Warrior’s Cove · SEO
Warrior’s Cove on SEO: 560 to 1,070 sessions a month
Warrior’s Cove teaches MMA, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and self-defence in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Organic search grew from about 560 sessions in Mar 2023 to an average of 1,070 a month from April to June, and 11 unranked keywords reached Google’s top 10.
Warrior’s Cove · 2023
Organic sessions a month · trend illustrative
- Organic sessions a month
- 560 →to 1,070
- Dates
- Mar 2023 → Apr – Jun 2023
- Growth
- +91%
(01)
The challenge
Why wasn’t a gym open since 1980 on Google?
Warrior’s Cove has taught reality-based martial arts and fitness since 1980, to beginners and pro fighters, men, women and kids.
The searches that bring people through the door, “martial arts near me” (110K a month), “jiu jitsu near me” (201K), “mma gym” and “kickboxing near me”, did not show the gym at all. None of its 11 target keywords ranked anywhere on Google.
- 11 target keywords for MMA, jiu-jitsu and martial-arts classes
- Not one of them ranked
- About 560 organic sessions in March 2023
(02)
What we did
How did Warrior’s Cove reach the top 10?
Six things did the work, and the same six keep the rankings in place.
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Step 1 Keyword-focused content
We built class and location pages around the “near me” searches people make when they choose a gym: MMA, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and self-defence.
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Step 2 On-page and technical SEO
Titles, meta tags, headings and internal links matched to each search, with site speed and mobile usability improved.
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Step 3 Content and backlinks
Training content published on a steady schedule, and backlinks from 329 referring domains.
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Ongoing Tracking and upkeep
Search Console and Analytics data guide each change. Keyword monitoring, content updates and technical audits keep the gains.
(03)
The result
What changed for the gym?
Organic search brought 3.2K sessions from April to June 2023, 2,642 more than in March: an average of 1,070 a month against about 560. Weekly sessions reached about 340 in late June.
All 11 keywords now rank in the top 10. “martial arts near me” is at position 3 and brings about 100 visits a month; “mma gym” and “mma near me” are at 2, and “mma training” ranks first.
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Keywords in Google’s top 10
0 to 11
of 11 target keywords
Screenshots from the accounts
Straight from the client’s own dashboards: nothing redrawn, nothing averaged. Click a screenshot to see it full size.
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Organic sessions, Apr–Jun 2023 against March 2023 3.2K sessions, up 2,642.Google Analytics
View as a table
| When | Organic sessions a month |
|---|---|
| Before · Mar 2023 | 560 |
| After · Apr – Jun 2023 | 1,070 |
Where did the target keywords rank?
Google positions before and after, as published in the case study. Searches are a month; traffic is the estimated visits each keyword brings.
| Keyword | Searches | Before | Now | Traffic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mma gym | 40.5K | Not ranked | 2 | 70+ |
| mma training | 140 | Not ranked | 1 | 10+ |
| martial arts near me | 110K | Not ranked | 3 | 100+ |
| kickboxing near me | 74K | Not ranked | 5 | 40+ |
| mma near me | 40.5K | Not ranked | 2 | 70+ |
| jiu jitsu classes | 27.8K | Not ranked | 5 | 60+ |
| mma gyms | 27.8K | Not ranked | 2 | 50+ |
| martial arts classes | 5.7K | Not ranked | 3 | 30+ |
| self defense class | 3.2K | Not ranked | 3 | 30+ |
| martial arts for women near me | 590 | Not ranked | 2 | 20+ |
| jiu jitsu near me | 201K | Not ranked | 8 | 50+ |
1–3 top three 4–10 page one · Google positions as reported
(04)
Services used
Each card opens the service page, with what we do and how we report it.
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