A 15% target, beaten nearly five times over

Melbourne Polytechnic enlisted The Garden's SEO expertise in March 2022, on top of a partnership running since 2021 across organic social and user-generated video. The goal was a 15% increase in organic traffic; the result was over 72%.

Client: Melbourne Polytechnic
Industry: Education
Solutions: Media & Performance
Services: SEO & AEO, Facebook Ads, Google Ads
Region: Australia

Increase in organic traffic year on year

72%+

Increase in sessions

40%

Increase in page views

23%

Of site traffic now arriving organically

60%

The challenge

Search engines send traffic to sites they trust, and low-quality pages, poor structure and thin mentions erode that trust over time. Melbourne Polytechnic wanted a 15% lift in organic traffic, with no dedicated in-house resource for technical SEO changes and internal copywriting and development capacity that varied month to month.

Our solution

Five audits set the roadmap: technical, website quality, competitor analysis, keyword research for existing pages, and content quality. The website quality audit assessed inbound links, titles, content depth, keyword rankings and more at the page level, grouping pages into sections to prioritise the work. With updates needed across a large number of pages, we front-loaded retainer hours to deliver on-page optimisation guidelines and content, offering copywriting and editorial support as required.

On the technical side we worked directly with Melbourne Polytechnic’s web agency: site speed and performance, missing alt text, meta description lengths and internal redirects. Monthly reporting meetings and a colour-coded task workbook with clear assignees kept the flow of work moving, tailored to the client’s resources at any given time.

The results

Organic traffic rose more than 72% year on year, with sessions up 40%, page views up 23%, and organic search now delivering 60% of all site traffic, surpassing the original 15% target six months ahead of schedule.

What our clients say

The Garden provided us with clear guidance, great content, regular check-ins, and technical and functional recommendations. They drove us to reach and exceed our SEO goals.