalties.

Discover eight concrete SEO success stories and get actionable tips you can implement today.

What Is an SEO Case Study?

An SEO case study is an in-depth analysis and strategic review of how a website improves its search engine rankings and organic traffic growth over time. SEO case studies explain the goals, technical approach, and results of specific optimization tactics.

The purpose of documenting SEO stories is multifaceted. 

First, they provide a blueprint for success (similar to a product launch checklist ) that others can model because they outline the step-by-step process of what worked to boost rankings and traffic. 

Second, case studies build trust and credibility by showcasing real examples with data and metrics. This is particularly valuable for SEO and SEM agencies creating bottom-of-funnel content to show their potential ROI.

Lastly, case studies are a learning opportunity for all SEO practitioners to improve their own strategies. Analyzing the factors that led to positive ROI, search visibility, and conversions for others helps you identify smart tactics to test on your sites.

In terms of content, a complete SEO case study will cover:

• Initial objectives
• Ranking situation
• Technical audit findings
• Specific on-page and off-page activities
• Time frames for implementation
• Associated costs
• Measurable results month-by-month and year-over-year 

Tracking detailed analytics data is critical. The most compelling case studies also outline the estimated revenue and long-term ROI from the SEO initiatives.

Have you ever created case studies of your own work? They can help you persuade prospects and get more SEO clients .

I’m going to provide “mini” SEO case study examples to give you an idea of what’s possible.

Why Are SEO Case Studies Valuable?

Here’s why SEO case studies are worth reviewing.

• They showcase proven strategies in action. You get to see what combination of tactics boosted rankings and organic traffic for actual sites.
• You learn the step-by-step process of SEO initiatives that generated strong ROI. The case study format allows you to model what worked and avoid the efforts that don’t pay dividends.
• Since case studies focus on the metrics and data, you get real analysis based on actual results — not guesses or estimates. You see what moved the needle.
• By covering time frames in detail, you understand realistic SEO timelines — giving you a framework for smarter goal-setting.
• Well-documented case studies outline the costs associated with SEO efforts , so you can optimize budget and resources.

In short, getting detailed SEO case study examples (particularly from sites in your industry) is like accessing an SEO expert’s blueprint for increasing organic search visibility.

SEO Case Study Examples to Check Out

Here are eight compelling examples that offer key lessons you can apply to your site.

1. Edelweiss Bakery

Edelweiss Bakery is a small, local bakery in Florida that struggled with low online visibility despite having a loyal customer base. To boost their search rankings and web traffic, they partnered with the international SEO agency Why SEO Serious. 

Semrush described how the agency optimized Edelweiss’ on-page elements, conducted technical audits, redesigned the homepage, expanded its site structure, built backlinks , and created an SEO-optimized blog. 

Just four months after implementing these tactics, the bakery attracted 230 backlinks and grew its organic traffic by 214%.

2. Learning with Experts

The demand for online learning is high, and competition for top spots in the SERPs is fierce. Learning with Experts , an online learning community, partnered with UK-based agency Re:signal to boost their low organic visibility. 

Re:signal conducted keyword research, site audits, and on-page optimization. They identified keyword gaps, optimized category pages, improved site structure, and created new blog posts. After five months, organic sessions rose 59%, and Learning with Experts grew their revenue by 94%.

3. CMA Exam Academy

Accountant Nathan Liao created a CMA exam prep course but struggled to scale traffic with paid ads and social media. He saw some organic success but lacked the bandwidth to optimize this site further on his own.

Nathan hired Digital Commerce Partners (DCP), who analyzed and fixed technical SEO issues, reoptimized existing blog posts for quick wins, developed a custom content strategy integrated with DCP’s writers for scalability, and provided monthly reporting.

After a year, CMA Exam Academy saw a 125% revenue jump, increased its pageviews by 121%, and attracted 147% more users. DCP’s multilayered SEO approach drove significant business growth for CEA.

4. The CBD Supplier

UK-based CBD product marketplace The CBD Supplier struggled with low organic visibility in a competitive industry. 

Web design agency Cude targeted long-tail keywords with high search volume and low difficulty. The agency also improved internal linking and built a plan to create topical content clusters. 

This laser-focused SEO strategy grew search traffic by 557% in 12 months. It transformed The CBD Supplier into a mid-5-figure e-commerce business — which is particularly remarkable, given that it previously only generated £1,000 in revenue. 

Avis Car Rental , partnered with digital marketing agency Big Leap in 2018. The rental car company has more than 1,700 locations, so Big Leap focused on local SEO optimization tailored to each specific branch.

The agency conducted extensive audits to optimize individual map listings and citations across search engines. It sought to improve the website’s location pages to rank for key city and state-specific terms.

Big Leap performed in-depth technical SEO audits to identify high-impact areas to target. Then it assembled a team of skilled writers to produce more than 300 original, on-brand pieces of content optimized around high-volume keywords and strategic internal linking. Maintaining quality control was a top priority.

The multi-channel local SEO strategy delivered tremendous ROI. Avis ranked on the first page for 213 additional target keywords, including valuable conversion-focused terms. This led to hundreds of thousands of new qualified leads, accelerating business growth.

