Ann Zerega SEO Specialist

Optimize, Organize, Document, Train

You are here: Home / Archives for Case Studies

Case Studies

Taxonomy Team Effort – Part Two

Improved User Data –

In my post “Taxonomy Team Effort – Part One“, I described the enormous undertaking by multiple teams to implement a keyword-based taxonomy of over 200 terms. Soon thereafter, I realized the new taxonomy provided opportunities for improved user reporting:

  • Each piece of content was now assigned to one category only eliminating duplicate category data.
  • Each piece of content showed the new category in the post markup.

From the course I completed on Google Tag Manager, I knew data could be retrieved from site markup and aggregated into Google Analytics and custom reports in Google Data Studio.

Here’s a breakdown of the project:

  • Development Team
    The development team created custom ID and variable to retrieve category text from post markup.
  • My Part
    I created tags in Google Tag Manager to record the post category text as a custom dimension on DOM complete. I then created category rollup reports in Google Data Studio using Google Sheets and Google Analytics for a broader look at the topics members were reading.
  • Outcome
    Ad Operations can now report on most popular categories on website to better sell and target ads.

Taxonomy Team Effort – Part One

Flight deck team image

Launching a New Website Taxonomy –

In response to feedback from users, a membership website undertook a large project to implement a keyword-based taxonomy of over 200 terms with the goal to:

  • Create a more intuitive subject grouping
  • Improve organic search
  • Improve ad targeting

This website, however, contained over 4,000 pieces of content that needed to be reorganized into the new taxonomy – not a job for one person or even one team!

Ultimately, the new taxonomy was successfully launched through the coordination of both the content and development teams. Here’s a breakdown of the project:

  • Content Team
    Reviewed over 4,000 pieces of content and assigned each to a new keyword-based taxonomy of over 200 terms.
  • Development Team
    Created an import script to update the 4,000 pieces of content to their new taxonomy, then implemented new taxonomy on site including category filters.
  • My Part (Development Team)
    Created, optimized, and migrated the existing site taxonomy to a new keyword-based taxonomy of over 200 categories.
  • Outcome
    10% increase in organic search traffic and improved user experience.