In the rapidly evolving world of digital marketing, even the most creative web resources risk going unnoticed without proper promotion. This is particularly true for companies in the highly competitive animation industry, where it’s incredibly challenging to stand out among countless impressive visual effects. As a result, more video content producers are realizing that creating a unique media product isn’t enough. To succeed, they must ensure their target audience can find them.
In this case study, we’ll demonstrate how a well-planned SEO strategy and a thorough technical audit can work wonders for a website’s indexing and ranking by search engine bots. You’ll learn how Luxeo’s experts helped Explain Ninja attract more potential clients and boost profitability.
Want similar results? Read on and start transforming your business today.
Explain Ninja is a company specializing in creating animated explainer videos. Their clients range from startups to established leaders across various industries. With their dynamic videos, businesses can engage their target audience, enhance their online presence, and stand out among competitors.
Why did Explain Ninja choose animation? The answer is simple. This content format is one of the most versatile ways to showcase a company in the market. It allows businesses to present a new product, service, or concept in a simple and engaging manner. Such an approach makes the product more appealing to the audience, thereby driving sales and increasing potential profits.
It’s worth noting that our client has excelled in their field. With over 10 years in the market, collaborations with business giants like Google, Atlassian, and Opengear, and a global demand for their services, Explain Ninja is a true industry professional. We were fortunate to work with such an accomplished team.
Industry
Animation outsourcing
Target region
USA, UK, Europe
Мета
Increase the number of leads from organic Google search and reach 20K by the end of the year.
Service
SEO promotion
Providing services for a company of this level was a real challenge for Luxeo, and we handled it exceptionally well.
Thanks to close collaboration with the client and well-established workflows, the Luxeo team successfully achieved the project’s main goals:
These impressive final results only scratch the surface of the extensive work done for Explain Ninja. Achieving these milestones involved addressing several technical issues, building a comprehensive semantic core for the site, analyzing competitors’ backlink profiles, and completing numerous other tasks. But let’s take it step by step – read on for a detailed breakdown.
Although Explain Ninja’s website was technically well-built, the company faced a lack of organic traffic and a low number of keywords in the TOP-10 rankings. After analyzing the situation, they concluded that the website needed technical and search optimization. That’s when the client approached Luxeo.
The following goals were set for us:
After gathering comprehensive information about the project, Luxeo’s specialists got to work.
The foundation of our agency’s effectiveness lies in a clear organization of all processes. As always, we started with thorough planning, dividing the project into two phases. The first phase involved a deep technical audit of the resource. The second focused on on-page and off-page SEO optimization. Below, we provide a detailed breakdown of our efforts to improve the client’s website.
During the technical audit of Explain Ninja’s website, we identified several issues:
The audit revealed incorrectly configured canonical tags pointing to pages on external resources. Such errors confuse search engines, making it unclear which page to index. Additionally, incorrect canonical links prevent the correct page from appearing in search results and reduce the efficiency of site crawling.
We specified the correct canonical page URL: <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://site.com/main page” />.
Examples of the work performed:
| URL | Current Canonical | Canonical TO DO |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/how-to-create-explainer-videos-for-startups/ | <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://hackernoon.com/how-to-make-a-startup-explainer-video-to-entice-your-target-audience-rq1x35as”> | <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://explain.ninja/blog/how-to-create-explainer-videos-for-startups/”> |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/how-to-create-a-conversion-funnel-for-your-video-ads/ | <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://customerthink.com/how-to-create-a-conversion-funnel-for-your-video-ads/”> | <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://explain.ninja/blog/how-to-create-a-conversion-funnel-for-your-video-ads/”> |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/explain-ninja-ranks-as-one-of-the-top-2d-animation-companies-in-poland-for-2021-on-clutch/ | <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.pr.com/press-release/836763″> | <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://explain.ninja/blog/explain-ninja-ranks-as-one-of-the-top-2d-animation-companies-in-poland-for-2021-on-clutch/”> |
The website contained pages with internal URLs returning a 404 – “Not Found” status code. This standard response indicates that the server cannot find the requested data. Such errors significantly impact user traffic, reducing user satisfaction.
