Search architecture and eCommerce optimization for a european healthcare DTC brand

The client entered a market dominated by well-known pharmaceutical brands ranking at the top of Google and attracting estimated 30,000–40,000 monthly visitors per keyword cluster. The new DTC brand had no SEO experience, no internal team, and no digital foundation. To compete, it required a complete organic search strategy – from keyword research and technical setup to content architecture and Shopify optimization – while building visibility from zero in a regulated healthcare environment.

We began with deep semantic research and competitor analysis to understand how customers search, compare, and evaluate healthcare products in this category. Based on real search demand, we built a structured semantic core, clustered it into logical topic groups, and used it to define the site architecture and overall SEO strategy.

We prepared a content plan based on the semantic core and defined topic priorities. Using AI analytics tools, we created content briefs for the copywriting agency. We organized the review and approval process and set up a publishing schedule to manage content production consistently.

As part of the long-term growth plan, we anticipated that sustainable organic scaling in a competitive healthcare market would require more than consistent content production and on-site optimization. Competing with established pharmaceutical brands meant strengthening external authority in parallel.

Once the technical foundation and content system were in place, we expanded the strategy to focus on backlink acquisition. Our team developed and executed a structured authority-building plan in close collaboration with the client’s marketing department, ensuring full alignment with the broader marketing and PR strategy.

The e-commerce platform was built as a headless storefront, using Shopify Plus as the commerce engine and a custom Next.js / React frontend for full control over performance and SEO. Content was managed through Contentful, allowing flexible content modeling and structured publishing workflows.

This setup gave us the ability to optimize site speed, improve Core Web Vitals, and implement clean semantic markup and internal linking. We ensured proper crawlability and indexation from the start.

Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Matomo were integrated for ongoing performance tracking, creating a solid technical foundation for scalable organic growth in a regulated healthcare market.

The project faced several challenges, including the client’s limited internal capacity to review and approve content on schedule, as well as major Google algorithm updates that impacted search visibility across the market.

Despite these factors, within 12 months the project achieved steady organic growth:

– 15,000 estimated monthly visits (Ahrefs)

– 5,000 clicks (Google Search Console)

– 3,300 active users (Google Analytics)

In addition, the brand reached top 3 positions in Google search results for its primary product keywords and, for several key terms, ranked ahead of the main established competitors in the market.

The most notable insight emerged in months 13–16, when all SEO activities were paused due to a business decision. No new optimizations were implemented, and no PPC campaigns were running.

Even under these conditions, organic traffic continued to grow, reaching:

– 26,000 estimated monthly visits (Ahrefs)

– 8,000 clicks (Google Search Console)

– 4,700 active users (Google Analytics)

This represented an average organic increase of approximately 50% during the pause. In parallel, the brand secured top Google rankings for highly competitive product keywords, outperforming two established, internationally recognized competitors.

The continued growth confirmed that the strategy created durable search visibility rather than short-term spikes — delivering sustainable results in a complex healthcare market.