6. Healthspan

Health supplement retailer Healthspan approached UK agency Re:signal seeking to improve rankings after a Google Penguin penalty tanked their search visibility. 

Re:signal set goals to increase organic revenue, recover from the algorithm hit, and reduce Healthspan’s reliance on paid search. They worked through the penalty problem using link analysis and optimized for key product terms in the supplement industry. 

The results? Organic revenue rose 144% in a year, enabling Healthspan to cut back on paid search spend. Re:signal also secured high-quality media coverage that showcased Healthspan’s brand on a larger stage.

7. Regional Dentist

A large regional dental provider hired the agency Momentic to improve local search visibility across 14 cities. 

Momentic audited the competitive landscape and optimized location and service pages through content updates. 

Just one month after implementing recommendations, the dental provider increased organic traffic so much that they could turn off paid search. Appointments skyrocketed alongside a 140% increase in organic traffic year-over-year.

8. DesktopReady

Desktop-as-a-service company DesktopReady hired agency HawkSEM after a website relaunch tanked their traffic. HawkSEM audited technical SEO issues, optimized old content, created new targeted content, and enhanced DesktopReady’s social media profiles. 

This multifaceted strategy increased users by 409%, grew backlinks from 822 to 1,340, and catapulted DesktopReady to solid rankings for 468 more keywords . DesktopReady recovered from the traffic plunge and reclaimed its position as an industry leader.

TTT Academy: The Next Step for Your SEO Education

Now that you’ve seen some inspiring SEO case studies that show you what’s possible, I’ve got the next step for you. 

TTT Academy provides the ultimate training environment to grow your SEO knowledge and career. 

Here’s what’s included:

• 200+ hours of exclusive webinars and training from top SEO experts on crucial topics to solve your biggest challenges.
• Highly relevant sessions based on your skill level and current needs with a searchable archive of categorized resources.
• Monthly Q&A calls so you can ask questions and get help applying what you’re learning.
• Downloadable assets like process documents and cheat sheets to start implementing tactics immediately.
• Access to a highly active community that lives and breathes SEO.

If you’re ready to shortcut years of learning curves and trial-and-error in your SEO growth, now’s the time to join TTT Academy. Sign up today to get instant access and start accelerating your SEO skills the fast (and smart) way!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for a Company Website: A Case Study

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• Jorge Esparteiro Garcia   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5710-5557 13 , 14 ,
• Rui Lima 13 &
• Manuel José Serra da Fonseca   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3290-8449 13 , 15  

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 470))

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Search Engine Optimization, or “SEO” for short, helps to improve the inbound user traffic of a website. Optimizing a website for search engines is now crucial to its success and ultimately to the company’s ability to increase the business. Many companies websites on the Internet fail to use any SEO technique or strategy to improve their positioning in search engine results. Therefore, if other digital marketing strategies are not used to promote the website, its traffic will be very restricted. In this study several different SEO techniques were used to improve a website’s overall indexing on the Google search engine. Through the implemented strategy it was possible to improve the positioning in search results of the company’s website used in the case study, allowing several searches with different keywords to show the website on the first page of results. With the results obtained, it was possible to conclude that it is very important to find the perfect balance between SEO keyword competition and monthly search volume. To help select the best keywords for this particular website, the use of SEO tools are of the utmost importance.

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ADiT-LAB, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial Nun’Álvares, 4900-347, Viana do Castelo, Portugal

Jorge Esparteiro Garcia, Rui Lima & Manuel José Serra da Fonseca

INESC TEC, Porto, Portugal

Jorge Esparteiro Garcia

Unidade de Investigação Aplicada em Gestão (UNIAG), Viana do Castelo, Portugal

Manuel José Serra da Fonseca

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ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

Alvaro Rocha

College of Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

Hojjat Adeli

Institute of Data Science and Digital Technologies, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania

Gintautas Dzemyda

DCT, Universidade Portucalense, Porto, Portugal

Fernando Moreira

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Garcia, J.E., Lima, R., da Fonseca, M.J.S. (2022). Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for a Company Website: A Case Study. In: Rocha, A., Adeli, H., Dzemyda, G., Moreira, F. (eds) Information Systems and Technologies. WorldCIST 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 470. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04829-6_47

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Article publication date: 9 August 2011

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques used by websites in order to be better indexed by search engines. This papers aims to focus upon “white hat”, “in page” SEO: techniques to improve one's site content, hereby making it more attractive to human visitors as well as search engines, by making changes within the site's pages while focusing on chosen themes and keywords. The final goal is for the site to be better ranked by one or several targeted search engines and therefore appearing higher in their results lists for specified requests. This paper seeks to describe the steps one must take to reach such a goal, while focusing on the example of the website Fragfornet.

Design/methodology/approach

Fragfornet web pages have been generated through a “website factory” allowing the creation of dynamic websites on demand for the employees of Cemagref. This explains the steps to take to optimize for search engines any website using Zope Plone; even more broadly, the general recommendations described can be used by any website at all to gain more visibility on search engines. After a literature review about search engine optimization, the paper describes the methods used to optimize the website before exposing the results which were quickly obtained.

