A leading platform for building custom business applications partnered with Shortlist to enhance its digital visibility and drive measurable business outcomes. Operating in a competitive tech landscape, our client empowers developers to create internal tools, dashboards, and apps with a low-code interface.

Despite their innovative offerings, our client faced challenges with an underdeveloped online presence, with many key service pages either unranked or buried deep in search engine results pages (SERPs). Our client aimed to capture a larger share of organic traffic and convert it into leads and sign-ups. 

With that in mind, in this industry, where results are not always guaranteed, we aim to be as transparent as possible, and that’s why for every client we create a quarterly report of all their achieved goals and milestones.

Below you will find such a report for the aforementioned client.

Lifecycle of SEO: Setting the KPIs and Strategic Execution

At Shortlist, we believe SEO projects follow a predictable trajectory. That’s why we proactively communicate the SEO lifecycle to our clients, ensuring they understand the expected results at each stage and how every step drives toward the ultimate goal: increased organic traffic that converts.

Phase 1.1: Initial Assessment and Goal Setting (October 2024)

Our journey with the client kicked off with a comprehensive audit of their digital footprint. We deployed a suite of tools to establish a baseline and align our strategy with their goals:

  • Mangools: We used this rank tracking tool to benchmark keyword rankings for terms like “build custom software,” “app development tools,” and “business intelligence dashboard,” capturing historical performance data.
  • Looker Studio: Integrated with Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 (GA4), this dashboard provided a real-time view of organic metrics, including sessions, bounce rates, and traffic patterns.
  • Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Search Console: These tools track organic sessions, conversion rates, and bounce rates, ensuring transparency throughout the process.

We collaborated with our client to define custom KPIs tailored to their objectives:

  • Branded vs. Non-Branded Traffic: To measure brand awareness and organic reach.
  • Organic Conversions: To track sign-ups, demo requests, and lead captures—key drivers of their bottom line.
  • Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR): To assess the effectiveness of SERP listings.

Our data revealed an average ranking position of 31.8 for priority keywords, setting the stage for optimization.

Phase 1.2: Content Optimization and On-Page Enhancements and Starting the Link and Authority Building Campaign (November 2024 to December 2024)

With KPIs in place, we focused on optimizing our client’s website over the next two months:

  • Keyword Optimization: We refined meta titles, descriptions, and header tags to incorporate target keywords, improving relevance and readability.
  • Technical SEO: Enhancements like faster site speed and mobile responsiveness aligned the site with Google’s Core Web Vitals.
  • Link Building Opportunities: We found relevant publication sources where we could organically promote the organic traffic of our client through guest posts.
  • Content Updates: Using Google Search Console, we identified underperforming pages and refreshed them with value-driven content.

By December 2024, Mangools tracked incremental ranking improvements, and GA4 showed a 10% increase in organic sessions with a slight reduction in bounce rates. The average ranking position improved to 29.6, signaling early traction.

Phase 2: Scaling Link Building and Authority Building Campaigns (January 2025 to March 2025)

Over the next three months, we executed a targeted link-building campaign with Shortlist to elevate our client’s domain authority:

  • Backlink Strategy: We secured 120 high-quality backlinks (90 in Q4 2024, 60 in Q1 2025) from tech blogs, industry directories, and review sites, averaging a Domain Authority of 53 and organic traffic of 22,227 per site.
  • Monitoring: Looker Studio visualized growth in domain rating (from 78 to 79) and referring domains (from 5,251 to 5,281), while GA4 tracked referral traffic conversions.

By March 2025, non-branded traffic grew by 15%, and the average ranking position improved to 27.1. Our data showed top keywords like “build custom software” climbing to top 3 positions, reinforcing our client’s authority.

Results: Completing the First Six Months and Transitioning to the Next Phase

Over the six-month period (October 2024 to March 2025), our SEO efforts significantly enhanced our client’s online presence. 

  • Organic traffic to the targeted URLs surged by 2600 monthly visitors (from 34,800 to 37,400). 
  • Non-branded traffic to these URLs grew by 20%, while conversion rates improved by 15%. 
  • The average ranking position for these URLs moved up to 25.4, with 70% of tracked keywords ranking in the top 20 and 20% in the top 10. The domain rating reached 80, supported by 5,347 referring domains.

Having completed the foundational stages of the SEO lifecycle—assessment, optimization, and authority building—we are now transitioning into Q2 2025, entering the Scaling & Acceleration phase (months 6-9). This stage leverages the momentum we’ve built to drive exponential growth. We’ll focus on:

  • Featured Snippet Optimization: Targeting zero-click searches to increase visibility for high-intent keywords like “app development tools.”
  • Expanded Keyword Portfolio: Incorporating emerging trends such as “AI app builder” to capture new market segments.
  • Content Marketing Expansion: Scaling blog posts, case studies, and whitepapers (e.g., “Streamlining Operations with CLIENT in 2025”) to drive engagement and conversions.
  • Technical Enhancements: Implementing schema markup and local SEO to further boost visibility.

Half-Year and Yearly Reporting: Shortlist’s Commitment to Transparency

At Shortlist, we provide comprehensive half-year and yearly reporting to every client under contract, ensuring consistent and transparent communication. This isn’t a one-time deliverable or reserved for select clients—it’s a standard practice for all our partners. We are setting a trend in the SEO industry by holding ourselves accountable for the work we do, while ensuring our clients are fully informed about what to expect and when.

We believe it’s our duty to educate our clients on the SEO process, deliverables, results, and expectations. Our detailed reports, like this one for our client, break down progress against KPIs, highlight key wins, and outline the next steps in the SEO lifecycle. By setting clear expectations and providing actionable insights, we empower our clients to understand how each phase contributes to the ultimate goal: increased organic traffic that converts into meaningful business outcomes.