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A Google update cut a UK eyewear store’s traffic by 70%. Three months after we started, it was up 180%.
A leading UK online store for prescription glasses was hit by Google’s 2018 “Medic” update and fell from 1,977 top keywords to just 231. Within three months of our work, rankings were up over 60%, traffic up 180% and sales from Google up 90%.
Where they started, what we did, where they are now
Hit by a Google update
Google’s 2018 update hit health-related websites hard. The eyewear store lost most of its rankings and 70% of its traffic, and sales fell with them.
Showed Google it can be trusted
Optician profiles, links to medical bodies, awards and press pages, clear support and returns, technical fixes, expert guides, and bad links removed.
Back in business
Within three months: rankings up over 60%, traffic up 180% and sales from Google up 90%.
UK Online Eyewear Store, in plain words
The client is a leading UK online shop for prescription glasses and sunglasses, serving the UK and the rest of the European Union. Customers send in their optician’s prescription, pick from over 1,000 frames, and get their glasses within 7 working days.
In August 2018 Google changed how it ranks health-related sites, in what became known as the “Medic” update. The eyewear store was hit hard. It fell from 1,977 top-ranked keywords to just 231, and its traffic from Google dropped by 70%.
They came to us in January 2019 and we started in the last week of that month. We worked out what had gone wrong, then rebuilt trust with better content, clearer proof of who is behind the shop, and technical fixes. In three months, rankings rose over 60%, traffic from Google rose 180%, and sales from it rose 90%.
What went wrong
Google changed the rules
The 2018 update favoured sites that clearly show expertise, authority and trustworthiness on health and money topics.
Most rankings disappeared
The shop went from 1,977 top-ranked keywords to only 231 by December 2018.
Traffic fell 70%
With fewer people finding the shop on Google, sales dropped as well.
A need to find the cause
Nobody knew yet which problems on the site had triggered the drop.
What it brought
Within 3 months, organic rankings (where the site shows on Google) improved by over 60%.
Visits from Google grew by 180% in the same three months.
More visibility brought 90% more sales from Google visitors.
Category and product pages gained the most new visits.
Searches like “glasses online”, “prescription glasses” and “designer glasses” made up over 40% of visits from Google.
The better visibility went hand in hand with a higher authority score, a measure of how trusted the site looks.
Six steps that rebuilt trust
Found what caused the drop
A full check of the site, its links and its Google data, from experience of this exact update.Diagnose before you treat.
Showed who is behind the business
Optician profiles, links to medical bodies, pages for awards and press mentions, and clear support and returns.Like hanging your qualifications on the wall.
Fixed the technical problems
Duplicate pages, security address issues, breadcrumbs, page order and web addresses.Like a full service before a long road trip.
Wrote expert content
How-to guides, research articles, infographics and refreshed pages across the site.Show you know more than anyone else.
Cleaned out bad links
Harmful links removed or disowned, and new links from relevant sites.Like removing bad references from your CV.
Built the brand on social media
A regular social media campaign to strengthen the brand’s reputation.Online word of mouth. The more trusted sites mention you, the more Google and AI trust you.
Everything we did
- Checked the site, its links and its Google data to find what caused the drop
- Added optician profiles to show who is behind the shop
- Added links to medical bodies, and pages for awards and press mentions
- Made customer support and returns policies easy to find
- Fixed technical problems like duplicate pages and security address errors
- Improved breadcrumbs, page order and web addresses
- Picked the best searches to aim for from thousands of options
- Created expert guides, webinars, research articles and infographics, and refreshed old content
- Removed or disowned harmful links
- Studied a top competitor and got new trusted sites to mention the shop
- Ran a regular social media campaign to build trust
- Gave separate advice for categories, brands and the blog, and worked with their IT team
What other business owners can take from this
Show who is behind your business
Real people, proof of expertise and clear policies help customers and Google trust you.
Find the cause before the cure
We checked the site, the links and the data first, so every fix had a reason.
A drop is not the end
With the right steps, rankings, visits and sales can come back. Here it took three months to see clear recovery.
If Google stops trusting you, your sales stop too. Trust can be rebuilt, step by step.
We help businesses recover from Google updates and penalties in the UK, the US, Australia and beyond.
- Find out why your traffic dropped
- A clear, step-by-step recovery plan
- Rankings, visits and sales back on track
- A clear report every month on what we did and what it brought
Did your traffic drop after a Google update?
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Results like this, for other businesses
About this case study
Who is the client?
The client is a UK online store for prescription glasses and sunglasses, with over 1,000 frames for men and women.
How we measured (for the detail-minded)
- Numbers from the client’s own analytics and the campaign reports at the time. The campaign started in late January 2019; this case study was first published in June 2019.
