🔍 The SEO Game Plan
1. Keyword Research Based on Real Search Behavior
Forget vanity metrics. We started by asking:
What would their target audience be searching for?ie. What are expats in Southeast Asia really searching for?
Not just “health insurance.”
We wanted to know:
We wanted to know:
- Where they were
- What questions they had
- What decisions they were making
This gave us region-specific content clusters with clear commercial intent.
This is the part where we uncover gold.
Here's an example of how we boosted keyword rankings and established topical authority, country by country:
Example 1: Bali (Indonesia)
Example 1: Bali (Indonesia)
Pillar Page: ✅ Best Health Insurance for Expats in Bali [Main Service Page]
Blog Topics Written to Build Topical Authority:
- Healthcare in Bali: What Expats Need to Know in 2024: Informational searcher. Builds trust, links to insurance.
- Top 10 Hospitals in Bali for Expats: Local relevance. Builds links, ranks for long-tail.
- Bali Emergency Numbers, Clinics & Health Services Directory: High intent, high bookmark/save potential.
- Is Travel Insurance Enough in Bali?: Triggers upgrade funnel to private expat health plans.
- Maternity Care in Bali: Hospitals, Costs, and Insurance Tips: Topical depth + keywords like “giving birth in Bali.”
- Indonesia Visa Requirements and Health Coverage Rules in 2024: Timely + helpful, tied to insurance policy eligibility.
- How Much Does Health Insurance in Bali Cost?: Pricing breakdown = commercial intent.
- Bali Digital Nomad Insurance: What’s Actually Covered?: Targets a fast-growing niche.
Every article links to each other, back to the main service page, and uses semantic anchors like:
- "expat health coverage in Bali"
- "best private clinics in Canggu"
- "Bali insurance plans for digital nomads"
We built keyword silos around real questions expats were searching in each Southeast Asian region. Our focus wasn't just on traffic volume, but on commercial intent that drives business results.
Sample Keyword Cluster: Health Insurance in Bali
Repeat for Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
The Numbers: Let's Talk Impact
2,733%
Increase
In website product page sessions
266%
Increase
In organic leads from website
300%
Increase
In qualified leads from ads
40%
Decrease
In paid cost per lead
We ranked #1 for "Best Health Insurance Bali," "Health Insurance Cambodia," "Health Insurance Burma," and achieved top positions for numerous high-intent keywords across 7 countries.
These numbers didn't happen by accident. They happened by intentional execution.
Before SEO
At the start of this campaign (August 2023):
- Organic Traffic: ~814 sessions/month
- Top 3 Keyword Rankings: Just 18
- Total Ranking Keywords: ~2,201
The site was live — but flat.
Search engines weren’t seeing enough relevance, authority, or structure to rank it meaningfully.
Search engines weren’t seeing enough relevance, authority, or structure to rank it meaningfully.
Nearly all keywords sat beyond the first page, with very few ranking in positions that matter (Top 3).
The traffic graph confirms this: minimal visibility, minimal growth.
The traffic graph confirms this: minimal visibility, minimal growth.
- LESS THAN 1000 SESSIONS A MONTH
- LESS THAN 20 KEYWORDS IN TOP 3
After SEO
By October 2024:
- Organic Traffic: Grew to 5,579/month
- Top 3 Keyword Rankings: Jumped to 145
- Total Ranking Keywords: Expanded to 14,124
That’s:
- A 585% increase in monthly traffic
- 8x more Top 3 rankings — meaning higher click-throughs and real exposure
- 6x the keyword footprint — signaling broader topical authority
This growth wasn’t random. It was the result of:
- Precise keyword targeting across multiple countries
- Content built around commercial and informational search intent
- Technical clean-up to improve crawlability and indexation
- Strategic internal linking to build authority clusters
Yeah this is nice, but did it have an impact on leads? 🤔
The most important metric: actual business results.
- 247 inbound leads tracked from organic search in a single month
- Up from ~70/month previously — a ~250% increase YoY
And what’s even more important?
These leads came from evergreen content — not paid landing pages.
Top-performing URLs were all intent-rich, informational blog posts and regional guides like:
/expat-guide-healthcare-health-insurance-bali
/country-guide/expat-health-insurance-indonesia
/insurers-pre-existing-medical-conditions
/country-guide/health-insurance-cambodia
This proves two key things:
- The content strategy was mapped perfectly to user intent.
- SEO, when executed right, becomes a self-sustaining lead funnel.
Search visibility improvements (impressions + clicks)
This comparison highlights the transformation in search visibility and user engagement in just one year.
Key Results:
Q2' 23 VS Q2' 24
- Clicks: Jumped from 4.05K → 15.1K (274% increase)
- Impressions: Scaled from 453K → 1.47M (225% increase)
- CTR: Improved from 0.9% → 1.0% — small but meaningful when scaled
- Average Position: Moved from 32.3 → 25.8, confirming upward keyword momentum
These numbers validate that we're not just ranking for more keywords — we're ranking better and attracting more qualified attention.
August 2023 vs August 2024:
- Clicks: 1,030 → 5,180 (5x growth)
- Impressions: 123K → 499K (4x growth)
This is the clearest evidence of content compounding over time. SEO isn't just consistent — it accelerates.
We’re seeing exponential return on the foundational work done in the first 3–6 months: building clusters, fixing technical SEO, and publishing around intent
What’s critical here:
Click growth is outpacing impression growth, which means users are finding more relevant titles, meta descriptions, and content — all pointing to intent-aligned SEO doing its job.
Click growth is outpacing impression growth, which means users are finding more relevant titles, meta descriptions, and content — all pointing to intent-aligned SEO doing its job.
🧠 Final Takeaway
We didn’t just grow traffic.
We grew qualified search visibility that translated directly into leads — consistently, predictably, and without paid ads.
Why This Case Study Matters
Replicable Success
A framework that works across industries
Aligned Strategy
Paid and organic working together
Solid Foundations
Nailing SEO basics and user intent
This isn't just about one client. This is about what's possible when you nail your SEO foundations, build content around how people actually search, align your paid strategy with your organic one, and focus on execution, not shiny tactics.
This isn't a fluke. It's a framework. And it works — across industries.
Why This Matters For Your Business
SEO is not about "writing blog posts" or "ranking for keywords." It's about building a system that attracts, qualifies, and converts customers — automatically.
Attract
Draw in your ideal customers while they're actively searching for solutions
Qualify
Content that educates prospects and filters for those with genuine interest
Convert
Strategic pathways that guide qualified prospects to become paying customers
Automate
A system that works 24/7 without requiring constant intervention
When implemented correctly, SEO becomes your most cost-effective customer acquisition channel, delivering compounding returns over time unlike paid advertising that stops the moment you pause your budget.
Keyword Rankings Growth in 6 months
