Technical SEO Win Case Study

When an e-commerce business faces a sharp drop in organic visibility, the impact goes far beyond rankings. Sales decline, paid campaigns become more expensive, and investor confidence can weaken. At Uprankd, we often see this happen when technical SEO issues build up over time or when a site gets hit by a core algorithm update.

In this case study, we share how our team helped an established e-commerce client recover from a serious traffic decline that had persisted for months. The brand operates across multiple product categories in the lifestyle and home sector. Because of confidentiality agreements, we cannot name the client, but the process and outcomes are representative of the complex technical SEO challenges many large online stores face.

The project demonstrates how detailed audits, structured implementation, and ongoing validation can bring a struggling e-commerce website back to full visibility and sustainable growth.

The client approached Uprankd after noticing a gradual but consistent organic traffic drop of nearly 45% over six months. Their analytics data showed significant volatility across key product pages and category listings.

A preliminary review revealed several possible causes:

• Unstable crawling and indexing patterns
• Duplicate and thin category pages
• Misconfigured canonical tags after a CMS migration
• Mixed internal linking structure that diluted equity across product variations
• JavaScript-rendered content that blocked critical on-page information from search engines
• Inconsistent schema markup across product templates

The brand’s development team had been pushing frequent updates, and over time, critical technical details were lost or replaced. This “technical debt” made it difficult for search engines to interpret the site’s hierarchy and product relationships.

Because e-commerce SEO depends heavily on crawl efficiency, structured data, and consistent templates, even small technical misalignments can cause major ranking losses. Uprankd’s goal was to stabilize crawling, restore indexation patterns, and recover keyword rankings in the most valuable product categories.

1. Technical Audit and Benchmarking

Our process began with a full-scale technical SEO audit. We used tools like Screaming Frog, Google Search Console, Sitebulb, and manual log file analysis to identify patterns of crawl waste and broken internal structure.

The audit covered over 60 checkpoints, focusing on:

• Index coverage
• Canonical and alternate tags
• XML sitemap accuracy
• Product and pagination structures
• Faceted navigation parameters
• Schema and microdata implementation
• Page load speed and Core Web Vitals

We created a benchmark report that showed the severity of each issue by potential traffic impact. This allowed the client’s internal team to understand which areas required immediate technical fixes and which could be staged over the next releases.

2. Crawl Optimization and Site Architecture Repair

We discovered that more than 25% of crawl budget was being wasted on faceted URLs generated by filters and sorting parameters. Many of these URLs had no canonical consolidation, leading to duplication and diluted link equity.

Our team worked with the client’s developers to implement the following:

• Canonical tags across all filtered and sorted URLs
• Parameter handling rules in Google Search Console
• Clean pagination markup (rel="next" and rel="prev")
• Updated XML sitemaps excluding non-indexable pages

Once these fixes were rolled out, Googlebot’s crawl frequency began to normalize within two weeks. The number of excluded pages in Search Console dropped by more than 60%, indicating improved indexation control.

3. Structured Data and Product Schema Validation

The site had product schema implemented inconsistently across templates. Some items lacked required properties such as price, availability, or sku. Others included outdated markup that did not align with Google’s specifications.

We rebuilt the product schema in JSON-LD format to match the latest documentation. Every product template was validated through Google’s Rich Results Test to ensure eligibility for enhanced search features like pricing and review stars.

For e-commerce clients, schema markup is not optional. It defines how search engines interpret product data, which directly influences click-through rate. Within a month of the fix, the client’s enhanced listings began appearing again in search results, improving visibility and restoring trust in the product data.

4. Internal Linking and Crawl Path Realignment

One of the most overlooked issues we uncovered was link depth. Many valuable product pages were buried more than five clicks deep from the homepage. Uprankd mapped a new internal linking structure after onpage SEO audit using logical category relationships and automated cross-links between related items.

We introduced a lightweight dynamic component that suggested similar or complementary products at the end of each product page. This not only improved user experience but also ensured that important URLs remained accessible to crawlers through multiple entry points.

After implementing these structural improvements, average crawl depth decreased by 38%, and link equity distribution became more balanced across the site.

5. Core Web Vitals and Speed Improvements

Speed issues had been affecting conversion rates and crawlability. Some product pages took over 5 seconds to load due to unoptimized images and redundant tracking scripts.

We compressed all product images using WebP, deferred non-essential JavaScript, and reduced render-blocking resources. Uprankd also set up ongoing performance monitoring through Lighthouse CI to ensure new updates did not regress site speed.

These optimizations resulted in an average improvement of 1.8 seconds in load time and raised mobile performance scores by 35%.

Technical recovery is never a one-time effort. Uprankd set up a system of automated checks that verified canonical, sitemap, and schema accuracy after each new CMS deployment.

We also established a monthly reporting routine with key metrics:

• Indexed pages
• Crawl errors
• Schema validation success rate
• Keyword ranking recovery per product group
• Organic sessions and conversion metrics

This consistent monitoring gave the client’s internal team clear visibility into progress and reduced the risk of regression caused by future development changes.

The Results

Within four months, the client regained nearly all of the traffic lost during the prior six-month decline. Organic sessions rose by 52%, surpassing pre-drop levels.

• 100% of core product categories recovered to top-10 rankings
• Average click-through rate increased by 23% after structured data corrections
• Crawl error rate dropped by 75%
• Index coverage stabilized with consistent daily crawl frequency
• Conversion rate from organic visitors improved by 18% due to faster loading pages and better product visibility

The combination of technical precision and structured oversight allowed Uprankd to reverse months of decline in less than half the time it took for the issue to develop.

The client’s marketing team later reported that the improvements in organic performance also lowered their dependency on paid search for conversions, improving overall marketing ROI.

Several takeaways from this project apply broadly to e-commerce SEO:

1. Crawl management is the foundation of scalability. Faceted navigation and internal filters can quietly waste crawl budget if not managed. Setting clear canonical and parameter rules is essential for large product catalogs.

2. Schema consistency improves both understanding and trust. Search engines rely on structured data to present accurate product details. Missing or invalid markup can eliminate your eligibility for rich results even if the page content is excellent.

3. Architecture and linking determine visibility. Every product should be reachable through multiple internal paths. Reducing click depth and linking related items create a stronger and more crawlable site ecosystem.

4. Technical SEO needs ongoing validation. Without regular monitoring, even small template updates can cause regressions. Automated validation scripts or regular audits prevent hidden issues from accumulating.

5. Recovery requires collaboration. Technical SEO is not only a marketing issue but also a development and infrastructure task. Success comes when SEO specialists, developers, and content teams work from a shared roadmap.