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Case Study 1

  • Writer: Zanardy
    Zanardy
  • Apr 30
  • 3 min read

Updated: May 2

+3 000 Daily Visits Through Strategic SEO for a Regulated Tobacco Brand

Snapshot

Result

Timeframe

9 months

Traffic Lift

+3 200 organic sessions per day (312 % growth)

Keyword Wins

23 formerly “banned” terms now on Google page 1

Ad Spend

USD 0

1. Challenge

Strict advertising rules around “tobacco,” “cigarettes,” and shisha meant the brand could not rely on paid media. Organic visibility for key educational queries was low, and legacy pages lacked the depth Google now expects under E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust).


this is the link to the referenced case study 1


Funnily enugh when we look up the keyword, we found out the the keyword was more related to brand text, rather than the generic informational/commercial/transactional keywords like hookah pipes, for example.
Funnily enugh when we look up the keyword, we found out the the keyword was more related to brand text, rather than the generic informational/commercial/transactional keywords like hookah pipes, for example.
Based on Ahrefs, this blog alone is getting 3k+ traffic for the website. Now that we know the nature of the keyword, and the missing entities of the top5 searches, we curate the content to fit into a listicle geo tagging intent, where these tobacconist shops are located around melbourne. Entity grading woudl be based on (locaiton+new entity+new insights+poc(proof of concept), which is why if you see how we included many location htmls for each of the shops.
Based on Ahrefs, this blog alone is getting 3k+ traffic for the website. Now that we know the nature of the keyword, and the missing entities of the top5 searches, we curate the content to fit into a listicle geo tagging intent, where these tobacconist shops are located around melbourne. Entity grading woudl be based on (locaiton+new entity+new insights+poc(proof of concept), which is why if you see how we included many location htmls for each of the shops.

2. Objectives

  • Capture high-intent searches without violating medical or legal guidelines

  • Increase daily organic traffic by at least 1 000 sessions

  • Achieve first-page rankings for priority “restricted” keywords—without backlinks or ads

3. Strategy & Execution

Step

What We Did

Why It Mattered

Entity-Based Keyword Mapping

Pulled 18 months of Google Search Console data; surfaced low-visibility terms such as “how to pack a shisha bowl safely.”

Focused effort on intent-rich topics competitors ignored.

Expert-Led Content Creation

AI writing agents drafted outlines; industry specialists and compliance officers enriched every article with firsthand tips, citations, and disclaimers.

Delivered depth users trust and regulators approve.

Structured Data & Internal Hubs

Added FAQ, HowTo, and Product schema; wove new pages into topical “shisha care” and “heat management” hubs.

Helped Google understand page purpose and improved crawl paths.

E-E-A-T Signals

Published author bios (medical reviewer + flavour technologist), transparent sourcing, and an updated About-Us page.

Boosted authority without resorting to backlink campaigns.

Iterative On-Page Optimisation

Monthly audits of Core Web Vitals, click-through-rate testing on meta titles, and refinement of internal anchor text.

Maintained momentum and uncovered new quick wins.

4. Results

  • Traffic Surge: Average daily sessions climbed from ~1 000 to 4 200, a 312 % jump.

  • Keyword Dominance: 23 formerly restricted keywords reached page 1; 7 landed in the top 3.

  • Zero Media Spend: Achieved goals without paid ads or aggressive link building.

  • Quality Metrics: Bounce rate fell 18 %; average time on page rose 41 seconds, indicating genuine engagement.


New entities also suggests that adding in new insights, such as what has been discussed previously, has been the major ranking factor for our blog. Thanks to the help of the reasoning model o3 by openai, we are able to put together this blog in less than 10 minutes. all with internal links and external links which are relevant to the search query.
New entities also suggests that adding in new insights, such as what has been discussed previously, has been the major ranking factor for our blog. Thanks to the help of the reasoning model o3 by openai, we are able to put together this blog in less than 10 minutes. all with internal links and external links which are relevant to the search query.
our blog is ranked number 4 in the SERPS in australia based on AHREFS data.
our blog is ranked number 4 in the SERPS in australia based on AHREFS data.
This keyword alone is getting 80k+ traffic ALONE. so we are very fortunate with the help of these seo tools to find these related keywords with such high traffic search. SEO is definitely not dead.
This keyword alone is getting 80k+ traffic ALONE. so we are very fortunate with the help of these seo tools to find these related keywords with such high traffic search. SEO is definitely not dead.

5. Key Takeaways

  1. Regulated industries can win organically by pairing entity-level research with precise compliance checks.

  2. AI + expert co-authoring accelerates production while preserving authenticity and legal integrity.

  3. Robust E-E-A-T frameworks substitute for backlinks in niches where outreach is limited or risky.

Sometimes its best to think about how you can rationalise the thinking process of balancing the creative and the science of the google search algorithm to be able to rank high quality pages in the top 5.

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