To fix this issue, we replaced all URLs returning a 404 status code with URLs returning a 200 – “Success” status code. This signals to search engines that the page has been found and is ready for indexing.
Example of such a URL and the changes made:
| Source (The page containing the link that returns a 404 status code) | Destination (The URL returning the 404 status code) | Replacement |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/the-importance-of-great-user-onboarding-from-the-marketing-perspective/ | https://explain.ninja/5-creative-ways-to-use-a-video-for-onboarding/ | https://explain.ninja/blog/5-creative-ways-to-use-a-video-for-onboarding/ |
Another issue identified was external URLs returning 3xx status codes. This status code indicates that the requested page has been moved to a new URL. Redirects slow down the system’s performance and interfere with the proper functioning of search engine crawlers.
To address this issue, we replaced URLs returning a 301 status code with URLs returning a 200 status code.
Examples:
| Source | Destination | Replacement |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/20-video-marketing-statistics-2020/ | https://www.brightcove.com/en/blog/create-compelling-video-experiences/ | https://www.brightcove.com/en/resources/blog/create-compelling-video-experiences/ |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/unexpected-digital-marketing-trends-for-2021/ | https://medium.com/the-innovation/unexpected-digital-marketing-trends-for-2021-fea9c0644f82 | https://danakachan.medium.com/unexpected-digital-marketing-trends-for-2021-fea9c0644f82 |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/20-video-marketing-statistics-2020/ | https://learn.g2crowd.com/video-marketing-statistics | https://learn.g2.com/video-marketing-statistics |
Duplicate pages were found on the Explain Ninja website. These pages fully replicate the content of the target page, but are accessible through a different URL. This negatively affected the site’s indexing and was one of the reasons for the traffic decline.
Examples of found duplicates:
As a result, we resolved the issue – redirects were set up for all duplicate pages to the main pages without the trailing slash in the URL.
During the technical audit, redirect chains (redirect loops) were found on the client’s website. These negatively impact SEO for several reasons. First, unnecessary redirects reduce page load speed, which is one of the ranking factors for search engines. Second, these chains lead to a reduction in link equity and make it more difficult for Googlebot to crawl the site.
Example of the identified issue:
The solution to this specific issue was to set up a direct redirect from the page http://www.explain.ninja/ to https://explain.ninja/. This eliminated the unnecessary redirect.
Pages that are blocked from indexing pose a serious problem for SEO. The specific meta tag or HTTP header they contain prevents them from appearing in search results. This leads to a decrease in organic traffic, reduces link equity, and negatively impacts the site’s crawl budget.
To resolve this issue, the following actions were necessary:
Examples of completed work:
| Page with “noindex” Tag | Solution to the Issue | |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/page/2/ | Replace the meta tag <meta name=”robots” content=”NOINDEX,NOFOLLOW”/> with <meta name=”robots” content=”INDEX,FOLLOW”/> | Replace the canonical tag with <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://explain.ninja/blog/”> |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/page/3/ | Replace the meta tag <meta name=”robots” content=”NOINDEX,NOFOLLOW”/> with <meta name=”robots” content=”INDEX,FOLLOW”/> | Replace the canonical tag with <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://explain.ninja/blog/”> |
| https://explain.ninja/blog/page/4/ | Replace the meta tag <meta name=”robots” content=”NOINDEX,NOFOLLOW”/> with <meta name=”robots” content=”INDEX,FOLLOW”/> | Replace the canonical tag with <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://explain.ninja/blog/”> |
Another issue identified during the audit was the low page load speed of the mobile version of the site. The optimal load speed for both mobile and desktop versions of the site is 90-95/100. This is one of the key ranking factors.