It was not long before the first effects of the SEO campaign were experienced. One week later, as soon as the Googlebots had crawled the site and stored a newer version of it within their databases, it immediately went up in the results pages for requests concerning forests fragmentation. This paper describes some of the parameters that were monitored and some of the conclusions drawn from them..

Originality/value

This paper's goal is to explain which steps to take for search engines to optimize any website elaborated through Cemagref website factory, or any website using Zope Plone. Even more broadly, the general recommendations described in this paper can be used by any librarian on any website to gain more visibility on search engines.

• Search engine optimization
• Dynamic web site
• Content management system
• Co‐operation

Gandour, A. and Regolini, A. (2011), "Web site search engine optimization: a case study of Fragfornet", Library Hi Tech News , Vol. 28 No. 6, pp. 6-13. https://doi.org/10.1108/07419051111173874

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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Top 20 Enterprise Search Engine Applications & Case Studies in '24

54% of information workers across the globe complain about interrupting their work to look for information, insights and answers. 1   The enterprise search engine solves time loss by helping organizations search and retrieve information across various data sources, including websites, databases, and file systems. 

This article gathers the most common 20 use cases under three main categories: General processes, industry-specific and business function applications. 

General search engine applications 

Some common enterprise search engine applications include:

1.) Knowledge management : Search engines can help organizations manage and search through their knowledge bases, such as articles, manuals, and technical documents. Consequently, employees can quickly access relevant information and improve productivity.

2.) Customer support: Search engines can help customer support teams rapidly find solutions to common customer issues by searching through support articles, user forums, and other resources.

3.) Business intelligence: Enterprise search engines can be used to mine large datasets for insights and trends, helping organizations make data-driven decisions.

4.) User search behavior: Search engines can help understand user search patterns and information usage. This way, organizations can identify knowledge gaps and improve information sharing. 

5.) Ensuring security: Companies can deploy search engines to check all customers against lists of individuals monitored by law enforcement agencies to ensure none of their customers is a public threat.   

6.) Contacting experts: Search engines can filter by using attributes and experience to identify experts. Experts are critical as they may hold 42% of institutional knowledge. 2 As a result, employees can contact experts on given tasks and save time. 

7.) Intranet search: Search engines can be useful for locating information in shared drives and databases. 

8.) Identifying suspicious activities: Search engines can connect to the system’s router, switch, and web server logs or VPN and check for suspicious behavior, such as:

• Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks 
• Suspicious locations 
• Suspicious post addresses
• Large VPN downloads. 

Industry-specific search engine applications 

Enterprise search engines can be applied to a wide range of industries, including:

9.) Healthcare: Healthcare providers can use search engines to quickly access patient records, medical literature, and other relevant information. For example, Mayo Clinic, a leading healthcare provider, deployed a search engine to help its physicians and researchers access patient data, medical literature, and other relevant information quickly and easily. 3   The search engine also enabled the clinic to mine data for insights and trends, helping them make better-informed decisions.

10.) Legal: Law firms and legal departments can use search engines to manage and search through case files, contracts, and other legal documents.

11.) Finance: Banks and financial institutions can use search engines to search through customer data, financial reports, and other financial information. For instance, Goldman Sachs implemented a search engine to help its traders and analysts search through financial data quickly and efficiently. 4  The search engine provided real-time search and analytics capabilities and helped the company identify trends and opportunities more easily.

12.) Information technology: IT departments can use search engines to manage and search through technical documentation, knowledge bases, and other resources.

13.) Manufacturing: Manufacturing companies can use search engines to manage and search through technical documentation, production data, and other relevant information.

14.) E-commerce: Online retailers can use search engines to help customers find products based on their search queries and other criteria, such as price, availability, and customer ratings. For example, Airbnb, an online marketplace for vacation rentals, used a search engine to help its users find and book vacation rentals more easily. 5   The search engine provided personalized search results and recommendations, and it helped the company identify new business opportunities based on user search behavior.

15.) Education: Educational institutions can use search engines to manage and search through research papers, textbooks, and other educational resources.

Business function applications

Some use cases for enterprise search engines contains:

16.) Information management: Enterprise search engines can help organizations efficiently search and manage large amounts of data, including documents, images, and videos.

17.) Sales and marketing: Enterprise search engines can search through sales and marketing data, such as customer information, sales reports, and marketing materials, to identify trends and opportunities.

18.) Human resources: Search engines can help human resources departments manage and search through employee records, resumes, and other relevant information.

19.) Research and development: Enterprise search engines can explore research papers, patents, and other scientific data, helping researchers identify relevant information and make discoveries.

20.) Compliance and risk management: Search engines can help organizations search through compliance documents, regulatory requirements, and other risk management data, making it easier to identify and mitigate risks.

Further reading

Explore more on enterprise engine by checking out:

• Insight Engines: How it works, Why it matters & Use Cases
• Insight Engine vs. Enterprise Search: 7 Key Differences
• Top 10 Knowledge Management Tools: in-Depth Guide

Compare insight engines through our  data-driven and comprehensive list of tools .

