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An online chess academy’s answers now show at the very top of Google, and its traffic grew 10×.
One of the leading online chess schools already ranked well, but growth was slow. We shaped its pages so Google shows them as the highlighted answer box at the top of the results, and visits from Google grew 10× in a little over a year.
Where they started, what we did, where they are now
Ranking well, growing slowly
Google filled the page with ads and answer boxes, so even good rankings brought only small gains.
Wrote the answers Google likes to show
Short, clear answers to the questions people ask about chess, backed by more detail, pictures and pages Google could easily find.
The answer at the top
First for smaller searches, then for the biggest ones in chess, like chess rules and chess moves. Visits grew 10×.
Worldwide Online Chess Academy, in plain words
The client is an online chess school. Kids and adults take live group and private lessons by voice and video, with coaches around the world, including an International Grandmaster. It also runs special programmes for different kinds of learners.
The school already ranked well on Google, but visits grew only a little at a time. Google now fills its results pages with ads and special boxes, so even a top ranking does not bring as many clicks as it once did. The chess academy wanted much faster growth.
We aimed for the answer box, the highlighted answer at the top of Google. We found the questions that trigger it, gave a short clear answer on each page, and added more detail below. Within months the boxes started to appear, and visits from Google grew 10 times in a little over a year.
Why good rankings were not enough
Wanted fast growth
The chess academy wanted a big jump in visits, not small steady gains.
Top rankings alone did not do it
Even with many popular searches ranking well, visits grew only a little.
Ads take the space
Google keeps adding more ads to its results pages, which pushes organic results down.
Google shows more than links
Special boxes and quick answers now appear for more and more searches, and they catch the eye first.
Visitors from Google: up 10×
The answer boxes started with smaller searches, then grew to the most popular ones.
What it brought
Google started to show the school in answer boxes for some of the searches we aimed at.
It began with long, specific searches. Now it also appears for popular, very competitive ones like chess rules and chess moves.
As more pages won answer boxes, visits from Google grew month after month.
Visits from Google grew 10 times in a little over a year, and kept rising.
Four steps that made the difference
Found the questions that trigger answer boxes
Research into the chess searches where Google shows a highlighted answer.Know which questions Google wants to answer.
Gave a short, clear answer on each page
A concise answer near the top of the page for each group of questions.Like a teacher’s one-line summary before the lesson.
Backed it up
More detail in words and pictures under each answer.Show you really know the subject.
Made sure Google could find them
The pages made easy to find on the site and checked in Google, alongside regular technical checks and outreach.A great answer nobody can find doesn’t help.
Everything we did
- Found searches in the chess world that can show an answer box
- Gave a short, clear answer to each question on the matching page
- Added more detail in words and pictures under each answer
- Made sure the answer pages were easy to find on the site
- Checked that Google had found and listed those pages
- Optimised the pages on the site
- Ran regular technical checks
- Got trusted sites to mention the school
- Tracked visits with analytics
What other business owners can take from this
Answer the question in a line or two
Put a short, clear answer near the top of the page, then add the detail. Readers and Google both like it.
Start small, then aim higher
Winning the easier, specific questions first built the base for the big ones.
The ranking is not the end
Being shown as the answer can bring far more visits than just being in the list.
The skill that won Google’s answer boxes is the same one that gets businesses quoted in AI answers today: give the clearest answer.
This is the same work we do for businesses in Australia, the UK, the US, the Middle East and Asia, for small companies as well as big names.
- Get found by people who are ready to buy
- Be the business AI assistants recommend
- Show up ahead of your competitors
- Get a clear report every month on what we did and what it brought
Is someone else’s answer at the top of Google?
Our free SEO & AI SEO audit shows where you appear on Google and in AI answers today, who shows up instead, and what to fix first.
Results like this, for other businesses
About this case study
Who is the client?
The client is an online chess school with live group and private lessons for kids and adults, taught by coaches around the world, including an International Grandmaster.
How we measured (for the detail-minded)
- Visits and answer boxes from the client’s own analytics and the campaign reports at the time. This case study was first published in December 2019.
