Case study
Turning a Two Year Decline Into €44,000 in Commission Revenue
Two core updates flattened the site. We gutted the architecture instead of tweaking the metadata.
+105%
Organic traffic
+116%
First time deposits
€44,000
Commission revenue in 15 days
Google core updates can be ruthless. Especially in highly competitive niches like iGaming.
We were brought in to lead the recovery right around the massive December crash. The client's site had been completely stagnant for two years and was severely punished by two core updates.
After the first update, they saw a slight recovery. But after the second? Absolute devastation. Traffic, conversions and revenue flatlined across every section of the website.
01 The challenge
The Diagnosis: Why Google Punished Them
The technical deep dive showed exactly why this site got hit.
Anarchic internal linking. Spanish geo pages were linking to Ecuador. Casino pages were linking to padel sports. Link equity was bleeding out with zero strategy.
Massive cannibalization. Pages were constantly competing against each other in the SERPs.
Thin content. Review pages were built for bots, not humans. They relied on rigid templates that completely lacked firsthand experience or actual user intent.
Dead weight. The site was bloated with duplicate content and dead pages pulling down the overall quality score.
02 The strategy
The Execution: Gutting the Architecture
We did not just tweak metadata. We gutted the architecture and rebuilt it for users and search engines alike.
Architectural overhaul. We wiped the chaotic linking and built an internal system that actively controlled link equity flows based on strict entity and page relationships.
Pruning and consolidation. We aggressively redirected dead and zero value pages, eliminated duplicate content, and fixed the cannibalization issues.
Injecting real experience. We completely scrapped the templated review pages. We built a new structure that showcased actual experience, real insights and genuine provider showcases.
Pivoting to a sports hub. We created sports team pages for their main geos, integrating live statistics and specific team updates. The goal was twofold: give users a genuine reason to return, and shift the site's perception from a pure iGaming affiliate into a trusted sports information hub for betting enthusiasts.
03 The results
The Turnaround: Back in the Top 10
We started the heavy lifting during the peak of the December crash. By the second week of January, we started seeing green shoots. Key comparison and review pages were trending up, moving steadily toward page 1.
By February, the majority of the crashed pages were sitting comfortably back in the Top 10 for their main keywords.
The business impact over our last 45 days: organic traffic up 105%, first time deposits up 116%, and €44,000 in commission revenue generated within the last 15 day window from our affiliate clicks.
Google does not reward chaotic architecture and templated fluff. If you want to survive core updates in tough niches, you need a logical entity structure and content that demonstrates real, hands on experience.
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