Background

Hardbacon was a cutting-edge financial technology company that offered an innovative application designed to give users a comprehensive view of their finances. The app connected to users' bank accounts and credit cards, enabling them to set financial goals, monitor spending, and save money through sophisticated comparison tools. These tools empowered users to make informed decisions about financial products such as credit cards, insurance policies, and robo-advisors by comparing various options available in the market.

‍Hardbacon had established partnerships with companies such as Desjardins Online Brokerage in order to promote the adoption of its application. Additionally, they had raised more than $750,000 through a crowdfunding campaign.

Challenge

Before September 2023, Hardbacon enjoyed a strong online presence, with an impressive 242.1K organic visitors per month. However, following a significant Google Core Algorithm Update in August 2023, the company's organic traffic plummeted to approximately 27K visitors per month—a staggering 88% drop. This decline in visibility and traffic is a major factor in the company’s expected declaration of bankruptcy.

The primary cause of this traffic drop was a poorly executed SEO strategy. Despite efforts to produce SEO-focused content, the strategy was flawed in several critical ways, which ultimately led to severe consequences for Hardbacon.

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SEO Audit Findings

SEO Audit FindingsOur team at Connect 4 Marketing did a comprehensive SEO audit on the Hardbacon case and found the following issues with their SEO strategy.

‍Content Strategy Flaws:
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• Hardbacon's strategy was heavily focused on targeting brand-specific keywords, such as "Amazon Prime," "Air Miles," or "Expedia Canada,". Instead the focus should have been on on-topic-centric content that aligned with Google’s E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) guidelines.
• Their website lacked a well-structured content pillar strategy, which is essential for establishing topical authority and improving search rankings. Their content was not comprehensive or well-labeled, leading to poor performance in Google’s search results.

‍Impact of Google Core Update:

• The August 2023 Google Core Update, which was rolled out from August 22 to September 7, 2023, placed a stronger emphasis on high-quality, authoritative content. Websites with superficial or non-topic-centric content were heavily penalized, and Hardbacon was no exception. The company’s focus on brand-related keywords without offering substantial value-driven content resulted in a significant loss of rankings and traffic.

‍Lack of Focus on E-A-T Principles:
• Hardbacon’s content strategy did not align with Google’s E-A-T principles. The lack of authoritative and trustworthy content led to a decline in the site's credibility, causing Google to demote its rankings in favour of sites that provided more reliable and expert-driven content.

Outcome

The severe drop in organic traffic was a major contributor to Hardbacon’s decline, ultimately leading to its expected bankruptcy. This case underscores the importance of a robust and well-aligned SEO strategy that adheres to best practices, including the creation of high-quality, relevant, and authoritative content.

Lessons Learned

• Adopt a Topic-Centric Content Strategy: Prioritize content that is aligned with user intent and focuses on building topical authority. This approach not only improves rankings but also enhances user engagement.
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• Emphasize E-A-T: Ensure that your content demonstrates expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. This is crucial for maintaining and improving your site’s visibility in search engines, especially in the wake of core algorithm updates.
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• Stay Adaptable to Algorithm Changes: Regularly review and adjust your SEO strategies to align with the latest search engine algorithm updates. This proactive approach can help mitigate the risk of sudden traffic drops.

• Focus on Comprehensive Content Pillars: Develop content pillars that cover broad topics comprehensively, supported by related subtopics. This structure helps establish your site as an authority in your niche, ultimately boosting search rankings.

"I did everything in my power to cut expenses starting in September 2023, when a Google update caused Hardbacon traffic to plummet. I fired all of our employees one by one, until I had to fire the last two employees at the beginning of the month,” explains Julien Brault on LinkedIn. Despite extensive SEO and content optimization work, our traffic has only declined, and every Google update since September has resulted in our traffic decline accelerating, without us being able to explain why."


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