If you have more questions and doubts, let us know:

If you need more help, let us: Find the Right Vendors

External Links

• 1. Gualtieri, Mike(2017). “ Cognitive Search Is The AI Version Of Enterprise Search .” Forrester . Revisited March 31, 2023.
• 2. “ Inefficient Knowledge Sharing Costs Large Businesses $47 Million Per Year .” Prnewswire . 2018. Revisited March 31, 2023.
• 3. “ Bringing Healthcare Analytics to the Point-of-Care @ Mayo Clinic .” Elastic . Revisited March 31, 2023.
• 4. “ How the Elastic Stack Changed Goldman Sachs .” Elastic . Revisited March 31, 2023.
• 5. Sng, Alvin; Simon, Hachey (2016). “ How Airbnb manages to monitor customer issues at scale .” Medium . Revisited March 31, 2023.

Next to Read

Analysis of enterprise search engine market & best software in '24, web crawler: what it is, how it works & applications in 2024, knowledge management in 2024: 5 benefits & 7 challenges.

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What is Enterprise Search?: Use Cases & 30+ Tools in '24

Top 10 Knowledge Management Tools in 2024: In-depth Guide

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How to Write an Awesome Case Study That Converts

Here's how to write a case study that showcases the benefits of your product or service and turn visitors into buyers, clients, or customers.

Anyone can write nice things about their own brand.

But backing them up with real-life examples?

That’s another thing altogether.

Glowing promises and ambitious slogans aren’t always enough to convince consumers to try your brand.

A well-constructed case study provides can be the ideal format to showcase the benefits of your product or service – and persuade visitors to become buyers, clients, or loyal customers.

However, writing a compelling case study is no easy task.

Some things you will need to do:

• Thoroughly analyze your actions when working on a certain project.
• Gather customer feedback.
• Summarize all your mistakes and victories.
• Draw conclusions that convince readers of your professionalism and ability to help them achieve their goals.

But it will take some hard work and creative inspiration to get those increased conversions and larger sales you’re looking for.

This detailed guide will help you navigate the thorny path to writing a brilliant case study.

1. Choose Your Topic

Look for the most relevant examples that will appeal to your target market.

Irrelevant niche cases are unlikely to attract the audience you want.

If the majority of your clients are healthcare centers, for example, there is no point in writing a case study about a client from the retail industry.

Gear your content to your readers. Write about issues that will resonate with them.

2. Select a Suitable Client

Companies with hundreds or even thousands of clients may find it challenging to choose a sufficiently notable case for consideration.

Even if you have only a dozen prospects to choose from, it can be hard to decide on a single one that will get your point across.

Whether you choose a loyal long-time customer or a relatively new client, the main thing is to demonstrate how you faced an exceptional challenge and overcame it.

A big name client alone doesn’t make for an awesome case study.

Serving a market giant may add stars to your reputation, but it won’t be worth much in terms of converting customers if your analysis is superficial and meaningless.

It is important to highlight measurable results.

Your case study should demonstrate to readers how your company handles challenges in a professional way, with satisfactory results for all involved parties.

3. Hold an Interview & Collect Data

Accurate and detailed data is important when writing a convincing case study.

You can collect your data by conducting an interview with your chosen customer.

Start your conversation with a few ice-breaking questions to create a light and relaxing mood. Then gradually dig deeper to discover their opinions on the outcome of your joint project.

Important: Be sure to record your interview or take notes!

To get more detailed answers, you should ask open-ended questions. Dig into the “why” and “how” elements.

For example, if your client says, “Your solution is great. It simplified the lives of my employees,” ask for specific examples of how lives were simplified.

If at all possible, prompt your client for quantitative details.

An ideal answer would be something like, “Thanks to your solution, our company achieved a 20% revenue increase in three months. The number of clients grew by 634, and time spent decreased by 34%.”

Now you have measurable metrics that can be used to verify your product’s impact.

Here are some sample questions that will elicit detailed answers:

• Did our solution pay off? What is the ratio between expenses and revenues as a result of this project?
• Did new opportunities open up for your brand that were unattainable before?
• How did you measure the success of this solution? What metrics did you use?

Even if the customer asks to remain anonymous, an abundance of specific data will increase the credibility of your case study.

4. Structure Your Case Study

With your client’s testimonial and accurate data at hand, you can proceed to outline your case study.

Use your outline to plan the writing of your case study in a way that will be engaging and reader-friendly.

Break your story down into steps that highlight how you resolved the issue.

Do more than merely state a problem and mentioning that you solved it.

Describe the intermediate stages to your readers in a step-by-step format.

Imagine reading a book without chapters, with only a prologue and epilogue. You would be left wondering what happened in between.

Your case study should answer the questions: who, what, where, when, and why, and conclude with a resounding how.

A title is the first element your potential clients will come across, so make it attention-grabbing and informative.

Your title should answer the following questions:

• Who is this case study about?
• What challenges did they face?
• How was the problem addressed?

For example: “Online Retailer Sees Sales Double with PPC”.

This title tells readers that you worked with an online retailer who wanted to increase their sales, and you accomplished this goal thanks to pay-per-click advertising.

Executive Summary

Start your case study by providing a short (1-2 small paragraph) profile of your client.

Use answers from the questionnaire you completed during the initial interview to describe the client’s niche, experience, and competitive advantages.

Smoothly transition to the reason you became involved.

What circumstances prompted the client to contact you?

