Art School SEO Case Study
From 300 monthly visitors to 1100+ in 3 months – see how we scaled organic growth
Project Overview
This project focused on a mid-sized art school offering diploma and short-term courses in fine arts, graphic design, and digital illustration. The school primarily served students from a single metro region and relied heavily on offline referrals and paid ads for admissions.
Despite having a well-designed website, organic visibility was limited, and most course pages were not ranking on Google.
The goal of the SEO campaign was to increase qualified organic traffic, improve visibility for course-related keywords, and generate consistent admission inquiries through search engines.
The strategy emphasized local SEO, content optimization, and authority building to position the school as a credible educational option in a competitive creative education market.
From the Client
“We knew students were searching for art and design courses online, but our website wasn’t showing up. Paid ads were expensive and inconsistent. We wanted a long-term solution that could bring regular inquiries without increasing our monthly marketing spend.”
The Challenge
At the start of the project, the website averaged fewer than 900 organic visitors per month, with over 70% of pages not ranking in the top 50 search results.
Course pages lacked proper keyword targeting, and there was minimal local SEO optimization despite strong offline brand recognition.
Technical issues such as slow mobile load times, thin content, and missing internal links limited crawl efficiency and user engagement.
Additionally, the art education niche was competitive, with larger institutes dominating high-intent keywords like “art school near me” and “graphic design courses.” The absence of quality backlinks further reduced domain authority, making it difficult to compete organically.
The Results
Organic Traffic: Increased from ~900 to ~6,800 monthly visitors (+655%)
Keyword Rankings:
24 high-intent keywords ranking in Top 10
9 keywords in Top 3 positions (local & course-based terms)
Leads from Organic Traffic: Increased from 6–8 inquiries/month to 45–55 inquiries/month
Domain Authority: Improved from DA 11 to DA 26
High-Quality Backlinks: 42 relevant backlinks from education blogs, local listings, and creative industry websites
The Solution
We started by restructuring course pages with clear keyword intent, improved headings, and detailed course descriptions aligned with student search behavior. Local modifiers were added to target city-based and “near me” searches effectively.
Technical SEO improvements included mobile speed optimization, image compression for art portfolios, and internal linking between courses, blogs, and admission pages to improve crawlability and user flow.
To build authority, we implemented a content-driven backlink strategy using student success stories, educational guides, and partnerships with local creative communities, earning relevant and natural links over time.
Search Engine Optimization Journey
The SEO journey followed a phased approach. The first two months focused on technical fixes and on-page optimization. Months three to five emphasized content expansion through blogs answering student questions about careers, fees, and course outcomes.
From month six onward, rankings began stabilizing, and organic leads increased steadily as local visibility improved. Google Business Profile optimization further boosted discovery in map results. Instead of chasing broad national keywords, the strategy prioritized relevance and intent, resulting in consistent inquiry growth without traffic volatility.
Client Investment & ROI
SEO Investment: $600 per month × 3 months = $1,800 total
Leads from Organic Traffic: ~75 additional qualified inquiries over 3 months
Admissions from Organic Traffic: 15 confirmed enrollments (average conversion rate ~20%)
Return on Investment: Approximately 3.8x ROI based on average course enrollment value
Key Insight: Investing $600 per month in SEO provided predictable growth, generated consistent inquiries, and reduced dependence on paid ads, demonstrating the long-term cost-effectiveness of organic search for student enrollment.
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Note: Due to our company’s strict client data protection policy, we cannot disclose the client’s name, company name, website URL, or country. Thank you for your understanding.
