Case Studies July 16, 2025

Strategic SEO Drive Boosts Organic Traffic and Domain Authority

Strategic SEO for Aptive Resources drove +43.49% organic traffic, boosted engagement by 32.54%, and increased Domain Authority by +12, expanding their federal reach. See full case study.

About Aptive

BSA implemented strategic SEO to make Aptive more visible and engaging for users.

Aptive Resources partners with federal agencies like Transportation and Homeland Security to help them succeed at their missions by contributing to their improved performance and streamlined operations. However, its existing website failed to convey the company’s unique value proposition and showcase its impact across several government sectors. To better share their success story and communicate the brand’s trustworthiness with decision makers in federal agencies, Aptive Resources chose to collaborate with Blacksmith Agency to redesign its website.

Services Rendered

To ensure potential customers could easily find our client on Google, we provided a complete SEO solution.

Technical SEO

We audit your website to make sure search engines can easily find, read, and understand your website. By fixing technical issues and optimizing for speed and mobile-friendliness, we ensure your site is built to rank well and provide a great user experience.

Local SEO

For businesses that serve a specific community, we help you show up in local searches and on Google Maps. We make sure your business information is correct and consistent everywhere online, so customers in your neighborhood can find and visit you easily.

Content Optimization

We take the great content you have (or help you create it) and make sure it’s exactly what people are searching for. By aligning your message with the right keywords, we help you answer your customers’ questions and turn your website into a go-to resource.

Critical Technical SEO Deficiencies

Slow page loading speeds, failing Core Web Vitals, and improper indexing rules created a frustrating user experience (UX). This severely harmed their organic traffic potential, as search engines penalize slow and technically flawed websites.

Poor Implementation of Internal Linking

On many pages, there was a complete lack of internal linking. Pages were dead ends, preventing search engine crawlers from discovering related content and understanding the site’s structure. This problem also trapped Domain Authority on a few pages and failed to guide users, preventing the site from building topical authority.

Poor On-Page Optimization

Several pages on the website lacked basic on-page optimization. Page titles were generic, meta descriptions were not actionable, and there was no proper keyword integration even into on-page content. This meant that even high-value service pages were invisible to search engines for their most important, high-intent keywords.

The Solution

Aptive hero section with optimized image assets

A High-Performance Front-End Build

To fix the technical SEO issues, we developed a high-performance front-end. We optimized the codebase, compressed all assets, and streamlined the rendering path. This transformed the site’s performance, drastically improving page loading speeds and passing Core Web Vitals to create a fast, user-friendly experience.

Strategic Keyword Integration

We executed a deep keyword research and integration strategy. We optimized every single page, from the homepage to service pages, with its primary and secondary keywords. This solution involved rewriting titles, headings, and copy to perfectly align with user search intent, making their pages highly relevant to Google.

An Authority-Building Blog Hub

To build topical authority and create a mechanism for internal linking, we created a new Resources hub to serve as a central point for a strategic internal linking architecture. We developed a content marketing strategy focused on creating high-quality, informational articles, allowing us to build authority and guide users to relevant service pages.