- Client: TheBarnDoorHardwareStore.com
- Work Duration: December 2023 to July 2024
- Industry: Home Improvement / Interior Design
- Platform: BigCommerce
- Key Results:
- +102% Organic Traffic
- +83% Revenue Growth
- –74% Organic Traffic Decrease (Post-July 2024 – Feb 2025)
- Case Study Focus: Showcasing the initial success achieved through structured SEO optimizations, followed by the subsequent decline after the business changed ownership in July 2024, revealing the importance of consistent best practices.
About The Barn Door Hardware Store
Founded in 2016, The Barn Door Hardware Store (TBDHS) is a family-owned company offering high-quality barn door hardware kits, tracks, and accessories.
Their customers range from professional contractors and interior designers to DIY enthusiasts. Despite having a loyal customer base and ranking on the first page for “barn door hardware,” their overall organic growth had plateaued.
Before partnering with our agency:
- Reliance on a Single Keyword Cluster: Primarily “Barn Door Hardware.”
- Stagnant Traffic & Plateaued Revenue: Limited visibility for related terms (e.g., “barn door accessories,” “barn door tracks,” etc.).
- Content Marketing Gap: Needed a blog strategy to improve brand reach and visibility.
The Strategy
Our Objective
TBDHS sought a new phase of growth in organic traffic and revenue.
Our aim was to broaden their keyword footprint, establish stronger authority via quality content, and optimize key pages to drive conversions on BigCommerce.
In terms of revenue, we also integrated conversion rate optimization (CRO) throughout the process.
Approach
We broke down our strategy into four primary pillars:
- Optimizing Revenue-Driving Pages
- Focus on category and product pages with high commercial intent.
- Revise metadata, improve on-page copy, and ensure strong internal linking.
- Publishing New Collection Pages & Building Topical Authority
- Develop additional category pages to capture a wider range of search queries (e.g., “modern barn door hardware,” “bifold barn door hardware”).
- Create in-depth content through blog posts to address user questions and showcase industry expertise.
- Technical & Metadata Testing
- Conduct a thorough technical audit on BigCommerce to resolve any site-structure issues.
- Continuously test and optimize meta titles, descriptions, and content for improved rankings and CTR.
- Conversion Rate Optimization
- Implement upsell strategies.
- Optimize UI & UX on product pages.
Strategy Execution
1. Optimizing Revenue-Driving Pages
Initially, TBDHS had a handful of key category pages, but they were under-optimized:
- Generic Meta Titles & H1s: e.g., “Barn Door Hardware – The Barn Door Hardware Store.”
- Missing Meta Descriptions: Limited click-through potential.
- Minimal On-Page Content: Collection and product pages provided little contextual information.
- Duplicate Content: Some product pages featured the same descriptions and titles.
- Page Structure Issues: Headings did not follow a proper hierarchy, and navigational links appeared as headings.
What We Did
- Keyword Clustering: Mapped pages to relevant, high-intent terms (e.g., “barn door hardware kits,” “bypass barn door hardware,” “double barn door hardware”).
- Unique, Benefit-Focused Metadata: Created new titles, H1s, and concise descriptions for each key page.
- Homepage Optimization: Found the homepage was attracting important high-value keywords but wasn’t ranking well. We refined its metadata and added strategic content/headings.
- FAQ Sections: Placed dedicated FAQs on category and product pages to address common questions, improving contextual signals.
- Logical Page Structure: Ensured headings and navigation followed best practices for clearer search engine crawling.
2. Publishing New Collection Pages
Although TBDHS ranked well for “barn door hardware,” they missed out on other search contexts:
- bifold barn door hardware
- modern barn door hardware
- low clearance barn door hardware / low profile barn door hardware
- barn door guide / barn door floor guide
- barn door rollers
- barn door stopper
- and more.
What We Did
- 48 New Category Pages: Tailored to unique styles, designs, and hardware configurations.
- Distinct Content & Keywords: Avoided overlap to prevent cannibalization.
- Strategic Internal Linking: Improve overall crawl depth by linking between category and product pages.
3. Publishing Blog Posts for Topical Authority
We created a content calendar with 50+ topics about barn doors, some directly tied to product sales. A detailed “Do’s and Don’ts” list helped maintain brand voice and key coverage. Our SEO team produced in-depth outlines, and the content team wrote articles following those outlines.
- Strategic Internal Linking: Connected blog posts to relevant collection pages, reinforcing authority and relevance.
4. Technical & Metadata Testing
BigCommerce posed some limitations, but we still:
- Optimized Page Structures: Improved site navigation and heading hierarchy.
- Monitored Core Web Vitals: Ensured speedy load times and mobile friendliness.
- 301 and 404 Redirect Fixes: Replaced 301 interlinks from the source, removed 404 pages, and replaced them with more relevant ones.
- Ran A/B Tests on Metadata: Experiment with different titles and descriptions on high-traffic pages to enhance CTR.
5. UI & UX Optimization on Product Pages
- Streamlined Checkout: Reduced friction to lower cart abandonment.
- Upsell Popups: Data-driven product recommendations boosted average order value.
The Results (December 2023 – July 2024)
- +102% Organic Traffic: Broader keyword targeting increased exposure for non-branded terms.
- +83% Revenue Growth: Combined SEO and CRO improvements raised both conversion rates and average order value.
Notable Keyword Improvements
- “barn door hardware” (22k MSV)
- Not ranking → Rank 3
- “sliding barn door hardware” (2k MSV)
- Not ranking → Rank 2
- “bifold barn door hardware” (1.7k MSV)
- Not ranking → Rank 2
- “barn door lock” (4.6k MSV)
- Not ranking → Rank 3
- “soft close barn door hardware” (800 MSV)
- Not ranking → Rank 3
The Setback: Ownership Change & Traffic Decline
In July 2024, The Barn Door Hardware Store changed ownership. Although the new owner’s decision to redesign the site on Shopify seemed promising, significant setbacks arose:
- Deleted Collection Pages
- All previously published collection pages were removed, erasing the keyword relevance and internal links we had carefully built.
- Reduced Maintenance & Monitoring
- Ongoing SEO tasks such as metadata experiments and content refreshes (for products, collections, and blogs) were deprioritized.
- Unvetted AI-Generated Content
- A high volume of AI-generated posts was published without strategic keyword research, fact-checking, or brand alignment, diluting topical authority and trust.
- Removal of Content-Rich FAQ Sections
- The new owner stripped FAQ content from key category pages, reducing contextual relevance and making it harder for crawlers to understand the products.
From July 2024 to February 2025, these changes contributed to a 74% drop in organic traffic, showing how sudden platform shifts, poorly executed content strategies, and removal of optimized on-page elements can erode even the strongest SEO gains.
Ready to Improve Your eCommerce Store’s Performance?
Contact us today to learn how our all-encompassing SEO and CRO approaches can drive sustained growth – no matter the platform or the challenges ahead.