Small Business SEO Success Story
Ranking a website with low domain authority in a competitive market is a challenge many small businesses face. However, with the right strategies and tools, it is possible to improve rankings and generate valuable leads.
We sat down with Daan van Lonkhuizen, the owner of Dapper Marketing, to understand their approach to small business SEO and how they achieved remarkable results for their clients.
The Challenge
Before using advanced SEO tools, Daan manually handled keyword research, competitor analysis, and content creation. However, this process was time-consuming and inefficient.
After implementing a structured SEO strategy, the focus shifted towards optimizing existing content and repurposing it to rank higher in search results.
The Results
- 100% growth in organic traffic.
- 150 new leads generated.
- 3 high-ticket sales achieved.
While the traffic numbers may not be in the thousands, these are enterprise software users with an average deal size worth thousands of dollars.
The SEO Strategy Implementation
Step 1: Understanding the Market & Competitors
The first step is to understand the client’s business and its competitive landscape. For example, a client offering business intelligence dashboarding services in the Netherlands faced a highly competitive market. Competing against big players required an advanced content strategy that filled information gaps and provided unique insights.
Step 2: Keyword Research & Clustering
- Identified search phrases used by the target audience.
- Analyzed search intent behind keywords.
- Grouped keywords into clusters to improve website structure and relevance.
A great approach for low-domain-authority websites is to focus on medium-difficulty keyword clusters to start building niche authority.
Step 3: Identifying Information Gaps
By researching 2-3 main competitors, Daan discovered content gaps and missing topics. This approach helped:
- Compare content coverage.
- Identify valuable keyword gaps.
- Plan high-value content creation.
Step 4: Content Optimization
- Updated existing content to improve keyword targeting.
- Enhanced page structure and internal linking.
- Optimized title tags, meta descriptions, and page speed.
- Created new high-quality content based on identified gaps.
Step 5: Converting Organic Traffic into Leads
The final step focused on turning visitors into leads using a strategic funnel:
- Engaging blog content to capture visitor attention.
- Offering a free whitepaper download as a lead magnet.
- Encouraging visitors to book a consulting call.
For example, for their Power BI client, they created a whitepaper titled: "Advanced Data Visualization Techniques in Power BI for Enhanced Business Insights."
Final Results
- 100% organic traffic growth achieved within 2 months.
- 150 warm leads generated.
- 3 high-ticket customers converted.
What’s even more impressive is that both websites were relatively new and had low domain authority.
Conclusion
By strategically updating existing content, filling information gaps, and using the right tools, any website—regardless of domain authority—can rank on Google’s first page and attract valuable organic traffic.