SEO Revitalization

By mid-2023, traffic to Experts Exchange was sliding — hard. After years of growth, we were hit by multiple Google Core Updates that penalized our visibility, especially in logged-out content. Pages were slow, incorrectly tagged, and under-optimized. The problem was clear, but the fix wasn’t.

That’s when I stepped in to lead a full SEO and front-end strategy redesign — and over the next 90 days, we saw one of the most significant turnarounds in site visibility in company history.

The Problem: Technical Debt Was Killing Organic Growth

Experts Exchange had strong legacy content, but we weren’t surfacing in search. And when users did find us, they were bouncing — fast.

Here’s what we were facing:

• Bounce rate at 90%

• Slow page load speeds from bloated JavaScript

• Structured data missing or miscategorized

• Google interpreting the entire site as “paywalled content”

• Traffic declines tied to multiple Google Core Updates

  
  

Despite having millions of high-value content pages, only 400,000 were indexed. That’s a massive gap — and a clear opportunity.

My Role: Proactive Discovery and Cross-Functional Leadership

This wasn’t a ticket that landed in my lap — I found the problem.

• I identified issues in our structured data schema and page load performance through an SEO audit

• I wrote a full PRD and made the case to product and engineering leadership

• I joined daily engineering standups to help align priorities and unblock execution

• I redesigned the logged-out question page myself to improve keyword density and UX

• I prioritized Core Web Vitals improvements, layout simplification, and proper indexing logic

What We Changed

The core of the fix was simple: give Google a reason to re-trust us.

Key changes:

• Reclassified content from “paywalled” to DiscussionForum schema

• Removed unused JavaScript and bloated scripts on logged-out pages

• Improved layout structure with clearer headings and keyword context

• Improved Core Web Vitals from “Poor” to “Good” across 71,000+ URLs

• A/B tested updates on 10% of pages before full rollout

• Resubmitted key pages and triggered reindexing in Google Search Console

  
  

This wasn’t just an SEO play — it was a product and UX alignment. I treated search discoverability like a feature.

The Results: Visibility Restored and Page Indexing Tripled

Sessions (monthly):

• Aug 2022: 327,270

• Nov 2023 (post-algo dip): 499,481

• Jan 2024 (after first release): 635,055

• Jun 2024 (pre-update): 391,555

• Oct 2024 (post-comprehensive update): 536,150

  
  

Pages Indexed in Google:

• Sept 2024: 728,591

• Nov 2024: 1,654,496+

  
  

Core Web Vitals:

• Before: 71,000 URLs classified as Poor

• After: 71,000 URLs classified as Good

  
  

Bounce Rate:

• Dropped from 90% to 80%

  
  

Signups:

• Organic signups increased, driven by deeper engagement on logged-out content

Why It Worked

This project succeeded because we treated SEO not as a content tweak — but as a product experience redesign.

• We understood Google’s algorithmic changes (especially the Helpful Content Update)

• We redesigned pages to both load fast and signal content value clearly

• We aligned SEO, engineering, and product execution through clear documentation and consistent leadership

Final Thoughts

This project was a reminder that sometimes your best growth levers are right under your nose — hidden in slow-loading scripts, neglected schemas, and aging layouts.

Product marketing isn’t just about messaging and launches. Sometimes, it’s about digging into the technical underpinnings of your platform — and translating opportunity into execution.