How I Achieved First Page First Position for High Search Volume Keyword on Google SERP

In this post, I would like to share my experience of bringing one of our clients to the first page first position on Google SERP for a high search volume keyword. The client, Pothys, is a big brand in the textile industry with a strong reputation in offline marketing. However, their website was not optimized for basic SEO practices, which I discovered during my initial audit.

Pothys was facing a common challenge among businesses - ranking high on Google for a high search volume keyword, "Silk Sarees." When I first analyzed the keyword position, the website was ranking at 7th position on the first page of Google SERP. But Pothys was determined to reach the first position.

The search volume of the keyword "Silk Sarees" is (49500/month).

I identified several issues with the website that were hindering its search engine ranking. These issues included:

Keyword cannibalization: The same keyword "Silk Sarees" was targeted on multiple pages on the site, which was a problem (I identified this issue by when analyzing the keyword position on Google SERP). I fixed this issue by suggesting unique meta tags (title and description) for each page with the help of a content writer.

Duplicate content: The website had duplicate content issues due to technical issues with the "WWW version," "Non-WWW version," "index.php and index.aspx," and "trailing/non-trailing slash" issues on the URLs. I recommended putting a 301 redirect from all different versions of the URL to a single version.

Without Slash - URL

With Slash - URL

Lack of SSL: The website did not have SSL, which was an important ranking factor. I recommended purchasing & installing SSL and assisted in migrating the "Non-SSL element to SSL" with a 301 redirect setup on the site.

Separate mobile website: The website had a separate website for mobile devices, which was a subdomain. I recommended making the website responsive for all devices and redirecting it to the main desktop domain.

Mobile site - m.pothys.com

Navigation and crawl issues: The product pages were not properly crawled and loaded, which was a problem. I suggested making all pages clickable within three clicks and creating internal links to all important pages.

Unrestricted "dev site": The "dev site" of Pothys was not properly restricted, which was a problem. I recommended restricting it from Google crawl and suggested password authentication.

Server Connectivity Issue: I frequently encountered server connectivity errors. This posed a significant challenge and impacted the site's SEO activities, particularly with regards to Google crawling. Despite multiple escalations, no permanent solution was found during my time with the client.

Regularly updated blog posts: I regularly updated the blog posts in the Pothys website in the blog section.

Low-quality backlinks: Pothys had lots of low-quality backlinks, but we did not receive any manual penalties. To improve the website's ranking, I built backlinks from relevant sites and categories only. I strongly believed that Google was considering fresh backlinks only.

Conclusion:

Through my efforts, I was able to bring the high search volume keyword "Silk Sarees" to the first position on Google SERP.

The keyword "Silk Sarees" - First Position in Google SERP

Here is a screenshot comparison that demonstrates how I was able to triple the website clicks and impressions within the first 45 days of working with this client. Screenshot comparison:

Below the screenshot showing how I improved the website's organic traffic during the period from October 2015 to August 2016 while working with this client.

This experience taught me the importance of basic SEO practices and the impact they can have on a website's ranking and success.