SEO Revival: Growing a Physician Website from 800 to 73K

In early 2020, a leading service provider for physicians (we’ll refer to them as "MedPros" for anonymity) approached Trendline SEO to develop a comprehensive online strategy to grow their web presence.

At the time, MedPros was receiving roughly 800 monthly visitors to their website, and their digital footprint was minimal.

Trendline SEO took the reins, acting as the strategic quarterback for the project.

Our approach?

Build a new, highly navigable website, craft a content strategy that resonated with physicians at all stages of their decision-making process, and implement SEO best practices to drive traffic and conversions.

Phase 1: Website Overhaul & User Experience Optimization

We were the main contributor for the strategic direction on a complete website rebuild using WordPress.

The new site was designed for intuitive navigation, with clear segmentation into different service areas.

To encourage deeper engagement, we implemented dynamic content recommendations—ensuring visitors exploring a particular topic were guided toward relevant content within the same category.

This helped reduce bounce rates and increase time on site.

With a trusted third-party developer handling the technical execution (recommended by us), we ensured the foundation of the site was SEO-friendly, fast-loading, and scalable from day one.

Phase 2: Content Strategy for Traffic & Conversion Growth

Once the infrastructure was in place, we built a physician-focused content strategy to drive organic growth.

Our plan was structured around a mix of:

• Top-of-the-funnel content (informational guides and industry insights)
• Middle-of-the-funnel content (comparisons, how-to articles, and educational deep dives)
• Bottom-of-the-funnel content (highly transactional pages targeting conversion-driven keywords)

Due to rapid internal growth within Trendline SEO, we engaged a third-party company to execute the SEO work and content production while we maintained strategic oversight.

Phase 3: Link Building & Digital PR Strategy

To further strengthen the site's authority and rankings, we implemented a targeted link-building and digital PR strategy.

We collaborated with a trusted industry contact to launch a journalist outreach campaign, securing high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources.

Our approach included:

• HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and Connectively outreach, positioning MedPros as a thought leader in the physician services space.
• Cold email outreach campaigns via Mailshake to earn niche-relevant backlinks that established expertise and credibility.
• Performance-based link-building, where we only pursued earned citations from high-authority publications.

As a result, MedPros secured hundreds of high-quality backlinks from top-tier sites like Business Insider, Wikipedia, Healthgrades, GoBankingRates, and AAFP.org, further solidifying its position as an industry leader.

The overall impact of this campaign meant that the domain rating increased from 33 in early 2019, to over 57 by the end of 2023.

This led to a substantial boost in rankings sitewide, and positioned the site to start earning links organically on its own.

Phase 4: Performance & Adjustments

The results were just as we predicted - slow, steady growth over the course of the campaign.

Between late 2020 and July 2022, MedPros' traffic soared to 28,000 monthly visitors before plateauing.

A small disagreement led to the end of their engagement with the third-party SEO provider, and performance began to stagnate.

In February 2024, Trendline SEO stepped in directly to take over execution.

Full Site Audit & Strategic Overhaul

Our team has a deep background in turning around underperforming sites.

As part of our previous work in growing an internal portfolio of websites that we acquired and ran before selling, we know the types of things that could be holding a site back, as well as the things that aren't fully being used to our advantage.

After a brief strategy session, we decided that our first move was conducting an extensive SEO audit to identify bottlenecks and untapped opportunities.

Key Findings

• The site’s structure was not optimized for internal link flow
• Content production had become quantity-focused over quality-driven
• Technical SEO inefficiencies were slowing growth

To address these issues, we rebuilt the site in GeneratePress for:

• Optimized link flow & engagement
• Faster load speeds (hosted on a managed WordPress-optimized server)
• Easy scalability using GeneratePress Blocks for seamless page creation

Once a healthy foundation was put in place, we were ready to focus on growing the traffic numbers to their full potential.

Content Optimization & Growth

A dedicated healthcare-focused content team was assembled, producing 30,000 words of high-quality, targeted content per month.

• We merged duplicate content to consolidate authority.
• We removed low-quality, outdated content that wasn’t serving the audience.
• We noindexed thin or unhelpful pages to prevent index bloat.

The impact?

The site was already experiencing some Google update-driven growth, climbing from 24,000 visitors in November 2023 to 36,000 in February 2024.

However, once we ramped up consistent, high-quality content production, the numbers skyrocketed:

• June 2024: 48,000 visitors/month
• February 2025: 73,000 visitors/month

This surge in traffic was not just a temporary spike but a reflection of a well-executed strategy.

With this surge in traffic came measurable business impact.

More physicians were engaging with the content, spending more time on the site, and converting into leads.

The improved site structure and faster load speeds created a seamless user experience, ensuring visitors could quickly find relevant information and take action.

At the same time, our content strategy helped attract high-authority backlinks, reinforcing the site's credibility in the physician services industry.

As rankings climbed, the site became a go-to resource, strengthening its position as a leader in the space.

The combination of technical enhancements, strategic content, and SEO best practices established a long-term, sustainable growth engine.

We couldn’t be happier with the results, and more importantly, neither could the client.

With a strong foundation in place, the site is positioned for continued success, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the months ahead.

Key Wins & Results

• Sustained growth: The site has maintained an upward trajectory, increasing month over month.
• Authoritative backlinks: The strategy attracted consistent links from high-authority sources like Wikipedia, Business Insider, Healthgrades, GoBankingRates, and AAFP.org.
• Industry leadership: MedPros is now widely recognized as a trusted resource in the physician services industry.
• Massive lead generation: Thousands of high-intent leads are now sourced directly through the website.

Final Thoughts

Through strategic restructuring, high-quality content, and technical SEO improvements, Trendline SEO transformed MedPros’ website from a low-traffic site into an industry powerhouse.

This project showcases how a data-driven, methodical SEO strategy can create long-term, compounding growth.

More than just rankings and traffic, it’s about building a brand that dominates its niche.

Want results like this? Let’s talk.