The Challenge

Detail what obstacles your client faced, and describe their background prior to your intervention, to draw readers closer to the problem and demonstrate why your services are in demand.

The Challenge section should answer the following questions:

• How did your client handle their daily processes prior to contacting you?
• What obstacles did they face?
• Did they try to solve the problem on their own? How exactly?
• What results did they hope to get?
• What state was the project in when it was assigned to you?

The Solution

The Challenge and Solution sections are essentially a question and an answer.

You have defined a certain problem, and now you will explain how it was solved.

Start by describing the research process, in particular:

• Metrics collected during the initial analysis of the project.
• Initially available tools, technologies, and resources.
• Weak and strong aspects of the company.
• Your client’s mission and corporate values.
• Advantages of competitors that the client hoped to outrun.
• Differences between the client’s strategy and those of market leaders. Gaps to be filled.
• Manual processes to be automated and excessive costs to be cut.
• The client’s ultimate goal for the project.
• Several budget-friendly solutions, and what criteria informed your selection.

Provide detailed information on the chosen solution:

• What tasks would it accomplish?
• What benefits were expected?
• How much time was needed to get the desired results?
• What resources were needed?

Once you describe your research process, provide a step-by-step strategy showing how your solution was implemented.

Conduct a retrospective analysis and recall all your project-related moves.

Compile an outline, placing events in chronological sequence.

Then detail each step and substantiate the feasibility of decisions made.

Show that every minute of the customer’s time and every dollar from the project budget were well-spent.

After reading your case study, prospective clients should come away with an idea of exactly what you would do to realize their goals.

Do not simply write “we chose cutting edge technologies” or “we used the best practices.” These are vague and abstract statements.

Clearly state exactly what was done to arrive at a satisfactory solution.

Results / Achievements

Showcase the contrast between the project’s initial state and its success resulting from your efforts.

Emphasize the fact that you helped your client accomplish their goals.

Summarize positive changes in a concise bulleted list.

Provide measurable metrics.

If you continue working with the client after the project’s completion, list the metrics you plan to use for ongoing analysis, maintenance, and planning.

5. Pay Attention to Your Writing Style

Entrepreneurs who write case studies often go to one of two extremes: they either compose a whitepaper, or openly advertise their business.

In the first case, the study comes off as a dry, boring, and lifeless report written in niche lingo. Avoid complex professional terms, or at least provide comprehensive definitions.

Hopefully, the majority of your readers will be prospective clients, not colleagues.

Readers may not know about specific tools, terminology, and metrics, so present data in an easy-to-read and digestible form. Consider “callout” boxes for any obscure terms.

You want to emphasize the fact that your staff is capable of managing complex problems, but don’t overdo it.

Speak with expert authority, and back up all your recommendations with facts. Otherwise, your story won’t seem credible.

Try to find a happy medium between these two extremes.

Here are some tips that will help you develop a persuasive writing style:

• Tell a story, don’t just list facts : The structure of a case study can be compared to the structure of a novel. Both have an introduction, a conflict, a climax, and a resolution. Describe your work on the project like a seamless plot, allowing readers to immerse themselves in your story. Infuse tension, suspense, and progress to make your case study truly exciting.
• Present the issue you addressed as the antagonist, and your client as the protagonist:  You play the role of a supporting character who helps the protagonist overcome challenges and arrive at a happy ending.
• Show the situation from your client’s point of view:  Don’t get so caught up in storytelling that you forget to showcase your client’s opinions. Remember, your client is the key figure in your story, and their point of view matters. Provide direct quotes to add credibility to your case study, but make sure the facts listed in your client’s quotes are not repeated in your own copy.
• Quotes from your team members may also be useful:  This will help visitors to your site get to know who will work on their projects.
• Your main task is to satisfy the interest of potential clients:  Do not use complex terms or describe technical nuances. A case study is a story about a real-life event, not a presentation for a professional conference.
• Remember your formatting: It can be tedious to read lengthy pieces of text, so split them into paragraphs, and use numbered and bulleted lists, headers, subheaders, and other formatting tools. Sentences should be concise and deliver a single key thought.

6. Use Visuals

Your study should be well-written and professional, and include figures and expert comments. However, that does not mean it has to be gray and dull.

Use visuals to break up blocks of text and deliver important information in a bright and engaging way.

Embed key data in charts and tables. Take screenshots, or use images with your client’s products and logo.

7. Double-Check

Be sure to proofread and edit your case study.

Once the last line is written, take a break and look at it with fresh eyes after a day or two.

You will be better able to find minor mistakes and add new details.

8. Promote Your Case Study

When the final version of your study is polished and readable, publish it in a special section for case studies on your website, make announcements on social media, and include it in your email marketing campaign to attract more readers.

Consider filming a video version of your case study for release on YouTube.

Send tweets, using quotes from your client and team members.

Analyze your audience engagement by tallying the number of clicks, shares, viewing time, comments, and other indicators.

Doing so will tell you whether you have chosen the right presentation style and promotion channels.

Common Mistakes

Even if you follow all the above tips, beware of common mistakes that can undermine the goals of your case study.

