How an SEO-led crisis response brought back 200%+ visibility and 37% traffic growth to Autobarn
+37%
Organic traffic growth across 12 months
+200%
Lift in Page 1 keyword rankings
+242%
Increase in non-branded organic click
THE CLIENT
Autobarn is one of Australia’s largest and most recognised automotive parts retailers. With over 110 stores nationwide, they stock everything from car batteries and care kits to cutting-edge in-car tech. They cater primarily to Aussie drivers, hobbyists, and tradespeople, with key regions across NSW, VIC, and QLD making up almost 80% of their customer base.
THE CHALLENGE
In Q1 2021, Autobarn was moved to a new website as part of a broader migration effort across the Bapcor Group. This migration, intended to unify digital platforms across multiple brands, had significant SEO implications due to insufficient planning.
The results were immediate and sharp:
- Organic traffic dropped over 38% the month after the migration
- Page 1 keyword visibility collapsed by more than 78%
- Technical errors, broken links, and schema issues compounded the problem
With organic visibility tanking and user sessions falling fast, Autobarn needed a structured and urgent SEO recovery plan.
THE OBJECTIVES
Impressive was brought in to lead the recovery strategy with two clear goals:
- Restore organic traffic to pre-migration levels, with a minimum 30% uplift from the March 2021 baseline
- Achieve a minimum 80% increase in Page 1 keyword rankings
STRATEGY
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Recovered over 30,000 broken URLs with 301 redirects using SKU/Part Number matching
Resolved 38 critical technical issues within the first few months
Updated schema markup across product pages for better SERP visibility
Optimised metadata on homepage, category, and product pages
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THE EXECUTION
Implementation was anything but straightforward.
Challenge 1
The new site’s URL structure didn’t match the legacy format, slowing down redirects.
Solution
Our team extracted SKUs and part numbers to match and map URLs. This enabled over 85% of product pages to be redirected quickly and accurately.
Challenge 2
The client’s dev resources were stretched. Technical recommendations weren’t being implemented fast enough.
Solution
We initiated fortnightly WIP calls and project tracking to reprioritise tasks by impact. Key items were broken down into traffic-weighted action plans, helping the client’s limited tech team focus on what mattered most.
THE RESULTS
This wasn’t a quick fix. It was a rebuild.
- Organic traffic increased 37% over 12 months, hitting nearly 700k sessions — almost back to pre-migration peaks
- Page 1 keyword visibility improved by over 200%, exceeding the KPI by more than double
- August 2022 saw the highest number of Page 1 keywords in two years
- Non-branded organic clicks grew 242% between Sep 2021 and Jul 2022
Every channel was built for search impact. Nothing sat idle. No traffic was wasted.
WANT A SIMILAR RESULT?
Organic traffic recovery doesn’t happen by accident. If your site migration hits harder than expected or your SEO has dropped off a cliff, let’s talk.
