Shopify App SEO: 4x Increase in Organic Traffic in 5 Months

This client is a subscription management app that offers an easy and efficient way for Shopify business owners to set up and manage subscription services under their own brand. The platform provides merchants with powerful tools to grow and maintain their subscriber base.

As a SaaS business, the best way for the app to gain momentum and start generating revenue was to have a strong SEO strategy. However, like many early-stage startups, the client lacked a clear direction for their SEO efforts.

Among numerous SEO agencies available, the client chose Embarque to help establish the foundations of their SEO strategy. Working closely with their management team, we developed and implemented an SEO plan that delivered impressive results. Along with a new content strategy, our link-building team created an effective backlink action plan.

With these strategies in place, organic traffic to the client’s key revenue pages quadrupled in less than six months!

In this case study, we’ll show you how we:

• Drafted a brand-new SEO strategy for the client
• Helped the service increase organic traffic from approximately 450 searches per month to over 1,800

The Problem - Zero SEO Strategy

When this client first reached out to us, they were experiencing very slow growth in their website traffic. Although the service had received positive feedback from its small pool of users, attracting new subscribers proved difficult.

Organic traffic consistently hovered between 400 and 500 visits per month from 2021 to 2022.

There was little to no sign of traffic growth.

Recognizing the seriousness of the issue, the client’s leadership team began looking for a marketing agency that could help turn things around. They ultimately chose Embarque for our proven track record and strong reputation in the SEO space.

Just one meeting was enough for our team to uncover the root cause of the stagnant traffic: the company had no SEO strategy in place.

With the issue identified, we knew we couldn’t jump straight into producing SEO-optimized content. The first step was to collaborate with the client to build a fully developed SEO strategy from the ground up.

The Solution - A Tailored SEO Strategy, Built Completely from Scratch

The client needed a comprehensive SEO strategy, and Embarque delivered. Here are the steps we took to develop one from the ground up:

• Compiling suitable topics: The first and most important step was identifying the right topics for the client’s content. In this case, we focused on topics closely tied to their niche, such as “e-commerce,” “Shopify,” “subscription,” and related themes.
• Finding high-performing keywords based on those topics: Once the topics were chosen, our team created detailed lists of exact match keywords and secondary keywords to help the client rank higher in their audience’s search queries.
• Determining the target audience: Accurately defining the target audience was essential for maximizing clicks, conversions, and ultimately revenue. The client’s primary audience included small-to-mid-sized Shopify business owners. Secondary audiences included marketing managers, e-commerce managers, and directors at larger enterprises and brands.
• Conducting competitor research: Understanding the client’s competitors and analyzing their SEO strategies gave us valuable insight. We examined the types of content they were producing, how well it was performing, and what keywords they were targeting. We then incorporated high-performing elements into our own plan and identified weak spots in their strategies that the client could capitalize on.
• Setting up styling guidelines: We collaborated with the client to define their content voice, everything from tone and complexity to stylistic elements like title casing and heading structure. This ensured consistency across all content and helped reinforce their brand identity.

• Creating a link-building plan: High-quality, topically relevant internal and external links are vital for fast SEO performance. We developed a clear linking framework our SEO specialists now follow to connect internal articles and share link equity across the site. The same framework guided our backlinking efforts, using guest posts and link-swapping tactics with authoritative websites in the e-commerce and Shopify ecosystem.
• Establishing a content calendar: Our writers delivered five 1,500-word blog posts and eight backlinks each month. Every piece targeted the core topics outlined in the SEO strategy, including “e-commerce,” “Shopify subscriptions,” and related themes.

The Results - 4x Increase in Organic Traffic in 5 Months

Embarque began rolling out new articles based on the freshly developed SEO strategy in the summer of 2022.

From a baseline of around 400–500 monthly organic searches, the client hit the 700-search milestone by October 2022.

Just one month later, in November 2022, they crossed the 1,000 monthly organic searches mark.

By January 2023, organic traffic had climbed to 1,779 monthly searches, its highest level at the time.

Looking at the traffic chart, you can clearly see the turning point when Embarque’s SEO strategy and content efforts began delivering results.

Takeaways

1. A detailed and effective SEO strategy is essential for staying competitive. Prior to Embarque’s involvement, the client’s growth had stagnated for nearly a year. Within just five months of launching a new SEO strategy, traffic surged significantly.
2. Know your niche and audience. The first step in developing the client’s SEO plan was to understand their industry and define their primary and secondary audiences. This guided everything from topic selection to keyword targeting and backlink acquisition.
3. Consistency is key. Each month, without fail, we delivered five 1,500-word blog posts and eight backlinks. This regular cadence helped the client stay visible in a competitive market, engage readers, and ultimately increase conversions and revenue.

Reboot Your SEO Strategy with Embarque

As you can see in the chart above, as of now, traffic to their site is the highest it’s ever been, and we’re striving to keep the momentum going for as long as possible with better content, newer keywords, and more quality backlinks.

Want to see the same growth rate for your own website and brand? Send an email to our founder, julian@embarque.io, and begin your SEO optimization journey today!