Search Engine Optimization
Driving Organic Growth for a Compliance Services Provider
A trusted provider of regulatory compliance products and services for the life sciences industry partnered with Marcel Digital to strengthen organic visibility for high-intent, solution-based keywords. The goal was to generate more qualified leads through targeted service pages and a comprehensive backlink cleanup effort.
The Challenge
The organization wanted to improve its visibility among high-value decision-makers by boosting rankings for critical services like SAP compliance and FDA compliance validation. Competing against major enterprise vendors and authoritative regulatory bodies, they needed a way to differentiate and elevate their presence in search results. Achieving this required a complete overhaul of their content strategy, supported by deep technical and off-page SEO enhancements to drive stronger organic visibility and higher-quality lead generation.
Highly Competitive Search Landscape
Pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and diagnostics audiences were being captured by enterprise competitors and regulatory sites dominating key compliance terms.
Content Misalignment With Search Intent
Existing content did not sufficiently address the detailed, compliance-focused queries their ideal customers were researching.
Need for Robust Technical & Off-Page SEO Support
Stronger technical foundations and authoritative backlinks were essential to break through competitive rankings and attract qualified leads.
The Analysis
Marcel Digital conducted a comprehensive audit of the organization’s search performance, leveraging tools such as Google Analytics, SEMRush, Moz Pro, and Majestic. This multi-platform analysis provided a full picture of traffic trends, keyword visibility, content quality, and backlink health. The findings revealed significant structural and content-related issues that were preventing the company from ranking competitively for high-value compliance terms.
A Backlink Profile Weighed Down by Toxic Links
Analysis from Moz Pro and Majestic uncovered a large number of toxic, spammy, and irrelevant backlinks. These low-quality links damaged the website’s trust signals and suppressed rankings - an issue that became especially evident after declines during a previous Google Penguin algorithm update.
Duplicate, Low-Differentiation Service Pages
Many service pages followed a cookie-cutter format that failed to align with searcher intent or distinguish the company’s expertise. This duplication weakened topical relevance, reduced keyword performance, and prevented the site from capturing nuanced compliance-related searches.
Competitive Gaps in Search Visibility
SEMRush data showed that competitors were outranking the organization across key compliance queries due to stronger content depth, clearer intent alignment, and more authoritative link profiles. These insights confirmed that addressing both content and backlink quality was critical for regaining visibility.
The Solution
Marcel Digital deployed a comprehensive SEO strategy designed to rebuild authority, improve keyword relevance, and attract compliance-focused decision-makers. The approach combined technical cleanup, content enhancement, and strategic link acquisition to boost visibility for the organization’s most important services.
Rebuilding Authority Through Backlink Cleanup & Restoration
We conducted a full backlink audit to remove toxic, low-quality links that were harming trust and rankings. At the same time, valuable legacy backlinks were refreshed and preserved to restore lost authority and strengthen the site’s overall search visibility.
Transforming Service Pages With Intent-Driven Optimization
Marcel Digital rewrote and restructured service pages to align with the specific needs and search behaviors of compliance professionals. Each page received unique content, optimized metadata, schema markup, and improved internal linking, ensuring stronger relevance and clearer differentiation across services.
Expanding Content & Enhancing Domain Authority
To build topical authority, we developed industry-specific blog content positioned around key compliance topics. This effort was paired with a targeted link-building campaign that secured high-quality backlinks, helping the site rise in rankings and attract more qualified, high-intent organic traffic.
The Results
The comprehensive SEO strategy delivered major gains in visibility, lead generation, and keyword authority. By strengthening the site’s technical foundation and aligning content with compliance-focused search intent, the organization achieved sustained performance improvements across organic channels.
22% Increase in Organic Traffic (2019 vs. 2018)
Year-over-year visibility rose immediately, supported by stronger technical performance, higher content relevance, and improved backlink health.
149% Increase in Organic Traffic (2019 vs. 2016)
Long-term gains demonstrated the cumulative impact of the strategy, significantly expanding reach among life sciences decision-makers.
120% Increase in Goal Completions
With higher-quality traffic and improved on-page engagement, the organization saw a major lift in conversions from compliance-focused prospects.
The combined efforts of backlink remediation, targeted content development, and ongoing CRO positioned the organization as a trusted authority in the compliance space, establishing a strong foundation for continued growth and sales enablement.
