In an era where value and helpfulness are essential, Appwiki as a software package comparison platform provides a crucial service for sole traders and onder takers. With a decline in organic results, it was up to us to develop a strategy for organic growth, taking into account Appwiki's challenges with Google Core Updates and increasing competition.
Appwiki is a website where you can compare different software packages, such as accounting, CRM, project management and invoicing software. This makes it easier for self-employed professionals (zzp'ers) and ondernemers to decide which software package best suits their needs. In addition, Appwiki provides useful information on important onder topics such as accounting and CRM, to help people choose the right business software.
In 2021, Onder had the opportunity to partner with Appwiki. Appwiki was facing a decline in visibility in Google's search results, which was problematic for a platform that makes money through cost-per-click (CPC). This was a challenge Onder was happy to take on, with the aim of boosting Appwiki's organic growth.
Upon initial analysis, it quickly became clear that Appwiki was affected by previous Google algorithm updates, resulting in loss of positions in search results with each update. Moreover, competition in the market was becoming fiercer.
To strengthen Appwiki's position as a leading software package comparison website, we focused on increasing its market share and optimising its content. This started with a thorough analysis of the pages that had the most potential to make an impact, particularly the lists of 'best software' and 'top 10' software packages. These specific pages were key, as they not only drove visitors to our website, but also generated actual business opportunities for Appwiki.
Our goal was clear: we wanted to increase our market share and generate more estimated traffic for key search terms by achieving higher positions in search results. We focused on search terms such as 'best accounting programme' and 'compare CRM systems'. Our strategic approach focused not only on improving our visibility in search results, but also on demonstrating deep expertise and reliability in our content, in line with the principles of E-A-T (Expertise, Authority and Reliability).
With small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and self-employed professionals (ZZPs) as our main target audience, it was crucial to develop and improve pages that matched their needs. The challenge was not only to provide information to the user, but also to provide actual value in a market saturated with competing information from both software vendors and other comparison sites. It was essential to demonstrate our authority and expertise not only through content, but also by improving the user experience.
Our approach required detailed marketonderzoek, both locally and internationally, to identify successful content strategies that matched users' needs. This ondersearch revealed that optimising existing pages and creating new 'top 10' and 'best 5' software packages as core content were crucial to improve our search results while meeting users' search intent.
Our strategy focused not only on achieving short-term successes, but also on laying a solid foundation for growth in an ever-changing digital landscape. This meant that our content not only had to be current, but also flexible enough to withstand future updates from Google. Adding the extra 'E' in E-E-A-T led to a revision of our writing style and a greater emphasis on real user experiences and recommendations.
After testing the new approach in the CRM software cluster and noticing positive shifts in search results, we decided to apply this strategy to other clusters. Although we initially saw some fluctuations after the product review update in February 2023, our modified approach eventually resulted in an increase in both search result positions and our market share. This proved the resilience and effectiveness of our approach.
Annex: after Product Review update and Core Update, we saw market share and positions drop. Extra E at E-A-T, then focus on reviews from own experience after which market share rose again.
The approach resulted in significant improvements in search positions and visibility, especially in the clusters accounting packages and time tracking, which underlined the effectiveness of the strategy onderstrips. For the 'best accounting package' page, we saw an increase in the search term 'accounting package' from position 50 to position 2 within 2 months. Similarly, the term 'accounting package comparison' went from position 11 to position 2.
In a world where anyone can write anything and where AI is widely used, we wanted to create content that really contributes something to the user's search. This has contributed to the success of these pages. We can now say that we have established a strong foundation that is producing good results and that this strategy can be rolled out widely across the website.
And the latest Google update on 23 August now shows that. After the latest update, we are again seeing substantial growth in impressions and clicks. Together with Appwiki, we will continue to build on this and build on even better positions and even more pages.
Annex: Results after Google update of August 23
The approach resulted in significant improvements in search rankings and visibility, particularly in the accounting and timesheet clusters, which underlined the effectiveness of the onder strategy.
Whether it's about content or technical adjustments, it doesn't matter. Martijn briefs this in a very clear way so that it can be implemented locally or by our head office in France. [...] Since the start of our collaboration, we have achieved great results. Keep it up!
When your online onder venture grows, expectations often grow too, in every area. To a large extent, we were in control of SEO and its interpretation ourselves. We found out that our own "general view" was no longer sufficient, so we engaged Bureau Onder. Surprising and clear. We have built up a fine collaboration, partly because Martijn also regularly visits our office with Eline or Mariska (depending on the case), which is very valuable to us!
Martijn and Mariska make the SEO story understandable for the layman and are happy to think along with us. It is nice that there is a personal contact moment every month with an extensive report and the opportunity to talk everything through. After just a few months, Onder has already managed to achieve number 1 positions on Google with some of our webshop pages. We are very satisfied with Onder.
For several years, Onder has been a valued partner of Stella. Martijn is my sparring partner for complex SEO issues and the extra pair of critical eyes that keeps us on our toes. Together, we have achieved nice growth in online visibility, visitor numbers and leads. Onder onder stands out for its short lines of communication and professionalism. They speak our language: don't nag, get down to business. That is what we love!
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