Avoid these detrimental tactics if you want to write a top-notch success story:

• Too many writers:  Involving a large number of colleagues or client representatives in writing your case study can become messy. Divergent viewpoints and bruised egos can quickly undermine your objectives and sabotage your efforts.
• Intrusive brand advertisement: As mentioned above, do not use your case study to openly advertise to readers. If you want your case study to be published on a reputable website, editors will quickly nix anything that is too informal and promotional.
• Forgetting about your target audience: Many specialists write about the things they know, using language that is common to them, without thinking about the potential reader. The success story of your project is not a personal diary. Draw a profile of the average visitor to your site and focus on their needs and interests.
• Too lengthy case studies: Provide only the most valuable details, data, and conclusions. It is hard enough to keep readers focused on your content in the age of information. If your success story is filled with fluff, potential clients may quickly drop it and go elsewhere for more useful data.
• Expecting huge victories and overlooking small achievements: Some companies believe that only large projects deserve to be featured in case studies, and published twice a year. However, visitors to your site may think you only had only two successful projects, and the rest, if any, were failures. Small achievements also matter, helping to build your good name brick by brick.

Keep your case study concise and to the point, and incorporate some of the above tips to improve your writing skills and boost conversions.

More Resources:

• Don’t Invest in Content Unless You Can Be #1 – Here’s Why
• What Is a Lead Magnet & 10 Examples You Can Use Now
• 5 Types of Stories Brands & Marketers Should Be Using

Sergey Grybniak is the founder of Clever-Solution.com, Opporty.com. He has over ten years of experience in digital marketing and entrepreneurism. ...

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Home » Information Systems Management » Case Study: Success Story of Google Search Engine

Case Study: Success Story of Google Search Engine

One of the most popular search engines is Google. Unknown to many, the term is coined by Milton Sirotta, the nephew of Edward Kasner who is an American Mathematician. The term is in reference with the number which is represented by the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. The same utilization of the term reflects the mission of the company to deliver immense and infinite resources to be available online.

The founders of the company, Larry Page and Sergey Brin , were not in good terms back then when they met as graduate students of computer science in Stanford University in 1995. They used to argue on everything that they are discussing. The strong personalities always clashed. But eventually, they have found a common ground. The retrieving of various yet important information from massive set data has been the big challenge that they were up to at that time. So, on January 0f 1996, they began the collaboration of BackRub, the name they have formulated because of the unique approach to back links to a given website. Larry procured the use of low-end PCs instead of the big yet very expensive machines. After a year, the news about the newest search engine spread around the campus. Then, they began to search for the perfection of their technology. They were encouraged to put up their service of a search engine company by themselves.

They talked to Andy Bechtolsheim , one of the founders of the Sun Microsystems , after the demo, he thought that Google has a lot of potential so he decided to lend them $100,000. The initial investment has been raised to almost $1million and became their road to success. In September of 1998, the Google Inc. opened up in Menlo Park, California.

Still in beta, and was already called Google.com, they were receiving 10,000 search queries each day. Then, this has moved Google in the world.

Basically, what is Google? The improvement of the different ways that people can find, connect and use information is what Google is focused on. They are maintaining a very large index of websites online in inclusion are the content and by utilizing the search engine, the information can be generated freely and almost instantly to everyone with the Internet connection. The revenue of Google is primarily from the cost-effective advertising online. The different business in the world is utilizing the AdWords, a program that is promoting the products and services with the targeted users. Furthermore, the Google AdSense is being utlized by thousands of third-party websites to deliver the AdWords ads that generate the revenue and improves the user experience.

On the other hand, the mission statement of Google is organizing the different information in the world and makes it accessible, available and useful to the users. Basically, the mission of Google is obtaining different information by investigation, study, measurement numerical quantities and even data. This has been proved by their PageRank, Link Measurement, Algorithm, and Profiling. As of today, Google become one of the most widely known brands around the world from the mouth of all the satisfied users.

The mission of Google is primarily focused on the users. Ultimately, it is because to become very profitable, the needs of the users must be accomplished. This is due to the fact the word-of-mouth promotion is very strong specifically if the user gain a high and quality user experience. They have incorporated their three key commitments. First, they will be providing useful and important information as part of the search results independent of the financial gain of the company. It means that they will be providing the search results objectively at no price to the businesses; they will not be accepting any kinds of payment for the inclusion in the search results. Second, they will be promoting the most essential and useful advertising in Google. The ads will not be annoying to the users and so as not to interrupt their businesses online. If ever there will be monetary influenced on the advertisements, they will be informing the users. Lastly, Google will never stop to improve and enhance the user experience in the areas of their command, the search engine and others in the information technology aspects.

The mission of Google is basis of their success. In inclusion is the critical procurement of the long-term value. The principle of the company in not compromising the user experience in exchange of a short-term financial gain has added to their success in the world.

Through the implementation of the mission of Google, they have reached a progress in user service such as utilizing more than 300 factors in ranking websites, the online contents vary 20 percent every month, and the world’s information is currently 10% online. In addition, they will check millions of library projects to make them accessible right through the browsers.

True enough, putting up all the world’s information could take at least 300 years. But Google is fast fixing everything that could hinder their service and eliminate the bugs that might lengthen the 300 years. In figures, the Google engineers, comprising of 70 percent in the company are all working in the different search related problems. A lot of employees are standing tall in improving the automatic translation tools.

