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Flatmate Finders recovers from a sharp drop in organic traffic with the help of Pulse Agency.

September 29, 2022

Author

Nicolas Pustilnick Colombres

Introduction:

January 2020

In January 2020, Flatmate Finders, an iconic Australian flatmate finding site, was experiencing aggressive competition in the flatmate search market.

Although Flatmate Finders had clear differentiation in terms of service and brand, the company underestimated the value of SEO in a market where Google searches are still the preferred method for finding flatmates by users.

Flatmate Finder’s competitors saw this situation as an opportunity and quickly deployed a series of SEO tactics that increased their online presence.

Consequently, a large brand with superior service found itself in a constant traffic loss that required an immediate solution.

 

The challenge

How can a company compete in a market where big players have already established dominant positions?

To make things worse, the new competitors included some large Australian holdings newly interested in the flatmate market, and they had big pockets to play in paid search. This made it considerably more difficult and expensive to compete.

The two graphs pasted below illustrate how this new competition was making their Google ads campaign get fewer clicks (ctr) and pay more for each of the clicks available (average CTR).

 

 

Source: Wordstream

 

Chart Summary:

CTR is a measurement of how often your ads are being clicked. It’s calculated by dividing the number of times they are shown (impressions). A lowering CTR trend, means your ads are getting clicks fewer times than previously.

Average CPC tells you the average amount you were charged each time your ad clicked. It’s calculated by taking the total cost of all clicks divided by the total number of clicks.

In Google ads, a trend of increased CPCs means you will have to pay more to compete or participate in the market.

The solution

Our strategy began with competitor analysis. 

Pulse took the task of analysing the competitor’s websites to understand what tactics they had implemented and what was paying off.

By reverse-engineering their competitors, we learn how to structure the site to take full advantage of the search opportunity and fight back against the deeper pockets of Flatmate Finder’s competitors.

In addition, we identified great link opportunities we could easily take advantage of, as well as areas in paid and organic search where the competitors were weak. 

The Result

 

In six months, Flatmate Finders saw a 27.42% increase in visitors.

Pulse was able to dramatically lower the cost per acquisition while increasing conversion rates. By April, the organic traffic began to show a positive trend with a 4.19% increase as reported by Google search.

The positive trend continued improving well into May, and by June the uptrend was constant and stable.

 


Public review Via Linkedin  Via LinkedIn

 

Guy Mitchell, Flatmate Finders

‘’I contacted Pulse Agency to help me arrest a decline in website traffic as a result of aggressive competition and my focus on technical aspects of my business, rather than marketing, for the 12 months prior. Nicolas was fantastic in so many ways. He did the necessary research to diagnose the issue and developed a plan to address three key areas of concern, including SEO, PPC and social media marketing. We worked together for five months to implement his plan and achieved great results. Nicolas’ commitment to success exceeded my expectations. He monitored the results closely and made adjustments to our strategy where necessary. He also kept abreast of competitor activity, researched better ways to implement our SEO strategy and injected a great deal of energy into our business. I high recommend Nicolas for his digital marketing skills, problem-solving ability and commitment to success.”

+ 27%
Visitors

+ 4.2%
Organic traffic

Testimonials

At Pulse Agency, we’re proud of our strong client relationships. Check out real reviews that highlight our commitment to great results and happy customers.

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“Nicolas´ commitment to success exceed my expectations. He monitored the results closely and made adjustment to our…”

“I have worked with Nico and his team over 5 years, and would be LOST without him. His knowledge is encyclopaedic, his approach methodical and his enthusiasm to deliver results genuine. I highly recommend Nico to be part of your team, for the long haul”

Positive: Professionalism, Quality,
Responsiveness, Value

“I began working with Nicolas and Pulse Agency a few months ago. Pulse are managing the digital marketing for my brand, Vitajuwel, which is the leading European manufacturer of gem water products in the world. In a short time, there has been a huge improvement in the return on advertising dollars spent. I am most impressed with the knowledge and professionalism that Pulse displays and I would recommend them to others without hesitation. Ralph Silverman – Vitajuwel Australia”

“Pulse Agency has really made a difference to my business!

With their professionalism, they have been able to properly explain the technical aspects of their plan for my line of work, in a way that I could understand.

Since I engaged the services of Pulse Agency, my business has grown and become more prominent in my industry area.”