In the ever-evolving world of SEO, website health plays a crucial role in search visibility and overall performance. At Tic Tac Toe Marketing, we recently took on the challenge of optimizing Arrested MN’s website, aiming to enhance its technical SEO foundation and boost organic search performance. The results? We increased its Ahrefs website health score from 65 to a perfect 100.
The Challenge
When we first audited Arrested MN’s website, we identified several key issues affecting its health score:
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Broken internal and external links
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Missing or duplicate meta descriptions and title tags
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Poor URL structure and redirect chains
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Unoptimized images leading to slow load speeds
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Crawlability and indexation issues
Collaboration & Strategy
This project was a true team effort. Casey and Carter from Tic Tac Toe Marketing initially rebuilt the website for Arrested MN Lawyer Ryan Pacyga, creating a strong foundation for the site’s design and user experience. Once the new site was in place, they brought me in to address all the technical SEO challenges and maximize the site’s health score.
To tackle these challenges, we leveraged several industry-leading SEO tools and strategies:
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Screaming Frog SEO Spider – Used to conduct an in-depth technical audit, identifying broken links, duplicate content, and missing metadata.
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Ahrefs – Provided insights into the website’s overall health score, backlink profile, and keyword rankings.
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Google Search Console – Helped diagnose indexation problems and track crawl errors.
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PageSpeed Insights – Assisted in optimizing website speed and performance.
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Custom Python Scripts – Used for automated audits and batch updates for metadata and structured data implementation.
The Execution
With a clear roadmap in place, we took the following key actions to improve the website’s health score:
1. Fixing Broken Links
We identified and repaired broken internal and external links, ensuring a seamless user experience and improved crawl efficiency for search engines.
2. Optimizing Metadata
We rewrote and optimized all meta descriptions and title tags, keeping them within ideal character limits and ensuring unique, keyword-rich content for every page.
3. Improving Site Structure & Redirects
We eliminated redirect chains, cleaned up URL structures, and ensured proper 301 redirects were in place for outdated URLs.
4. Enhancing Image Optimization
By compressing and resizing large images, we significantly improved page load times. Additionally, we implemented lazy loading to enhance site speed further.
5. Addressing Crawlability & Indexation Issues
We submitted an updated XML sitemap to Google Search Console and improved the robots.txt file to guide search engines efficiently through the site.
6. Strengthening Internal Linking
We implemented a strategic internal linking approach, improving user navigation and ensuring search engines could better understand the hierarchy of the website.
The Results
After implementing these improvements, the website health score skyrocketed from 65 to 100. Additional benefits included:
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Faster Load Speeds – Mobile and desktop load times improved dramatically.
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Increased Organic Traffic – More pages indexed and ranking for relevant keywords.
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Enhanced User Experience – Visitors now navigate the site seamlessly, resulting in increased engagement and lower bounce rates.
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Stronger Domain Authority – With a solid technical foundation, the website is now more competitive in search rankings.
Key Takeaways
This project highlighted the power of a strong technical SEO strategy. By leveraging the right tools and taking a data-driven approach, we were able to transform Arrested MN’s website into a high-performing asset.