To check the site’s compliance with the target metric, we used the PageSpeed Insights tool. The results were disappointing:
To improve the site’s performance, we implemented the suggested changes from the audit and took necessary steps to increase the overall page load speed.
With this, the technical optimization of the site was completed. The Luxeo team then moved on to implementing the SEO strategy.
This phase of our agency’s work with the Explain Ninja website can be conditionally divided into several stages.
We paid significant attention to analyzing user queries and used this information to create the semantic core for the client’s website.
(semantic core)
During the semantic collection process, other types of pages were identified that could be used to expand the site structure, namely:
After collecting the semantic data, we conducted scoring and prioritization to develop the promotion plan. During this process, we took into account the client’s priorities, competitiveness, and traffic potential.
This is an essential part of any SEO promotion, as it allows us to create an effective link-building strategy based on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of competitors. Understanding this, we performed a cluster analysis of the link profiles and then, based on priorities, developed the promotion strategy.
(Analysis of competitors’ link profiles)
The results of the analysis showed that the target niche is highly competitive. Therefore, reaching the TOP for key queries will take about 9 months. However, it was also clear that for some low-competition clusters, results could be achieved within 2-3 months.
At this stage, technical specifications for the on-page optimization of the site were prepared based on the agreed priorities.
(Example of Technical Specifications for On-Page Optimization)
When developing the technical specifications, we used the top search results and conducted an analysis of keyword inclusion and LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). The analysis showed that many of the client’s competitors’ websites were well optimized. This indicated that gaining an advantage through content factors would be difficult, so we decided to focus on SEO.
The next phase of our website promotion involved building an anchor plan and ordering content for outreach. This is an effective link-building method that involves placing links, articles, or other content on authoritative websites.
(Anchor plan for outreach content)
We aimed to acquire backlinks to improve organic rankings and attract new audiences. Through carefully planned actions, we were able to achieve these goals.
After creating the anchor plan, we contacted the platforms and arranged for link placements. It is then crucial to closely monitor the placed links, as some dishonest webmasters may remove them. We use a specialized tool to track backlinks.
(Tool for tracking backlinks)
If we detect that a link is missing from a website, we submit a request for a refund.
We also actively monitor the link profile and disavow spammy links if they appear.
(Examples of spammy links)
This was another important task for the Luxeo team. Search engine results often change, and sometimes it makes sense to consolidate commercial pages. Additionally, new clusters may emerge over time, and to achieve long-term results, the website structure must adapt to these changes. To address this, we also prepared a number of technical specifications for the specialists.
(Technical Specifications for expanding the commercial structure of the website)
It’s important to note that throughout the SEO process, we continuously monitored the technical condition of the website. If any issues were identified, we promptly provided technical specifications for their resolution.
In any project, situations may arise that require further analysis, and the Explain Ninja project was no exception. During the collaboration, the client approached us with the claim that SEO was not working.
Upon detailed analysis, it was found that the drop in traffic was due to a decline in branded traffic, which had previously increased last month due to offline marketing activities.
This leads to the conclusion that traffic should be analyzed not only in general but also by examining different types of pages:
The coordinated efforts of the Luxeo team on the Explain Ninja project enabled us to achieve the key objectives set by the client, namely:
As of 01.12.2021, the number of keywords in the TOP:
As of 30.11.2022, the number of keywords in the TOP:
In working with Explain Ninja, the goal of the Luxeo team was to increase website traffic, improve its search engine rankings, attract potential customers, and boost revenue. Thanks to a comprehensive approach, we achieved impressive results – tripling organic traffic and quadrupling the number of keywords in the TOP 10.
Want to achieve similar results for your website? Trust the professionals at Luxeo. We are results-oriented and committed to building long-term partnerships with each client. So rest assured – when you reach out to us, you’ll receive a comprehensive website analysis and a tailored SEO strategy designed specifically for your business.
Contact a Luxeo manager right now – don’t delay your success!
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