PRO PORTFOLIO / CASE STUDY
Search Engine Optimization for Small BusinessImprovements for a high quality, up-and-coming nanny staffing agency in Chicago.
Who?
A Chicago-based boutique nanny agency that had been in business for about 7 years before reaching out.
Why did they reach out?
No-brainer — more qualified leads! The business was already established, and the processes were getting ironed out, but what was missing was a steady stream of good, qualified leads to help the business grow and succeed.
Our findings
When we searched for relevant popular keywords on Google (for example, “Nanny Agency Chicago” or “Nanny agency near me”), the agency did not show up on the first page.
When people end up on the second page of Google, they are usually pretty desperate, and an eye-watering
91.5% of searches end on the first page.
The website was also structured erratically, with useful information hidden away and a header menu that made navigation difficult. This caused the website to have a higher bounce rate, so the user that did end up on the site left pretty quickly when they didn’t find what they were looking for.
Although the website design looked pleasing and inviting, with pastel tones and calligraphic fonts, the lack of imagery and stretched-out text made it difficult to read, and long blocks of text made it hard to skim (which is a big no-no!).
Completed work
Keyword Research
We started by searching for relevant keywords that we would have a chance to rank for – this means it would be extremely difficult to rank for keywords such as “Nanny Agency” or “Best Nanny Agency.” However, since the boutique agency is in the Chicagoland area, we were able to localize keywords and climb the keyword ranks.
For example, we optimized content for keywords such as:
- Chicago’s Elite Nanny Agency
- Chicago’s Best Nanny Agency
- Premiere Chicago Nanny Agency
- Best Nanny in Chicago
These keywords proved to be reachable, and we had a good chance of climbing to the top of the first Google searches page.
Content revision
The content on the website was vague, with seemingly random snippets of the company’s beginnings, packages, fees, and other content scattered around. Each page had ~300 words, which is considered “thin” content. Google bumps well-structured pages (meaning titles, subtitles, and plenty of paragraphs) with around ~600-700 words per page.
The content needs to be informative, helpful, and answer questions the user has. Google sees right through scraped or plagiarized content that is only there to “pad” keywords.
I created a list of questions, separated into different page categories for the owner to answer. We encouraged her to answer each question verbosely, so we could organically grow the useful content on the site.
I believe in being just the content guide for a website since the owner knows her business the best, knows the ins and outs, and the questions her clients are most likely to have. She produced extremely useful and warm content that I polished to fit the brand better.
Menu and images
The website menu didn’t seem straightforward and didn’t help the user navigate the site. We restructured the header menu and added a separate page for Nanny Agency Fees, which is a big keyword.
Hiding the prices on your website is not a good move. Even if you customize your pricing per client, give estimates or write out what determines the final price.
Some of the changes we made to the menu:
- Remove the Home menu item (the logo as the” Back Home” button is considered best practice)
- Remove the “Testimonials” menu item and spread the reviews across all pages
- Remove the “Contact Us” button and replace it with “Start Now”
- Add an “About Us” page/menu item that used to be buried at the bottom of the home page
We also added charming images to add more visual appeal, have users stay on the site for longer, and help build a brand.
Blog
The site missed an area for the nanny agency expert to share her knowledge, tips, and tricks and boost trust with potential clients. We created a blog section along with ideas for blog posts that would answer any burning questions people searching for nannies might have.
Tip! A good (free!) resource to find relevant questions for your business type is AnswerThePublic.
Updating the blog consistently is important, but most important is writing articles that are actually useful and don’t just follow another similar post. If you have a new approach, idea, or insight – write about it and share the knowledge!
Adding the blog to the site helped climb Google ranks, made visitors stay on the website longer, and created trust between the agency and the reader.
Tip! A great (free!) resource to find relevant questions for your business type is AnswerThePublic.
Updating the blog consistently is important, but most important is writing articles that are actually useful and don’t just follow another similar post. If you have a new approach, idea, or insight – write about it and share the knowledge!
Adding the blog to the site helped climb Google ranks, made visitors stay on the website longer, and created trust between the agency and the reader.
Results
What results did we see?
After making changes to the website, we sat back and waited while the owner crafted articles for the Nanny Blog. I usually tell clients that they can’t see an immediate uptick in visitors or leads, but in a few months, they should start noticing a steady increase in leads and website statistics.
In 6 months following the SEO changes:
- The number of visitors increased by 45%
- The average session duration increased by 13%
- The bounce rate decreased by 48%
How much did this project cost?
Let’s recap the list of changes made to the site:
- Improving Search Results snippets
- Increasing word count on each page
- Better content structuring
- Adding more visuals
- Simplifying website menu
- Adding internal links
- Researching and adding relevant keywords
- Fixing website errors
- Adding a Fees page
- Creating a blog
The total cost for content revisions, technical fixes, restructuring the site (including making changes on the live site), and keyword research were about $1,500.
Every website is different, and it depends on how much work needs to be done, how competitive the market is, and other factors. If you’d like your free website review with actionable fixes, please reach out HERE.
