In December 2023, we publicly shared our 2024 Website Performance Strategy, driven by three core truths that are just as relevant as ever:
- Today’s businesses exist at the hands of Google. It’s a wild contradiction to say you’re focused on growth but the big G is nowhere in your performance strategy.
- Optimizing website performance is the #1 way to unlock sustainable growth within this Google-reliant landscape.
- Repeatable digital marketing success can be reduced to this simple formula:
Follow the data + Stay lean and nimble + Evolve on repeat
We had big goals for 2024. How did we do? Website Performance Analysis.
Quick summary of what we did:
- Prioritized and mapped 130+ targeted keywords
- Expanded website architecture to reflect full catalog of business services
- Published 12 net new landing pages with foundational SEO optimizations
- Refreshed 6 existing pages with foundational SEO optimizations
- Published 10 thought leadership blog posts (Click below for the one with 2200% more views than our average posts!)
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With a lean and agile team of digital marketing experts across SEO, Analytics, Brand Strategy, Content and Creative, we focused on organic growth, with particular emphasis on three metrics categories.
Here are some the exciting results we generated in 2024:
Why are we sharing these website performance analysis results publicly?
We could’ve mentioned these metrics on an internal Slack thread and kept it moving. Why did we bother to pause and create a blog post tooting our horn? Four reasons:
1. We talk a lot about our A+ talent. Here’s more proof.
For decades, business leaders have been told that conventional agencies are the go-to destination for exceptional digital marketing expertise—Apiary shows that this idea is outdated.
We are a homebase for top-notch talent that’s not accommodated within the constraints of the traditional agency model.
If you question just how “top-notch” we’re talking, we think our 2024 website performance analysis results are just one of many proof points confirming that our highly-experienced talent bench (average of 12 years’ industry experience each) is second to none.
Meet Consultant-Partner Lizzy Meagher
“Apiary takes into consideration every part of a consultant’s life to make the collective work for you, not the other way around.”
2. Reminder for 2025: Targeted efforts over everything.
“We want to grow” or “Let’s outperform Competitor X” are not strategies. Growth goals need to be precise, mapped in consideration of the business’ current constraints and opportunities, and always measurable.
Our website performance successes this year hinged on the willingness to focus on specific and targeted objectives. We could’ve added several other items to the agenda, risking the possibility of diluted results. Instead, we got sharp and landed on a set of impactful performance improvements.
Make sure your marketing partners are targeting improvements in specific KPIs, regularly reporting on progress towards those goals, and willing to pivot fast when needed.
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3. Reminder for 2025: Expert efficiency is paramount.
Our leadership team gives all the credit for this achievement to the talents of our Apiary consultant-partners. Even the most thoughtful strategy can fall down if the right resources aren’t in the right seats on the bus. We relied on vetted expertise to guide our year-long website growth efforts, and will continue to do so.
No martech tool can outperform the effectiveness of human insight, decades of skill development, and seasoned business savvy.
Humans over everything.
4. Reminder for 2025: Focus on quick wins AND play the long game.
Organic Search has a reputation for being s-s-s-s-slow, and it’s a rep that’s well earned, because the biggest organic gains do tend to emerge over time. Patience.
But let our 2024 website performance analysis results be a reminder that with a sharp strategic plan and trusted experts on your team, you can see substantial organic search engine optimization results very quickly.
Several of the biggest ranking stats we shared above emerged within the first 60 days of publishing a net new page, and only grew from there. And this truth extends across all growth marketing channels, not just Organic Search.
Hold your marketing partner accountable to a 2025 growth agenda that balances long-term success with quick wins. Get the momentum rolling and keep it going.
And there’s more growth to come! See you in 2025!
To all our consultant-partners, client-partners, colleagues, and dear friends, we’re wishing you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, or whatever good tidings this season brings for you.
See you back here in the new year.
Happy Holidays!
~ Team Apiary
