CloudEmployee Technical SEO Case Study:
8x Organic Growth in 20 Months
CloudEmployee.co.uk, a UK offshore staffing company, grew organic traffic 8x between July 2018 and March 2020 while I was its in-house SEO Team Lead. This B2B SEO case study covers the technical fixes, content and link building behind that growth.
The Challenge: A Weak Technical Foundation and No SEO Team Workflow
CloudEmployee needed a technical SEO baseline, content aligned to real search intent, and a stronger off-page authority profile – plus a structured way for the SEO team to plan, execute, and report on all of it.
Technical SEO gaps
Site speed, structured data implementation, and mobile-friendliness had not been systematically audited or prioritised, limiting crawlability and indexability.
On-page content misaligned to intent
Keyword research, meta tags, and internal linking weren’t consistently mapped to what target customers were actually searching for.
Thin off-page authority profile
The backlink profile lacked a steady pipeline of high-quality links, guest-posting placements, and partnerships to build authority against established staffing platforms.
No shared team workflow
The SEO team had no central system for organising, tracking, and delegating technical, on-page, and off-page work across contributors.
No consistent KPI reporting
Organic traffic, rankings, conversions, and engagement weren’t being tracked and reported on a regular cadence for stakeholders.
Cross-functional silos
SEO priorities weren’t consistently connected to marketing, development, and design work, slowing down execution on both sides.
The Strategy: A 20-Month Technical, On-Page and Off-Page SEO Program
As SEO Team Lead, the engagement combined hands-on technical and on-page work with off-page authority building, structured team management, and cross-functional collaboration – six connected work streams built to compound over time.
Technical SEO strategy
Developed comprehensive technical SEO strategies to improve website performance, crawlability and indexability – prioritising site-speed optimisation, structured data implementation, and mobile-friendliness enhancements.
On-page optimisation
Built on-page strategies spanning keyword research, content optimisation, meta-tag optimisation, and internal linking – ensuring pages aligned with target keywords and user intent.
Off-page authority & link building
Developed off-page strategies focused on acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources, and identified link-building opportunities, guest-posting prospects, and partnerships.
Team workflow via Trello
Used Trello to organise, track, and delegate tasks within the SEO team – setting up workflows, assigning tasks, and monitoring progress for efficient execution.
KPI reporting & continuous improvement
Monitored organic traffic, rankings, conversions and engagement, produced regular reports for stakeholders, and refined strategy based on data-driven insights and the latest algorithm changes.
Cross-functional leadership
Oversaw the team’s implementation of technical, on-page and off-page strategies; collaborated with content creators, marketing, development and design; and managed the SEO budget, tools and training.
The Results: Organic Traffic Grew 8x
Estimated monthly organic search traffic to cloudemployee.co.uk, tracked from the start of the engagement to its close – as the technical, on-page and off-page work compounded. Source: Semrush Domain Overview (Historical Data).
Estimated Organic Traffic – Jul 2018–Mar 2020
Keyword Position Distribution – Jul 2018 vs. Mar 2020
| Position bucket | Jul 2018 | Mar 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 3 | 1 | 7 | 7x |
| Positions 4–10 | 6 | 47 | 7.8x |
| Positions 11–20 | 34 | 255 | 7.5x |
| Positions 21–50 | 206 | 1,036 | 5.0x |
| Positions 51–100 | 408 | 1,471 | 3.6x |
| Total tracked keywords | 655 | 2,816 | 4.3x |
What CloudEmployee’s CMO Had to Say
Hubert led our SEO program at CloudEmployee for nearly two years, and the results speak for themselves — our organic traffic grew 8x and our keywords in the Top 3 went from just one to seven. He brought a structured, data-driven approach to everything from technical audits to content strategy, and made sure the wider team always had clear reporting and a workflow to execute against. He was a genuine pleasure to work with and a big part of our growth story.
What This Technical SEO Case Study Shows
CloudEmployee is a B2B staffing site, so every ranking had to earn a lead. Here is what moved the needle.
- Organic traffic grew 8x between July 2018 and March 2020.
- Keywords in the top three went from one to seven, according to the client.
- Technical fixes came first: crawl issues, site speed and internal linking, then content aligned to search intent.
- A shared Trello workflow and regular KPI reports kept the wider team moving on the same priorities.
If you’re new to the technical side, Google’s overview of how Search works is a good primer. Need a technical SEO consultant? Book a free call or read the other SEO case studies.
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