The clients of Google is basically the hundreds of thousands businesses who are up to advertising their very own products. They are utilizing the Google AdWords that allow them to reach their targeted millions of users around the world. In inclusion, their products are centered on continuous technology innovation with frequent beta version for improvements. Once they are satisfied with the results, they will be removing the “beta” label. Some of the Google products are the Google Web Search, Google Desktop, Google Adwords, Gmail, Google AdSense, Google Earth, Google News, Google Finance, Google Maps and the Google Enterprise.

In the proliferation of their service to the users in delivering the information of the world right in the browsers, Google has meet up several opposition from other companies, groups and individuals. Google has been scanning libraries to provide the different information over the Internet. In doing so, they are open in the copyright infringement. People are stating that Google should back down in scanning without the proper permissions. Even they are in a solid ground to do so, they must be putting things off until they can think of a way to have an automated way of seeking the author’s permission.

Personally, the success of Google is immeasurable, but the let’s just do it attitude must be eliminated so as not to have any bad tag as the copyright bad guy. The protection of Google to the copyright of the things they published over the Internet is weak. The promotion that they are after has been reached but the digital copies were not really secured. Anyone who is familiar with YouTube must know this. May companies are in protest since the site is tolerating piracy as it published in the web the different movies, television parts. True enough, Google must find a way to minimize and further eliminate the massive infringements in YouTube, in inclusion is for them to formulate a method wherein the published materials can have an automated way of seeking the necessary information from the authors.

By following up to the philosophy of the company which is never settling for the best but instead focus on perfection, Google has reached a status in the business and information technology world. Google’s goal is to primarily improve further to a higher level of service to everyone seeking the world’s information everywhere.

To top it all, the persistence of the company for continuous excellence and innovation makes them the leading standard. The company has helped to redefine the value of how the individuals, businesses and technologist see the Internet.

Despite the fact that there are Google products that has nothing to do with search technology, the truth remains that these help funds Google in maintaining and organizing the search engine. The path that Google is taking has been a very good start in the promotion of accessible information. True enough, there would be opposition from another groups or entity, but in the improvements of their technology, standing in the solid legal grounds will make them come out clean. The best thing that they can do is to minimize and then eliminate the not-so-good features in their services. Thus, it would better improve their integrity, at the same time, their financial gain.

Related posts:

• Case Study: Success Story of Pfizer Inc
• Case Study: FedEx Success Story
• Case Study: Success Story of Exxon Mobil
• Case Study of Starbucks: An Amazing Business Success Story
• Case Study: Zara’s Supply Chain Success Story
• Case Study: Google’s Competitive Advantage
• Case Study: Google’s Acquisition of Motorola Mobility
• Case Study: Google’s Quest for Competitive Advantage
• Case Study of Air Asia: Information Technology Implementation for Business Success
• Case Study of Dell: Business Innovation and Success

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Cyber claims case study: Search engine setback

When malicious code impairs a hotel's website, it takes longer than expected to get back on track

Over the past two decades, technology has transformed the way businesses operate, and most now depend on their computer systems in one way or another. In particular, the dawn of the internet has opened up a world of opportunity for many businesses, allowing them to reach new markets and increase their revenues. However, these new opportunities also bring new exposures. With many businesses now increasingly reliant on online sales, they are potentially vulnerable to financial losses should their websites become inaccessible to their customers.

One of our policyholders affected by such a loss was a hotel. The hotel operates out of one location in a city popular with tourists throughout the year, but with notable peaks during the spring and summer. Although bookings can be made by telephone or through travel agents, many guests choose to book online through the hotel’s website, and thus the hotel is reliant on the smooth functioning of its website.

Cryptojacking causes crashes

The incident began when hackers managed to infiltrate the hotel’s website and insert malicious code in the background, seemingly for the purpose of cryptocurrency mining (sometimes referred to as cryptojacking). The basic idea behind cryptocurrency mining is that instead of having to purchase cryptocurrency, individuals can also use computer processing power to verify cryptocurrency transactions and get a portion of cryptocurrency as a reward. The more computer processing power that an individual has under their control, the quicker they can verify transactions and mine cryptocurrency.

And this is where the concept of cryptojacking comes in. Rather than bearing all of the processing costs associated with cryptocurrency mining themselves, hackers look to make use of other people’s computing resources without their consent to verify more transactions and make more money.

Cryptojacking is usually carried out in two main ways. Either the hackers dupe victims into downloading cryptocurrency mining software onto their computer systems, typically delivered as a link or attachment in a phishing email, or they insert malicious code onto websites or online advertisements and the cryptomining code works in the background while a visitor to the website browses on that page. The latter is what happened to the hotel’s website.

The malicious code inserted by the hackers had a particularly debilitating effect on the hotel's website.

In many cases, the business running a website which has been subject to cryptojacking may not even notice the presence of the malicious code working in the background. However, in some cases the introduction of malicious code can have unintended consequences. In this instance, the malicious code that had been inserted by the hackers had a particularly debilitating effect on the hotel’s website. The site started to run very slowly and was subject to intermittent crashes; staff members were unable to login to the site; and bookings were unable to be processed correctly.

