Greenwich University

In May 2021, Totally suggested changes to the ‘Clearing’ targeting across the gre.ac.uk website with the aim of improving organic visibility. The suggestions and changes included updating the meta title tags, URL structure, headings, and content changes, as well as implementing page structure changes, canonical meta tags, redirects, internal links, and breadcrumbs.

in May 2021, 0 top 10 keywords were ranking for the target terms for ‘clearing’. After implementing these changes – by August 2022, we saw all of the target keywords on page 1 (top 10 rankings) including ‘UCAS clearing’ with 12,100 monthly searches.

SEMRush visibility for clearing-related terms also showed a significant increase, with 246 ranking keywords (top 100 results) and 19 top 10 keywords in May 2021, resulting in an estimated 692 monthly visits and a traffic cost estimate of £151. By October 2022, the number of ranking keywords increased to 569, with 33 top 10 keywords, resulting in an estimated 656 monthly visits and a traffic cost estimate of £4,700.

Organic traffic to all pages containing ‘clearing’ in the URL also showed an increase, with record weekly peaks in 2022 and an increase in traffic across all clearing-related pages. In the August clearing period, organic traffic increased by 42% compared to 2021 and 49% compared to 2020.

Form submissions showed a 40% increase in 2022 compared to 2021 and a 44% increase compared to 2020. Goal 6, which measured page views, showed a 383% increase in 2022 compared to 2021 and a 238.02% increase compared to 2019. Goals measuring clicks on the phone number also showed a significant increase in 2022 compared to 2021 and 2020. Overall, the changes implemented in May 2021 resulted in improved organic visibility, increased organic traffic and a massive increase in goals for the gre.ac.uk website.