Case Study: SEO Strategy for LY Private Investigators

SEO Case Study: LY Private Investigators – Rebranding and Regaining Online Authority

Background:

LY Private Investigators (formerly Ly Detectives PI Services) faced the challenge of rebranding and changing their domain from lydetectives.com to lyprivateinvestigators.com. The rebranding process required not only building a new website but also regaining authority in search results for brand-related keywords, despite losing access to old social media accounts and the previous domain, which had been live for over a decade.

Objectives:

1. Rank the new website for brand keywords.
2. Build authority for the new domain despite competition from the old domain and entities.
3. Establish new social media profiles and outrank the old ones.
4. Achieve first-position rankings for Google Maps and search engine results.

SEO Strategy & Implementation

1. Website Development and On-Page Optimization: The first step involved building a new, optimized website for lyprivateinvestigators.com. This was critical to establish a strong foundation for SEO. The on-page SEO strategies included:

• Keyword Research and Integration: We identified the key brand-related terms and phrases that LY Private Investigators wanted to rank for. These keywords were strategically integrated into meta titles, meta descriptions, headings (H1, H2), and body content across relevant pages.
• Content Optimization: High-quality content was created, focusing on services offered by LY Private Investigators. Each service page was written with SEO best practices in mind, including keyword density, internal linking, and image optimization (alt text for images).
• Site Speed Optimization: Page loading speeds were enhanced, ensuring that the website met Google’s Core Web Vitals metrics for a better user experience.
• Mobile Optimization: With mobile search on the rise, the website was fully optimized for mobile devices, ensuring responsiveness and fast loading times across all devices.
• URL Structuring: Clean, keyword-rich URLs were implemented, making it easy for Google to crawl and index the site.

2. Google Maps Optimization: To boost local SEO, a new Google Maps listing was created. We ensured that the business information was consistent across all platforms, focusing on:

• NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) Consistency: Keeping business information consistent across the web.
• Category Optimization: Selecting the correct business categories and adding detailed descriptions with relevant keywords.
• Customer Reviews: Encouraging satisfied clients to leave positive reviews on the new Google Maps listing to improve local search rankings.

3. Social Media Strategy: As LY Private Investigators no longer had access to their old social media accounts, new profiles were created on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. The strategy for these platforms included:

• Profile Optimization: Ensuring each social media profile was fully optimized with brand-related keywords in the bio, descriptions, and profile titles.
• Content Creation: Regular posts were developed, including a mix of articles, images, and videos optimized for engagement and visibility. Video content, in particular, was key for boosting interaction on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Building Authority: The focus was on engaging with followers, responding to comments, and sharing valuable, relevant content. This helped build credibility and drive traffic to the new domain.

4. Press Release and Backlink Strategy: A worldwide press release was issued to inform the public about the domain change. The press release acted as an announcement and also supported the backlink strategy:

• Authority Backlinks: The press release included backlinks to the new domain and newly created social media profiles, signaling to Google that the new domain should be associated with the LY Private Investigators brand.
• Brand Mentions: Multiple authoritative sites picked up the press release, increasing brand visibility and creating high-quality backlinks that improved the domain’s authority.

5. Competitor Analysis and Continuous SEO: Although the old domain was still live, it was in maintenance mode, meaning it did not have updated content. However, the previous domain and entities had established authority through a decade of backlinks and social signals. To outrank these entities, we continued to:

• Monitor Competitors: Regular analysis of competitor backlinks, content, and keyword rankings allowed us to adjust the strategy as needed.
• Link Building: We focused on building new backlinks from industry-relevant, high-authority websites.
• Ongoing Content Updates: Fresh, keyword-optimized content was added regularly to maintain relevancy and improve rankings for target keywords.

Results:

Within 14 days of the SEO campaign launch, the new domain lyprivateinvestigators.com and the Google Maps listing achieved first-position rankings for relevant brand keywords. The press release and social media strategy significantly boosted domain authority, helping to establish LY Private Investigators as the top-ranking result, despite competition from the old entities.

Challenges and Future Outlook: While LY Private Investigators managed to quickly regain ranking positions, the old domain and entities still posed competition due to their decade-long presence and accumulated backlinks. Continuous SEO efforts will be necessary to further establish the new domain and social media profiles in search results and maintain the top positions long-term.

Conclusion:

This case study demonstrates the power of a well-executed SEO strategy in overcoming significant challenges, such as loss of access to old domains and social media accounts. By focusing on on-page SEO, social media optimization, authority-building through backlinks, and a press release, LY Private Investigators successfully re-established their online presence within a short period.