Drop in ranking creates drop in sales

Noticing that something was clearly wrong, it was at this point that the hotel contacted CFC’s incident response team. Working with the hotel's website developer and one of our forensic partners, we were able to locate and remove the malicious code from the site and address the vulnerabilities that had allowed the hackers to gain access to the site, allowing the site to return to its normal functionality within a few weeks. Our forensic partners also conducted a forensic investigation to confirm that sensitive customer data had not been accessed or exfiltrated as a result of the hack.

However, despite the website being back in action, the hotel faced an additional problem in relation to its website’s ranking on search engines. In effect, if a search engine such as Google or Bing thinks your website has been compromised and is a danger to visitors, it will apply either a manual or an algorithmic penalty to the affected website, resulting in the site appearing lower in the search rankings. In the case of algorithmic penalties, the affected website is usually not informed that it has been penalised. In addition, the search engine might also include a warning to potential visitors that the site may have been compromised by attackers and could result in the visitor’s information being stolen or deleted.

Unfortunately, there is no way of manually overturning an algorithmic penalty, such as requesting that your site be returned to its former position in the search rankings. You just have to wait until the algorithm updates. However, because the initial drop in rankings often results in a significant reduction in visits to a site and because search engine rankings are partly determined by the number of visits to a website, it means that a return to your original rankings can be difficult unless corrective action is taken.

In the hotel’s case, it would appear that the website was hit with an algorithmic penalty as the business was never formally notified of a penalty being applied. Nonetheless, the hotel saw its search engine rankings for certain keywords decrease significantly following the incident, in spite of the website now being functional and malware-free once more. For example, when typing in keywords such as “hotels in city X” or “hotels in X area”, the insured’s website would normally feature in the top 5 rankings on any given search engine. But following the incident the hotel often dropped out of the top 10 search results and even the top 20 in some cases.

The attack had occurred just before the summer season and any prolonged drop in search engine rankings during this period of peak bookings was likely to be highly detrimental.

Optimization helps boost bookings

The hotel’s lower search result rankings were resulting in a reduction in the number of visits to the website and ultimately a reduction in the number of bookings too. To make matters worse, the attack had occurred just before the summer season and any prolonged drop in search engine rankings during this period of peak bookings was likely to be highly detrimental to the hotel’s finances.

In order to assist the hotel and mitigate its potential business interruption loss, we engaged a third party company that specialises in what is known as search engine optimization. Search engine optimization essentially refers to the process of increasing the number of visitors to a website by ensuring that the site appears high on a search engine’s results page. In this case, we used the third party specialist to engage in an AdWords campaign for the three peak months of the summer holiday season, whereby the hotel’s website appears under keyword searches as a sponsored website at the top of the page. This allowed the hotel to generate more visits to the website and gradually increase its overall ranking in the search engine results to the point where sponsorship was no longer needed.

Although the hotel did see a drop off in bookings during and immediately after the attack on its website, the use of the AdWords campaign helped to mitigate the loss and allowed the business to make up lost ground in the following weeks and months, saving the business from any serious financial loss over the long term. However, the incident wasn’t without its costs. In total, $15,587 was incurred for the cost of removing the malware, carrying out forensics and engaging the third party to carry out the AdWords campaign. Thankfully, these expenses were all covered under the hotel’s cyber insurance policy with CFC.

Indemnity periods and attack aftermath

This claim highlights a couple of interesting points. Firstly, it shows how the impact of a cyber event can last longer than we usually think. Many people assume that if your website or other computer systems get taken down or disrupted by a cyber event or system failure, then you only need to restore the affected systems in order to halt any potential business interruption loss. But this claim clearly illustrates that even when a website has been restored to its functionality, a return to normality is not automatically guaranteed. In this case, the hotel was still seeing lower search rankings and reduced bookings even after the website was cleared of malware.

This is an important point from a cyber insurance perspective because of the way indemnity periods vary from policy to policy. Some cyber policies will only reimburse policyholders for the financial losses incurred during the period that systems are down (in this case that would be the time during which the website was disrupted by the malicious code). Other policies will reimburse policyholders for the financial losses incurred while systems are down plus an arbitrary number of days (typically 30 days) after computer systems are back up and running. And some policies, such as CFC’s, will continue to reimburse policyholders after systems have been restored to their normal functionality, up to the point where policyholders are back to the same financial position that they would have enjoyed had the cyber event or system failure not occurred. This is a key distinction because a business can continue to be affected financially even after its systems have been restored, and any policy that doesn’t cover this could leave the business financially exposed. Brokers should therefore be sure to check how any given cyber policy’s indemnity period operates.

A business can continue to be affected financially even after its systems have been restored.

Finally, this claim illustrates the increasing dependence that most modern businesses have on their digital assets, whether that be their electronic data, software programmes, or websites. In this case, although the hotel wasn’t completely reliant on its computer systems to operate, it did depend on its website for a substantial portion of its bookings. When that site was badly affected by malicious code, the website’s search engine ranking was impaired and the hotel saw fewer bookings as a result. With more and more businesses relying on their digital assets to generate revenue, having a cyber insurance policy in place can provide a valuable safety net in the event that these digital assets are damaged or become inaccessible.

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