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👉 [Download Full Assignment PDF Above]
Includes screenshots, ranking tables, keyword maps, and prioritised action items.


Description -

📍 Background
Connemara Brewing Company, an Irish craft brewery, needed deeper insights into their digital performance. As part of a university-led client audit, I was tasked with conducting a comprehensive evaluation of their website’s effectiveness in terms of user experience (UX), SEO, technical performance, and conversion capabilities.

The company is known for small-batch, locally sourced beers — but its digital footprint and discoverability were not reflecting the brand’s quality. My goal was to diagnose performance gaps and create a roadmap for stronger search visibility, higher user engagement, and improved conversion rates.

🚨 The Challenge
• Website ranked poorly for most high-volume, relevant keywords (SEO visibility: 3.5/10)
• No blog or content hub to support search engine rankings (Content Freshness Score: 0/6)
• Slow mobile performance and inconsistent contrast in visual UI affected accessibility
• Weak internal linking structure and few inbound backlinks (Link Popularity Score: 0.75/3)
• No structured conversion tracking or optimization of micro/macro journeys

The challenge was to evaluate these technical, on-page, and strategic gaps and present evidence-backed recommendations to elevate the brand’s online performance.

🧠 Strategy & Solution-

🔍 Website & UX Audit
• Assessed layout, product hierarchy, CTAs, and page design based on user behavior principles
• Evaluated visual consistency, brand tone, and trust-building elements (e.g., contact info, story page)
• Reviewed ecommerce flow for friction points in the shopping and tour booking experiences

🔧 SEO & Technical Review
• Conducted keyword ranking analysis using Ubersuggest, SEMrush, and Google Search Console
• Evaluated sitemap, robots.txt, schema markup, and mobile-friendliness
• Ran speed tests and technical diagnostics for Core Web Vitals, text-to-HTML ratio, and metadata structure
• Mapped current keyword strategy vs. missed high-intent terms like “Irish craft beer,” “Galway brewery,” “Connemara ale,” etc.

📐 Benchmarking & Best Practices
• Compared Connemara’s website against industry players like Rye River Brewing and Carlow Brewing.
• Integrated global UX inspirations from Amazon, IKEA, ASOS, and Apple for best-in-class CRO strategies.
• Outlined SEO frameworks based on Moz and Google’s E-E-A-T and Schema standards.

📈 Results (Diagnostic Phase)
Metric Outcome / Finding
SEO Visibility Score 3.5/10 – Most strategic keywords underperforming
Content Freshness Score 0/6 – No blog, no recent content updates
Technical SEO Score 4/5 – Good sitemap, robots.txt, rich result eligibility
On-Page SEO Score 3.5/5 – Optimized metadata, weak headings & internal links
Link Popularity 0.75/3 – Very low external domain references
Domain Credibility Score 3.5/5 – .com domain, secure, canonical, but expiring soon

✅ Key Recommendations
• Launch a content hub/blog to support SEO, thought leadership, and engagement
• Focus on high-intent local and product-based keywords for meta tags, H1s, and image alt text
• Improve site speed and mobile usability by compressing images, streamlining code, and fixing color contrast issues
• Establish internal linking structure and backlink partnerships to increase domain authority
• Create micro-conversions like newsletter sign-ups, social shares, and promo pop-ups to strengthen funnel.

🧰 Tools & Technologies Used
SEO Auditing • Technical Diagnostics • User Journey Mapping • CRO Strategy • Competitor Benchmarking • SEO Tool Mastery (SEMrush, Ubersuggest) • Web Analytics