SEO case study · The last three months against the three months before
A freight consultancy moved from page two to the edge of page one
Rankings improved by eight positions in three months. Clicks stayed flat, and this page explains why and what was done about it.
27.2K
impressions, from 25.3K
435
clicks, against 442
1.6%
click-through rate, from 1.7%
Measured over
The last three months against the three months before
What to notice
The position card reads 12.6 against 20.6. The click card reads 435 against 442. The chart is very spiky, with daily clicks jumping between zero and about fifteen.
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Who the business is
A consultancy that arranges import and export freight for business customers. It is not named here, so it is described by its trade and by what the screenshot shows.
Why marketing mattered
One shipping customer can be worth years of repeat work. The search that matters is the one made by a business ready to ask for a quote.
- Service
- SEO
- Sector
- Freight forwarding consultancy, SEO
- Period measured
- The last three months against the three months before
- Figures from
- A Search Console performance screenshot for the account
What was not working
The problem
An import and export freight consultancy whose blog articles ranked and whose service pages did not. Visitors arrived on explainers, read them and left.
- Articles such as "what is freight forwarding" outranked the service and quote pages.
- Service page descriptions were all built from one template and gave no reason to click.
- Traffic spiked around trade dates and the site had nothing ready for those spikes.
Where things stood before the work began
In the previous three months the site averaged position 20.6, the second page of results, with 442 clicks from 25.3K impressions.
- 20.6
- average position
- 442
- clicks in three months
- 25.3K
- impressions
What we found, and why we started there
The thinking
Checking which pages had gained position showed the gains sat on informational articles. The service pages needed the site's own links pointed at them, and descriptions that spoke to a business buyer.
How we did it, step by step
- 1
Internal links pointed at service pages
Links from the articles that already ranked were directed to the service and contact pages, so authority flowed to the pages that take enquiries.
- 2
22 descriptions rewritten
Each one now leads with a specific route, service or delivery time a business buyer is looking for.
- 3
A content calendar for seasonal spikes
Content was planned ahead of the trade dates that drive search spikes in this industry.
What the numbers show
The result
12.6
average position, up from 20.6
Average position moved from 20.6 to 12.6 in three months and impressions from 25.3K to 27.2K. Clicks did not follow: 435 against 442 in the previous three months.
| Measure | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Average position | 20.6 | 12.6 |
| Impressions | 25.3K | 27.2K |
| Clicks | 442 | 435 |
| Click-through rate | 1.7% | 1.6% |
From the work to the outcome
- Links pointed at service pages
- Position 20.6 to 12.6
- 27.2K impressions
- Clicks still to follow
How to read this, and what it does not prove
A three-month comparison from Search Console. The gain is in position and impressions. Clicks were level, slightly down.
Clicks fell by seven. This is a ranking improvement that had not turned into traffic when the screenshot was taken, and the page says so. Daily clicks swing between 0 and about 15, so the totals are small and noisy. The client is not named, so a reader cannot check the screenshot against the account. It is one account with no control group: it shows what happened alongside the work, and it cannot show how much of that the work caused.
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What you can take from this
A better position is not yet a result
Eight positions gained and seven clicks lost. Ask which pages moved before celebrating.
Make sure the right page ranks
An explainer at position 12 earns a reader. A service page at position 12 earns an enquiry.
Plan for your busy dates
If your searches spike on known dates, have the page live before the spike.