Case Study

How SEO Helped a Small Ecommerce Business Increase Orders by 91%

The Challenge

After relaunching their website, Southern Flavoring aimed to grow their online presence but faced challenges in driving consistent organic traffic and attracting new customers. With a lean team, they needed strategic SEO support to build on their initial success and sustain long-term growth.

The Outcome

Through a technical site audit and strategic content optimization, organic sessions increased by 67% in one year, with continued year-over-year growth. Organic orders rose by 91%, proving the lasting impact of a well-executed SEO strategy.

Hero image depicting results from Southern Flavoring case study including a 67% increase in Organic Sessions YoY.

The Story

Southern Flavoring, a long-established ecommerce company specializing in extracts and flavorings, had recently re-launched its website and was eager to build on that momentum. As a trusted brand with over half a century of history and a loyal customer base, they set their sights on growth through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Their goal? To attract more organic traffic, connect with new customers, and drive increased website orders. While their loyal following was strong, they recognized the importance of expanding their reach and welcoming new audiences to sustain growth.

The Opportunity

After relaunching their website with SEO support, Southern Flavoring was off to a strong start. However, like many small businesses, they faced the challenge of driving consistent growth and attracting new customers. With a limited staff, they turned to Workshop Digital to help them build on their initial success and steer their efforts in the right direction.

The Approach

The Workshop Digital team began with a comprehensive Technical Site Audit to identify and resolve technical, on-page, and off-page SEO issues. Workshop Digital added relevant conversion tracking, updated schema markup to follow best practices, improved the XML sitemap, optimized titles and meta data, and the Google Business Profile. We also worked with Southern Flavoring’s developer to normalize URLs.

A table depicting audit items, issues, solutions, priorities, and complexity.

From there, the focus shifted to optimizing key areas of the website. This included updating existing core category pages, refreshing recipe content, and creating new, optimized recipe content. Every step of the process was driven by in-depth keyword research and thoughtful content ideation, ensuring the updates aligned with what customers were searching for.

Workshop Digital improved existing recipes that were written before the start of our SEO engagement. Once Southern Flavoring had the resources to create new recipes, we provided comprehensive keyword research and content ideation to guide their development. Collaborating closely with their team, we optimized the recipes and organized them into relevant categories. Finally, we partnered with their development team to implement a seamless way to feature recipes on product pages, enhancing relevance and engagement for users.

A screenshot of 3 featured recipe cards, with images and descriptions.

The Results

The technical site audit and content improvements significantly increased Southern Flavoring’s search visibility, driving consistent growth in organic traffic. One year into the ongoing SEO engagement, organic sessions had increased by 67%. This upward trend has continued year-over-year, with a notable surge in organic traffic during the business’s busy season in 2024, demonstrating the lasting impact of a focused SEO strategy.

A graph depicting growth in Organic Orders from May 2023 to December 2024.

As the SEO strategy took effect, orders increased steadily year-over-year. Just one year into the ongoing engagement, organic orders had risen by 91%. This long-term strategy has proven effective in driving consistent growth, even during the business’s traditionally slow seasons.

A chart depicting the Organic Orders growth from May 2023 to December 2024.
Southern Flavoring logo.

When Southern Flavoring Company started working with Emily at Workshop Digital, we knew absolutely nothing about SEO, SEM, or the intricacies of Google. We’ve now partnered with them for over a year and feel like we’re getting a good value, as our website traffic grows steadily. Emily has a way of explaining the most technical details in easy-to-understand language that even I can understand!

- John Messier, Owner, Southern Flavoring

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