Tripling Organic Traffic in 1.5 Years: A Tutoring SaaS SEO Case Study

Last Updated On: July 21, 2022

Monthly Organic Traffic From 5k To 16k Within 16 Months

What's the best way to get more organic traffic? Improve your first page keyword positions. With our winning SEO strategy, we increased the number of keywords on Google's first page by a staggering 212%

tutorcruncher

The Context

Tutoring SaaS Client

TutorCruncher has a domain that dates back to 2013 and as such, has previously established a solid organic foundation in the UK market and credibility with Google. However, their product, a tutoring focused SaaS, can be utilised anywhere. The client offer tutor management software with payment, scheduling, business management and whiteboard features which saves time and empowers tutors to grow their business from across the world. This led to our SEO strategy to focus on gaining North American traction as keyword research revealed that the search volumes were almost 10x greater (for certain terms).

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In this case study you will discover the main challenge faced by the client in such a competitive and fast growing industry and how Straight Up Search were able to achieve a 3x increase in their monthly from organic traffic channels (according to Ahrefs). As well as significantly upping their global client base.

The Challenge

Growing organic keywords and traffic in North American markets

The client's goal was to increase their position in SERP's for keywords related to their service. Through our research, we discovered that they were not ranking for many research-based keywords which were hyper relevant to what they offer. We also found that their website was in need of a content audit. There were blog posts which Google would have categorised as thin content - some of which dated back to 2013.

The SEO strategy would be content-centric but we would also have to address the other pillars of SEO - technical SEO, digital PR, link building and on-page. If we summarise the challenge below.

Challenge Summary

  • Competitive: High competition, fast growth space dominated by big players
  • Content Audit: We would have to perform a content audit to reduce bloat and capitalise on core pages
  • Technical SEO Issues: The website had architecture problems, no internal linking, duplicate pages 
  • International SEO: Making SEO work on an international level
  • Organic Downtrend: Over the prior years, SEO had become stagnant and in decline in some areas

Here is a quick snapshot of the SEO-relevant metrics before we began working on this account.

SEO BEFORE
SUS

2,790

Total Keywords

174 / mth

Organic Traffic

604

Referring Domains

$2,226

Organic Search Value

The Solution

Content Centric Strategy Combined with Niche Keyword Research & Digital PR

Straight Up Search began by conducting a comprehensive audit of the tutoring SaaS website's content, producing a keyword research and competitive analysis report that summarised:

  • Organic Traction & SEO Opportunities: The site’s existing keyword rankings, and what they should be targeting
  • Competitive Deep Dive: The keywords of the brand’s top competitors
  • Backlink Analysis: Studying the domain's backlink profile

Content Strategy

We worked with the client to implement an SEO driven content marketing strategy targeting long-tail, highly relevant research-based keywords. Then we created an editorial calendar with headlines and content ideas designed to pique people's interest and respond to industry-related inquiries that they may have or want to search.

Content Audit

Simultaneously, we conducted a content audit to identify zombie pages, thin content and outdated content. After crawling the site and using 3 different SEO tools to aggregate data, we were able to make data-driven decisions on what to redirect/update, delete or leave as is. 

Link Building & The Domain Authority Dilemma

Usually we work with clients that have a low number of referring domains. In other words, a small digital footprint. The opposite was true with our tutoring SaaS client.

But the backlink profile was 1. poorly leveraged, 2. had no keyword rich anchors and 3. led to dead ends on the site.  In addition to this, point - 4. the majority of the backlinks derived from the United Kingdom - this presented an issue if we were to gain organic traction in other markets. 

And... What Other SEO Tactics?

It's fine and well doubling down on content output and enhancing your existing copy, but what about the other pillars of SEO? - on-page factors, technical SEO, link building and digital PR? These were built into SEO strategy.

Again, by taking a holistic approach to SEO, you can give your domain the best chance of ranking better in search engine results pages (SERPs).

As a recap: "On-page factors refer to all of the elements on your website that can impact your search engine ranking, from the quality of your content to your website's architecture. Technical SEO covers factors like site speed and indexation, which can also affect your ranking. Link building is about earning high-quality backlinks from other websites, and digital PR involves promoting your website through online channels."

By paying attention to all of these elements, you can create an SEO strategy that will help you hit your KPIs.

And that's exactly what we did.

The Results

A 209% Increase In Organic Search Value

We did this by increasing their 1st page keyword positions from 200 to 440.

You may be asking: What is Traffic Value? Organic traffic value is the equivalent monthly cost of traffic from all keywords that the target website/URL ranks for if paid via PPC instead of ranking organically.

This substantial increase in organic keywords and traffic resulted in a rise in qualified leads wanting to demo the tutoring software.

SEO AFTER SUS

4,967

Total Keywords

16,222 / mth

Organic Traffic

2,160

Referring Domains

$6,900

Organic Search Value

We're ecstatic about these findings and can't wait to see what we'll accomplish for future clients. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any inquiries about our SEO services or want to learn more about how we may assist your company in growing online. We'd be delighted to talk with you about how we might help your business develop.

Case Study Results (Summary)

Screenshot 165

220% Organic Traffic Growth

The target website's organic traffic value increased by 209%. This led to a significant increase in organic traffic and qualified leads.

Page 1 Keywords from 200 to 440+

When we started working with the client, they were ranking for 200 keywords on the first page of Google. Now, they're ranking for over 440 keywords on the first page. 

Referring Domains Up 250%


We did this by conducting Digital PR and outreach campaigns. We reached out to websites in the education and software industry and pitched them stories about our client.

Organic Traffic Value from $2k to $6.9k

This increase in traffic and organic search rankings has helped the client reduce their CPA costs significantly.

Become a SUS Success Story

We’ve delivered results like these for many, many clients. Learn how Straight Up Search can help you turbo-charge your organic traffic with an SEO strategy custom-built for your particular business by visiting our SEO Services page. When you’re ready to take the next step, download our pricing proposal to learn how to get started!

About the author 

Jamie Irwin

I'm Jamie and I've been successfully driving organic growth for my own websites and clients since 2016. Whether you have a a small-to-medium sized business or a multi-million pound organisation, you will benefit from having a SEO strategy that consistently increases your organic traffic for years to come.