SEO Case Study
Portfolio Webiste Optimization
Optimizing a personal portfolio website to improve search visibility, organic rankings, and Core Web Vitals performance.
Website
Industry
Digital Marketing / Freelancing
Tools Used
Rank Math, PageSpeed Insights, Google Search Console, Airlift, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, Google Ads Keyword Planner, Google Analytics (Site Kit)
TImeline
Started: January 2026
Indexed: February 12, 2026
Project Overview
muznafathima.com is a personal portfolio website built using WordPress with the Elementor page builder and the Astra theme. The website was created to establish the online presence of a freelance digital marketer in Dubai, offering services in SEO, SEM, SMM, and web development, and to attract potential clients through organic search.
The goal of this project was to take the website from near-zero search visibility to a properly optimized, search engine–friendly, and fast-loading platform capable of ranking for the keyword “Digital Marketer in Dubai.”
The Challenge
key challenges website faced initially
- The website was launched as a new domain with zero authority and no existing backlink profile
- Website pages were created with no keyword planning
- Website had no organic visibility in search results
- The SEO score provided by the Rank Math plugin was very low at 10/100
- The PageSpeed performance score was 80 for desktop and around 70 for mobile; both were low according to the recommended values by Google
- Core Web Vitals like LCP, CLS, and FCP were not good, particularly on mobile
- The sitemap was not submitted, Search Console setup was not done, and there was no analytics tracking
- There were broken internal links due to permalink changes
- The page had no off-page credibility, as no backlink submissions were done
Phase 1 : Keyword Research
To identify the best target keyword, a structured keyword research process was followed. The keywords were organized in a five-column Google Sheets framework.
Brainstorming
Generated a list of keywords that clients in Dubai are searching for through brainstorming.
Autosuggestion
Captured common search completions and phrase variations from Google search bar
Related Searches
Collected additional keyword ideas from the “Related Searches” section at the bottom of Google’s search results page.
Competitor Analysis
Identified the keywords competitors were ranking for.
Keyword Tool Results
Verified volume and difficulty using Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, and Google Ads Keyword Planner
Each column provided at least 10 keyword ideas. After checking the search volume using Google Ads Keyword Planner, the main target keyword was selected.
" Digital marketer in Dubai " Search Volume : 100-10k/month
Phase 2 : On-page SEO Optimization
With the primary keyword defined, a thorough on-page SEO audit and optimization process was performed via the Rank Math plugin, bringing the score from 10/100 to 88/100.
Content Optimization
- • Permeated our target keyword naturally 7 times inside the page content
- • Expanded the page content to more than 1,000 words which is what google expects from content depth
- • No keyword stuffing, made all keyword used contextual readable
Meta & Tag Optimization
- • Created an SEO-friendly meta title with the main keyword
- • Created a compelling meta description with clear value proposition and keyword
- • Made sure primary keyword is included in the H1 tag
- • Added alt text for hero image
- • Used one H1 per page — no repeated header hierarchies
URL Structure
- • Resume page URL customized to: /digital-marketer-in-dubai-resume, which is clean and keyword rich
- • Blog post URL optimized to: /digital-marketing-made-easy-a-beginners-guide
- • Made sure all internal URLs are concise and free of unnecessary parameters
Internal Linking
- • Added internal links from homepage to the resume page and blog post
- • Added reciprocal links from the resume page back to the homepage
Phase 3 : Technical SEO
Technical SEO improvements were implemented to ensure the site was crawlable, fast, secure, and structurally sound.
