Case Studies

Kurve increased organic traffic by 121%

Wonga.com are one of the most successful UK start ups in recent history, they were the first company to take loans online. Wonga.com operate in one of the most dynamic and competitive industries in search marketing, with Google creating a unique payday loan algorithm to tackle spam and keyword manipulation in this sector. After Kurves success with the Wonga.com domain we were handed the South African domain Wonga.co.za to improve their search fortunes.

Results

By focusing on high quality link building and using non-branded keywords responsibly with caution and care, we were able to propel Wonga.co.za right up the SERPs for the most important keywords in their industry. Out of 100+ analysed money keywords:

63% improved in rankings

121% increase in organic traffic

71% increase in organic conversions

35% remained consistent in their rankings

>50% non-branded keywords are now on the front page of the SERPs

60% of these non-branded keywords are in top 3 ranking spots

‘Payday loan’ and ‘payday loans’ currently rank in positions #1 and #2 respectively.

Objective

The South African incarnation of Wonga was not affected by spammy links, but it did lack the good quality links it needed to start showing up successfully in organic search engine results. It was time to start link building. At the same time, it was also important to help Wonga.co.za compete for the biggest terms in their industry – without leaving the website vulnerable to Google penalties for keyword stuffing or spammy anchor text.

STRATEGY

Working with highly relevant, high quality domains, we began building top notch links to Wonga.co.za. We focused on using branded anchor text instead of the keyword-stuffed anchor text which had seen so many competitor sites plummet down the search results.

At the same time, we started sensitively weaving competitive keywords into a small percentage of these new links. We approached this activity cautiously to ensure that Google did not see these keywords as spammy and hit the site with penalties.

Testimonials

Darryl Bowman

Oren is a super smart guy who is an expert in his field. Ever since I have known him, he has set a high bar for himself in terms of increasing his knowledge.In the ever evolving world of search this is important. He will always put his art ahead of commerciality, which is reassuring as a client of his. As, in the ethereal world of search, where a leap of faith is sometimes required, you can at least know that Oren’s advice is coming from a place of great knowledge and integrity.

CMO - Funding Circle

Daniel Hegarty

Oren made a huge impact on our search function at Wonga, and did so very quickly. He brought a wealth of knowledge and a potent intellect to bear on a complex set of problems, with unsurprisingly positive results. Great guy – focussed, smart and a creative thinker.

Founder & CEO at Habito

Ben Godfrey

Oren understands acquisition inside out. He is a master of all forms of traffic generation and of web and campaign analytics. He has a voracious appetite for continuous improvement and deftly deploys the best tools available. At Wonga he’s been a key part of a digital marketing team which has generated phenomenal growth.

Engineering Manager at Facebook

Sajid Akhtar

Oren has been a mentor to me for 5 years now and I owe him a great deal having learnt SEO and PPC from him. He’s nicest and calmest guy you’ll ever meet, and has an eclectic skillset to match. He is a master in SEO and PPC marketing, and he never ceases to evolve as the industry develops. I would warmly recommend Oren’s to any business in need to SEO and PPC advice/services and I look forward to working with him in the future.

Technology Director, Data Science Practice - Publicis Media MENA