SEO CASE STUDY

SEO Recovery After Core Update for eCommerce Brand

Partner Agency: Divi Tech

Restoring Organic Visibility After a Severe Algorithm Impact

Project Overview

A mid-sized eCommerce brand experienced a sudden and severe loss of organic traffic following Google’s March Core Update. Almost overnight, organic sessions dropped close to zero, resulting in lost visibility across category and product pages. The site had previously relied heavily on organic search for customer acquisition, making the impact immediate and business-critical.

Divi Tech, the agency managing the account, required an experienced white-label SEO partner capable of diagnosing algorithm-related issues and executing a structured recovery plan without exposing backend operations to the client. To address the situation efficiently and protect client trust, Divi Tech partnered with White Label Rank to deliver a full white-label SEO recovery strategy.

All audits, findings, and recovery recommendations were shared with Divi Tech first, allowing them to review, rebrand, and secure client approval before any implementation began.

Challenges & Constraints

Recovering from a core algorithm update requires precision, patience, and a deep understanding of how search engines reassess site quality. Prior to our involvement, the eCommerce site faced multiple compounded issues:

1. Near-Zero Organic Traffic

  • Core category and product pages lost visibility almost entirely
  • Previously ranking keywords dropped out of top results
  • Search impressions declined across all priority URLs

2. Accumulated Technical Debt

  • Crawl inefficiencies caused search engines to waste resources on low-value URLs
  • Legacy technical issues had never been fully resolved
  • Indexation patterns were unstable following the update

3. Content Quality & Relevance Signals

  • Thin and outdated product descriptions weakened perceived page value
  • Category pages lacked sufficient depth and topical relevance
  • Overlapping content reduced clarity around primary ranking pages

4. Internal Linking & Site Structure Issues

  • Authority flow between categories and products was inconsistent
  • Important revenue-driving pages were under-supported internally
  • Poor structure made it difficult for search engines to reassess site importance

5. Limited Visibility Into Algorithm Impact

  • No clear prioritization of recovery actions
  • Lack of structured recovery roadmap
  • Risk of making changes that could worsen instability

Why Divi Tech Choose White Label Rank

Divi Tech required a white-label SEO partner with proven experience handling algorithm recovery scenarios particularly for eCommerce platforms operating at scale. Partnering with White Label Rank allowed Divi Tech to:

This partnership ensured Divi Tech could position themselves as a trusted SEO authority while White Label Rank handled execution quietly in the background.

Our White-Label SEO Recovery Approach

We implemented a stability-first recovery framework designed to help search engines re-evaluate site quality, relevance, and structure following the March Core Update. The recovery was executed in clearly defined phases to minimize risk and restore trust signals over time.

Phase 1: Algorithm Impact Audit & Risk Assessment

Comprehensive SEO Recovery Audit
We conducted an in-depth audit to identify signals likely contributing to the traffic collapse. Findings and recovery priorities were documented and delivered to Divi Tech for review and client approval.

Audit focus areas included:

0 %

Success Rate

Impact:

The audit provided a clear recovery roadmap, allowing the agency to move forward with confidence rather than trial-and-error adjustments.

Technical Audit

Phase 2: Index Cleanup & Crawl Stabilization

Following the March Core Update, index instability was one of the primary factors suppressing visibility. Our focus in this phase was to remove noise, reduce crawl waste, and help search engines reassess the site using clean, high-value signals.

Execution included:

Impact

Search engines began reallocating crawl budget toward core categories and products. Indexation stabilized, unnecessary URLs were removed from search results, and priority pages started reappearing consistently.

Phase 3: Content Quality & Structural Rebuild

With crawl efficiency restored, we focused on content quality signals a critical component of core update recovery. The goal was to strengthen relevance without aggressive over-optimization.

Execution included:

  • Reviewing category pages for depth, intent alignment, and topical clarity
  • Enhancing category descriptions to better reflect product groupings and search behavior
  • Refining product content to remove duplication and improve uniqueness
  • Updating metadata to align with post-update SERP expectations
  • Reducing content overlap that diluted topical authority
  • Aligning copy with buyer intent across discovery, comparison, and purchase stages
  • All content frameworks, templates, and prioritization plans were shared with Divi Tech before execution to maintain full agency control.

Impact:

Search engines began reassessing category and product pages as higher-quality assets, improving trust and relevance signals across the site.

Phase 4: Internal Linking & Authority Re-Distribution

Internal linking played a key role in restoring authority flow after the algorithm hit. This phase focused on reinforcing site hierarchy and clarifying page importance.

Execution included:

  • Mapping authority flow from high-performing pages to priority categories.
  • Strengthening contextual links between categories, subcategories, and products.
  • Ensuring top revenue-driving collections received consistent internal support.
  • Fixing orphaned or weakly connected product pages.
  • Reducing excessive internal links that diluted link equity

Impact

The refined structure helped search engines better understand page relationships, accelerating ranking recovery and improving stability across re-evaluation cycles.

Phase 5: Monitoring, Stabilization & Adjustment

Following implementation, we closely monitored performance trends to ensure recovery remained stable.

Execution included:

  • Ranking and traffic trend analysis.
  • Indexation monitoring.
  • Adjustments based on post-update behavior.
  • Continuous reporting to Divi Tech for client communication.

Execution Summary

The white-label recovery engagement included:

Results

Within months of execution, the site began showing clear recovery signals:

Organic Visibility Recovery

  • Gradual return of organic traffic after near-zero levels.
  • Re-indexation of priority category and product pages.
  • Stabilization across core keyword groups

Search Performance Health

  • Improved crawl efficiency and index consistency.
  • Reduced volatility after subsequent algorithm refreshes.
  • Stronger alignment with core update quality signals

User Engagement

  • Improved on-page engagement metrics.
  • Clearer navigation paths across categories.
  • Better content relevance for shoppers.
impressions

Impact on Divi Tech (Our Agency Partner)

Partnering with White Label Rank allowed Divi Tech to:

Protected a High-Risk Client Relationship

The recovery effort prevented client churn at a critical moment, reinforcing Divi Tech’s value as a trusted SEO partner during instability.

Positioned as SEO Recovery Specialists

Successfully managing a near-zero traffic scenario allowed Divi Tech to confidently present themselves as experts in algorithm recovery and technical SEO remediation.

Delivered Enterprise-Level SEO Without Internal Expansion

Divi Tech executed a complex recovery strategy without hiring additional technical or content specialists, preserving operational efficiency.

Secured Long-Term

Engagement & Upsell
The recovered visibility and improved site stability led to continued SEO investment and a longer-term engagement with the client.

Final Outcome

Through a carefully structured white-label recovery strategy, Divi Tech helped their eCommerce client regain lost visibility after the March Core Update. By addressing crawl inefficiencies, strengthening content quality, and rebuilding internal structure, the site moved from near-zero organic presence to stable recovery.

White Label Rank empowered the agency to deliver high-risk SEO recovery confidently while maintaining full ownership of client relationships and positioning themselves for long-term growth.

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