In this case study, I will highlight the SEO strategies I applied to help a company specializing in hardwood flooring significantly increase its organic search visibility and website traffic. The company, operating in a competitive niche, needed to improve its online presence and attract more customers interested in hardwood floor installations and refinishing services. From the beginning of the project, my goal was to use a combination of on-page SEO, backlink building, and keyword optimization to drive meaningful growth. Over several months, I helped the client achieve a substantial increase in organic search performance, as reflected in their improved traffic and search engine rankings.

Initial Situation

The initial analysis of the company’s website showed that it had a strong domain authority (DR 48) and a reasonable backlink profile with 90 referring domains and 519 organic keywords. However, despite these positive indicators, the website was not reaching its full potential. The company had organic traffic of just 138 visitors and 2 keywords in paid search, which suggested that the site was not fully optimized to capitalize on its existing strengths.

Additionally, most of the company’s traffic was coming from the United States, where the business is based. The website was not receiving substantial international traffic, with only 1 visitor from Brazil and 1 from Russia. This showed that while the business was doing well locally, there was room to expand both in terms of local dominance and reaching more international markets.

Keyword Research and Strategy

The first step in optimizing the website was conducting thorough keyword research. Given that the company specialized in hardwood floors, I focused on both general and specific keywords related to the services they offer. This included common terms like “hardwood floor installation,” “hardwood floor refinishing,” and “wood floor sanding.”

In addition to these general terms, I researched long-tail keywords that would help the company stand out from competitors. Long-tail keywords such as “best hardwood floor refinishing services in [city]” and “affordable hardwood floor installation near me” helped the website target users who were further along in the buying process and ready to book a service.

By identifying a set of high-intent keywords, I was able to ensure that the website was visible to users who were actively searching for the services the company offered. I also worked to include local keywords to ensure the site appeared in local search results, which is crucial for businesses like this that serve a specific geographic area.

Landing Page and On-Page Optimization

Once the target keywords were identified, I began optimizing the landing pages on the website to include these keywords. This involved updating the meta descriptions, title tags, and headers with relevant terms, such as “hardwood floor installation services in [city]” and “professional floor refinishing.” The goal was to improve the website’s relevancy for search engines while ensuring that potential customers could easily find the services they were searching for.

In addition to keyword optimization, I improved the on-page content by making it more user-friendly and engaging. The original content was too brief and lacked the depth needed to answer potential customers’ questions. I rewrote sections of the website to provide more detailed information on the services offered, the benefits of hardwood floors, and the process of refinishing or installing hardwood floors.

Another important part of the on-page optimization was internal linking. By creating links between related service pages, I ensured that both users and search engines could easily navigate the website and find the information they needed. This not only helped with SEO but also improved the user experience by guiding visitors to the right pages.

Backlink Building

Building a strong backlink profile was another critical part of the SEO strategy. Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors for search engines, and the website’s existing 90 referring domains were a good start. However, to increase the site’s authority and improve its search engine rankings, I focused on acquiring high-quality backlinks from relevant websites in the home improvement, construction, and flooring industries.

I reached out to industry bloggers, home renovation websites, and local directories to get the company listed and featured. This helped increase the number of backlinks pointing to the site, which in turn improved its domain authority and search engine rankings. As a result, the company was able to build more credibility in the eyes of search engines, which helped improve its organic search performance.

Organic Search Results

The results of the SEO efforts were very positive. Over the course of several months, the company’s organic traffic grew to 138 visitors, and the number of organic keywords increased to 519. The website’s rankings improved significantly, as shown by the spike in average organic traffic and domain authority.

The improvements in organic search visibility were largely driven by the keyword optimization and backlink-building efforts. By focusing on specific, high-intent keywords, the website was able to attract more qualified traffic—people who were actively searching for hardwood floor installation and refinishing services. Additionally, the backlinks helped to increase the site’s domain authority, making it more likely to rank higher in search results for relevant keywords.

Traffic by Location

The company’s traffic was still largely concentrated in the United States, where it had 134 visitors, accounting for 97% of its organic traffic. While the site had also started to attract a small number of visitors from Brazil and Russia, the focus remained on dominating the local market in the United States. This was important for a service-based business that operated in a specific geographic area.

In the future, the company could explore opportunities to expand internationally by targeting keywords and services that appeal to a broader audience. However, for the time being, the focus was on strengthening the company’s local presence and driving more traffic from users searching for hardwood floor services in the U.S.

Conclusion

This case study demonstrates how targeted SEO strategies can significantly improve a company’s organic search visibility and website traffic, even in a competitive niche like hardwood flooring. By conducting thorough keyword research, optimizing landing pages and on-page content, and building a strong backlink profile, I was able to help this hardwood flooring company increase its organic traffic and improve its search engine rankings.

For service-based businesses, especially those in competitive industries, focusing on high-intent keywords and local SEO is key to driving traffic and attracting qualified leads. The results of this case study show how a well-executed SEO strategy can lead to measurable growth and success in search engine performance.