Core Web Vitals & Page Speed
- • Initial PageSpeed scores: Desktop 80 | Mobile 70
- • Used Image Eye browser extension to download all site images in WebP format; the average image size is now ~100KB
- • Leveraged the Airlift plugin to implement better optimizations for image lazy loading, caching and assets delivery
- • Final PageSpeed scores: Desktop 90 | Mobile 96, a notable 26-point increase on mobile
- • LCP, CLS, and FCP moved into acceptable ranges after these changes
Mobile Responsiveness
- • Verified all page sections were fully responsive across screen sizes
- • Used Elementor's responsive editing controls to adjust layouts for mobile and tablet views
Security & HTTPS
- • Website is hosted on Hostinger; therefore, the SSL certificate is already installed and active
- • All four URL variants confirmed to redirect to the canonical HTTPS version
Crawlability & Indexing
- • Robots.txt tag verified in source code for proper crawl control
- • Canonical tags automatically managed by Rank Math to prevent duplicate content
- • XML Sitemap generated by Rank Math and submitted to Google Search Console, Status is successful
- • Website URL submitted to Google Search Console on February 2, 2026
- • key page (homepage) and blog page were confirmed indexed by February 12, 2026
Broken Links & Open Graph
- • Used a free broken link checker tool to audit all URLs
- • Found and fixed 2 broken internal links caused by permalink changes
- • Re-checked after fixes: 0 broken links detected
- • Customized Open Graph (OG) and Twitter Card meta tags with site logo, name, and meta title for professional social sharing previews
Analytics Setup
- • Installed Google's official Site Kit plugin
- • Connected Google Analytics and Google Search Console to the WordPress dashboard for unified traffic and performance monitoring
- • No security issues or manual penalties found in Search Console
Results at a Glance
The following improvements were achieved through the combined SEO efforts. Traffic and ranking data is in its early stage as the site was submitted to Google Search Console on February 2, 2026.
Rank math SEO Score
Before : 10/100
- ▲ After: 88/100 (+78 pts)
PageSpeed — Mobile
Before: 70
- ▲ After: 96 (+26 pts)
PageSpeed — Desktop
Before: 80
- ▲ After: 90 (+10 pts)
Broken Links
Before: 3
- ▲ After: 0 broken links
Pages Indexed
Before: 0 (not submitted)
- ▲ After: homepage indexed
Sitemap
Before: not submitted
- ▲ After: sitemap submission success
Phase 4 : Off-page SEO
To support domain authority growth and build initial backlink signals, the following off-page activities were completed :
- • Submitted the website to more than 20 high authority web directories, each having a Domain Authority (DA) above 25
- • Published site images on Pinterest to drive referral traffic and create social backlinks
- • Placed a classified ad on Craigslist as a freelance digital marketer in Dubai, generating additional off page visibility and a referral link
Tools & Technologies used
Website builder
WordPress + Elementor Page Builder (Astra Theme)
SEO Plugin
Rank Math SEO
Performance Plugin
Performance Plugin Airlift (caching, lazy load, optimization)
Analytics
Google Analytics via Site Kit plugin
Keyword Research
Google Ads Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest
PageSpeed Testing
Google PageSpeed Insights
Search Presence
Google Search Console
Image Optimization
Image Optimization Image Eye Extension (WebP conversion)
Link Auditing
Free Broken Link Checker
Social Sharing
Open Graph + Twitter Card meta tags via Rank Math
Hosting
Hosting Hostinger (SSL included)
Key Learnings
- • A structured keyword research process, combining brainstorming, autosuggestion, competitor analysis, and volume verification, leads to more confident and effective keyword targeting.
- • Image optimization alone, by converting images to WebP, significantly reduced file sizes, but the Airlift plugin was the real game changer for mobile performance, pushing scores from 70 to 96.
- • On page and technical SEO must work together: a high Rank Math score means little if the page loads slowly or fails Core Web Vitals tests.
- • Canonical tags, robots.txt, and proper redirect setup are often overlooked but are essential for preventing crawl and duplicate content issues.
- • Getting all three key pages indexed within 10 days of Search Console submission shows that a well-structured, crawlable site is indexed quickly.
Next Steps
- • Monitor Search Console for keyword impressions, click-through rates, and ranking positions as the domain matures
- • Track Google Analytics traffic data month-over-month to quantify organic growth
- • Continue building off-page authority through additional directory submissions, guest posts, and social signals
- • Publish regular SEO blog content to target long-tail keywords and build topical authority
- • Update this case study with live traffic and ranking data once sufficient data is available
About the author
Muzna Fathima is a freelance digital marketer based in Dubai, UAE, with expertise in SEO, web development, social media marketing, SEM, content marketing, and performance marketing.