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SEO · Website · Analytics

Website Relaunch, Lost Rankings, Rebuilt Commercial Visibility

After rebrand, their positioning was unclear to Google. Search visibility vanished. The DS System brought clarity by diagnosing the data gap, fixing foundations, and rebuilding visibility in seven months.

Data Story · Faisandier · 2025–2026

A quick look

The first seven months, in numbers

+79%
Organic sessions, year on year
+214%
Search impressions vs first post-launch quarter
615
Keywords ranking in Google's top 10
6.2
Average Google position, up from 8.7
1m 30s
Average engagement time, up from ~40s
19k+
Search impressions per month

Before SEO becomes a growth engine, the foundations need to be right.

The partner

A Wellington townhouse developer, freshly relaunched

Faisandier is a Wellington-based property developer focused on high-quality new-build townhouses for first-home buyers, downsizers, and investors. Their business is built around delivering thoughtfully designed homes in well-located areas across Wellington and the Hutt Valley.

Following a rebrand and website relaunch in August 2025, the goal was clear: make sure Google understood what Faisandier does, who they serve, and which pages should rank for commercially valuable searches.

The challenge

Rebuild visibility post-launch and make sure Google understands the business

After the relaunch, Faisandier had a strong-looking site and solid brand-led copy. But Google couldn't read the data clearly. The homepage was clear to users. It was unclear to search engines. Signals around what the business does, who it serves, and where it operates weren't explicit. The result: the site ranked for broad informational queries instead of high-intent commercial searches where buyers actually look.

There were also structural gaps across the site:

The objective wasn't just to increase traffic, but to rebuild visibility in a way that aligned with the business and supported long-term growth. This meant positioning the site for AI-driven search.

The strategy

Fix the fundamentals first, then build toward commercial growth

The DS System starts with diagnosis: what data is unclear? Then it fixes the foundations so Google can read that clarity. The steps were: clarify positioning, fix structural gaps, strengthen content and internal linking, then move into commercial optimisation.

01

Refined core page copy

Kept the strong brand positioning, but wove targeted keywords into H1s, H2s, and body copy so Google had much clearer signals about the offering.

02

Fixed weak page structure

Closed H1 gaps and improved page hierarchy where key signals were missing.

03

Restructured the blog

Reorganised articles under a clear category slug, helping crawlability, site structure, and content relationships.

04

Improved metadata

Updated meta titles and descriptions across priority pages to strengthen relevance and how pages surface in search.

05

Added schema to key pages

Schema on core pages and FAQs supported clearer content interpretation, richer search eligibility, and stronger foundations for AI-driven discovery.

06

Built content around pillars

Blogs written to support pillar topics, building topical authority rather than publishing disconnected articles.

07

Improved internal linking

Strengthened connections between blogs, core pages, and priority commercial pages.

08

Benchmarked and planned next

Established where Faisandier sits against competitors, then set the next-stage plan: commercial pages, backlinks, and higher-intent terms.

The results

Stronger visibility, broader keyword coverage, a firmer foundation for growth

Over the first 7 months, organic performance improved steadily as the site became clearer, better structured, and easier for Google to interpret.

+79% Organic sessions year on year in May (1,762 vs 983 a year earlier). Positive YoY growth every single month, from +24% to +79%.
+214% Search impressions between the first post-launch quarter and the most recent. Now above 19,000 a month, with 615 keywords ranking in Google's top 10 and average position up from 8.7 to 6.2.
1m 30s Average engagement time, roughly doubled from around 40 seconds before the relaunch.

Just as importantly, the work moved the site beyond launch recovery into a more strategic phase. Google now understands Faisandier as a townhouse developer in Wellington, and the site is far better placed to compete for commercial terms while being structured for AI/GEO visibility.

Key takeaways

What seven months of foundational SEO teaches you

  1. 1

    Fixing the foundations is not optional

    The early months of SEO are often about work no one sees: clarifying structure, strengthening page signals, and making the site easier for Google to understand.

  2. 2

    Brand copy alone is not enough

    A page can sound strong to users but still be unclear to search engines. SEO often comes down to making that commercial relevance explicit.

  3. 3

    Content works better when it has a job

    Publishing blogs is not the strategy. Building content around pillar themes, internal linking, and search intent is what creates momentum.

  4. 4

    SEO now supports more than Google

    Clear structure, schema, content relationships, and strong entity signals all help with traditional search and with AI/GEO readiness.

  5. 5

    Seven months in, the job isn't done

    The foundations are in place, the results are encouraging, and the next phase is turning that visibility into stronger commercial rankings.

In summary

Foundations first, then commercial growth

Faisandier needed Google to understand their business as clearly as their customers did. The DS System provided that clarity by rebuilding the foundations: page signals, structure, schema, internal linking, and pillar content. Clarity first, then commercial rankings.

Seven months on, organic sessions are up 79% year on year. Impressions more than tripled. Average position lifted from 8.7 to 6.2. Engagement doubled. The site now competes for high-intent commercial terms and is positioned to stay visible as search shifts toward AI. This is what clarity enabled.