CASE STUDY · SEO GROWTH
Taking Unranked Category Keywords to Page One for a D2C Brand
A D2C home-fragrance brand in India moved two previously unranked category keywords onto page one, at positions 5 and 8, and lifted another from 19th to 5th. The work was targeted on-page SEO: meta tags, headers, keyword placement and structured data.
- Client
- A D2C home-fragrance brand in India
- Industry
- D2C home fragrance
- Market
- India
- Project
- SEO growth
- My role
- Led the SEO strategy; delivered with my team at the time
OUTCOMES
The results
Direct commercial and organic search impact delivered during the engagement.
19 → 5
Ranking for 'glass candles'.
Unranked → 5
Ranking for 'room sprays', previously not ranking.
Unranked → 8
Ranking for 'reed diffusers', previously not ranking.
Unranked → 21
Ranking for 'candle glass', previously not ranking.
DATA
The numbers
Google position; lower is better
BACKGROUND
The challenge
I led this work in a previous agency leadership role. Several of the brand's key product-category keywords ranked poorly or not at all, which limited how shoppers could find its category pages.
The brief was focused: improve those category rankings through on-page SEO rather than a large content or link programme.
Client and agency not named for confidentiality. I led the strategy; the work was delivered with my team at the time.
EXECUTION
What we did
On-page audit
Ran a detailed website audit to find on-page optimisation opportunities.
Meta tags, headers and keyword placement
Recommended and implemented SEO-friendly meta tags, headers and keyword placement.
Structured data
Improved meta descriptions and structured data on key pages.
Tracking and iteration
Monitored keyword performance regularly and adapted the approach based on what moved.
STRATEGIC LESSON
The takeaway
Category pages often underperform because their on-page signals don't clearly match the category query — fixing that is the cheapest ranking gain in e-commerce SEO.
RELATED READING
Related guides



More case studies
+100%
Organic training and business enquiries in Indonesia, vs the same nine months a year earlier.
Organic enquiry growth by market
Doubling Enquiries in One Market With International SEO
25 → 1
Ranking for a core category keyword over two months.
SaaS Category Keyword From #25 to #1 With Link Building
31 → 43
Domain Authority over four months (+38.7%).
Domain Authority
Growing Domain Authority From 31 to 43 With Blogger Outreach
Facing a similar problem?
Tell me where you're stuck. On a 30-minute intro call I'll tell you where I think the constraint is and what I'd look at first — whether or not we end up working together.