Introduction

The client is a dermatology clinic with two locations in Gurugram. They offer cosmetic and dermatological skincare treatments and procedures, which are evidence-based and research-backed. They reached out to Dignitas Digital in Q4 of 2017 to help grow their online presence in their targeted geography through SEO.

Challenges

• They had visibility on Google, even for some of the service-based keywords, but lacked Page #1 rankings for the high traffic keywords like dermatologist, skin care, and more.
• The site was pulling decent traffic but not quality visitors as the user engagement was really-low.

Goals

• They wanted to dominate Google Page #1 for dermatology-related keywords, primarily: Laser hair removal, Dermatologist, Skin specialist, Tattoo removal, and Botox treatment in Gurgaon.
• Boost organic traffic and improve website loading speed.
• Dominating local map pack in geo-specific searches for a few target terms.

Approach and Solutions

Conducted a detailed audit of the client’s on-site and off-site SEO metrics, content, and online presence, to find optimization opportunities.

• Next, we analyzed the search landscape for our target keywords and did a competitive analysis. This dictated our SEO efforts when:
  • updating & optimizing existing site pages, and
  • adding and optimizing new, service-oriented content and blog pages around focus keywords on a consistent basis, to satisfy the searcher’s intent and maximize the chances of earning first page positions in Google.
• For exposure in target geographies, we worked on a local search campaign. This included setting up and optimizing their Google My Business page, working on local on-page factors, as well as local link building and citations.
• The search landscape was changing rapidly during our 3.5-year long campaign, and we worked collaboratively to adapt to those changes while maintaining the best on-page and off-page SEO practices.
• As the competitive landscape changed and the customer buying journey changed, we adjusted our strategies. Especially from an off-page standpoint. We adapted and got strategic with our link-building efforts. This meant moving from working on local citations, directories, article submissions, and blog commenting to building quality, authoritative links by running blogger outreach campaigns, leveraging unlinked brand mentions, HARO and Quora, etc. This positioned them on relevant sites and increased the likelihood of users engaging with the business owing to increased touchpoints.
• We triumphed through various updates Google had been rolling out. Google’s infamous Medic Update in August 2018 was one such core update. The Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) factors became important to get right to retain rankings and regain lost ones.

Results

As SEO was the only channel being leveraged, all site traffic: Direct and Organic, can be attributed to the SEO efforts.

• Overall monthly website traffic increased by over 90%. (comparing the months of April ’21 to December ’17). The site has seen better months, but this gives the comparison for when we started the campaign vs when we ended it.
• Website bounce rate improved by a significant 50% as a result of optimizing the on-page content to meet the searcher’s intent. For instance, incorporating FAQs and social proof on key pages.
• 7 of the 10 target keywords on Google Page #1. For the most part of the campaign:
  • The keywords ‘Dermatologist in Gurgaon’ and ‘Skin Specialist in Gurgaon’ have dominated Page #1 rankings
  • The keyword “laser hair removal” in Delhi and Gurgaon, has retained its position in the Top 3 results.
• The site’s authority and thus organic visibility improved owing to over 4.6k backlinks which were earned and built over the course of the campaign compared to the site having only a couple of links pointing to it initially.
• The core keywords the client wanted to be visible for in local searches: ‘Laser hair removal’ and ‘Dermatologist’ keywords, were in Top 3 in the Local Map Pack.
• From a point of negligible visibility, the Google listing was now driving more engagement for the business as illustrated below.
• The client also reported an increase in phone calls and appointments.
• The site went from ranking for just 76 organic keywords at the beginning of the campaign to over 980 by April ‘21.
• Initially, the site only ranked for 3 keywords in Google Top-10 and it was now visible for 37 terms on the first page.
• The content strategy and optimization efforts helped the business reach potential clients with both informational and commercial intent, positively impacting their bottom line.