A pet care brand selling in both the USA and Canada came to us with a straightforward goal: more traffic, more awareness, and more sales. What followed was a 15-month SEO project that reshaped the website from the ground up and produced results that went well beyond what the client originally expected.
Here is a detailed look at what we found, what we did, and what the numbers showed at the end.
The Starting Point
The store ran on Shopify and served two markets: the USA and Canada. When we ran the first site audit, the technical health score sat at 65 out of 100. That number alone told us there was a lot of ground to cover before we could think about growth.
Beyond the technical problems, the site had a limited keyword footprint. It was not targeting enough search queries to generate meaningful organic reach. With fewer than 70 clicks and around 6,000 impressions per month, the site was practically invisible in search.
Background at a Glance
- CMS: Shopify
- Niche: Pet Care Products
- Target Markets: USA and Canada
- Project Duration: 12 to 15 months
- Package: E-commerce SEO
What Made This Project Different
Most SEO projects start with a clean scope and stay that way. This one did not.
Two things happened mid-project that added real complexity. First, the client rebranded for the Canadian market while still needing both brand names to work from the same website. That meant building an SEO structure that could support two identities, two audiences, and two sets of search behaviors without confusing Google or users.
Second, the client redesigned the entire website while the project was already in motion. A mid-project redesign can undo months of technical work if it is not managed carefully. We had to re-audit after the redesign and make sure the new structure preserved everything we had already built.
These were not small complications. Handling them without losing momentum required close coordination and fast decision-making at every stage.
The Strategy We Built
Before touching a single page, we needed a clear picture of where the problems were. A thorough audit gave us that picture, and we used it to prioritize the work in the right order.
Technical Foundation First
Trying to grow traffic on a technically broken site is like filling a bucket with holes in it. We focused on fixing the foundation before anything else.
The priority areas were:
- Indexing and Crawlability: Several important pages were not being properly indexed. We identified and resolved the issues so search engines could find and process the entire site.
- Site Structure: The navigation and internal linking were too complex. Simplifying them made the site easier for both users and crawlers to move through.
- Mobile and UX: With most searches happening on mobile, any friction in the mobile experience directly hurts rankings and conversions. We addressed responsiveness and usability issues across the site.
- On-Page Optimization: Title tags, meta descriptions, header structure, and keyword placement were reviewed and updated across all key pages.
- Image Optimization: Oversized images were slowing down load times. We compressed and reformatted images to bring page speed to an acceptable level.
By the time we finished the technical layer, the health score had moved from 65 to 100.
Content as the Growth Engine
Technical SEO creates the conditions for growth. Content is what actually drives it.
The client initially signed up for three articles per month. After a few months of seeing the results come in, they upgraded to ten articles per month. That decision made a significant difference in how fast the organic footprint expanded.
Every article was built around long-tail keywords with genuine search demand. Rather than writing isolated pieces, we structured the content into clusters where related topics linked to and supported each other. This approach helped individual pages rank while also building the site’s overall authority in the pet care space.
We also had to produce content that worked for both brands and both markets. Keyword intent, terminology, and search behavior differ between US and Canadian audiences. Every piece of content was written with that in mind.
The Results After 15 Months
The numbers at the end of the project were significant across every metric we tracked.
| Metric | Starting Point | End Result | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impressions | 6,195 | 82,266 | +1,227.9% |
| Clicks | 67 | 2,061 | +2,976% |
| CTR | 1.1% | 2.5% | +127.2% |
| Users | 141 | 3,396 | +2,308% |
| Sessions | 162 | 4,080 | +2,418.5% |
| First Page Keywords | 53 | 397 | +649% |
| First Page Pages | 16 | 47 | +193.75% |
| Site Health Score | 65 | 100 | +53.8% |
Impressions crossing 80,000 per month means the site was appearing in front of a significantly larger audience. But the CTR improvement, from 1.1% to 2.5%, shows that those impressions were also converting into clicks at a higher rate. That combination is harder to achieve than either metric alone.
The jump from 53 to 397 first-page keyword rankings is perhaps the most telling result. First-page visibility is what drives real traffic. Getting nearly 400 keywords onto page one is the kind of footprint that compounds over time.
Results
What This Project Demonstrates
Three things drove the outcomes here.
Technical health is non-negotiable. A score of 65 means search engines are already working against the site before a single user arrives. Getting to 100 removed that friction entirely.
Content consistency beats content volume in the short term. Ten focused, well-structured articles per month over a year produces a compounding effect that no one-time content push can match. The client’s decision to increase from three to ten monthly articles was the single biggest accelerator in this project.
Complexity does not have to become an obstacle. Dual branding, mid-project redesigns, and multi-market targeting are the kinds of challenges that can derail a project if the strategy is not flexible enough to absorb them. In this case, they became part of the solution rather than an excuse for slower progress.
The pet care space is competitive. Ranking well in both the US and Canadian markets for a store managing two brand identities is not something that happens by accident. It requires a strategy that is built to last, and results that are built to compound.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does SEO take to show results for a Shopify pet store?
Most Shopify stores start seeing measurable organic traction within 3 to 6 months of consistent SEO work. In this project, meaningful traffic growth became visible around the 4-month mark, with the biggest gains compounding between months 8 and 15. The timeline depends heavily on how quickly technical issues are resolved and how consistently new content is published.
Can SEO work for a Shopify store selling in multiple countries?
Yes, but it requires a deliberate strategy for each market. Search behavior, terminology, and buying intent can differ significantly between countries, even when the language is the same. In this project, we optimized content separately for US and Canadian audiences, which was critical to capturing relevant traffic from both markets without the pages cannibalizing each other.
Why is the website health score important for Shopify SEO?
The health score reflects how many technical issues exist on a site, from crawlability problems to broken links and missing metadata. A score of 65, where this store started, signals that search engines are encountering friction when trying to index the site. That friction directly limits how well any page can rank. Bringing the score to 100 removed those barriers and created a foundation where content and on-page optimization could actually perform.
How does content help an e-commerce store rank on Google?
Product and collection pages can only target so many keywords. Blog content fills the gap by targeting informational queries that buyers use earlier in their research process. For this store, a consistent output of long-tail keyword articles built topical authority around pet care, which in turn strengthened the ranking potential of the commercial product pages. Content clusters, where related articles link to and support each other, accelerate this process significantly.
What happens to SEO rankings when a Shopify store goes through a redesign?
A redesign can cause significant ranking drops if URLs change, internal linking breaks, or pages are removed without proper redirects in place. In this project, the client redesigned the website mid-engagement. We re-audited immediately after the redesign, identified structural changes that needed correction, and ensured no indexing or crawlability issues were introduced. Managing redesigns carefully is one of the more underrated parts of ongoing SEO work.
Is SEO a cost-effective channel for Shopify pet care stores compared to paid ads?
Paid ads generate traffic only as long as the budget runs. SEO builds an asset that compounds over time. Once a page earns a strong organic ranking, it continues driving traffic without additional spend per click. For this store, growing from 67 to over 2,000 monthly clicks through organic search alone represents a scalable traffic channel that paid ads would require ongoing budget to replicate at the same volume.
About the Author
Ashan Kusalanka
SEO Consultant with 10+ years of experience helping local and global businesses strengthen their digital presence. I design strategies that improve visibility, build authority, and drive sustainable growth.
