At Calli Web Services, we recently worked with a nonprofit organization whose website had several technical issues affecting its reach and performance. To fix this, we conducted a comprehensive Technical SEO Cleanup Audit and implementation.
One common issue with long running or “legacy” websites is that over time organizations work with multiple developers, designers, or freelancers. When a site is dynamic, where updates are made, new pages are added, content changes, or redesigns happen, the structure of the site and its navigation can become inconsistent. URLs change, redirects are added, and navigation evolves without always being fully consolidated.
This is a normal pattern for websites that have been active for many years.
Instead of redesigning the site or adding new content, we focused on improving the technical foundation. Within one month, the impact was noticeable across traffic and conversions.
The Challenge
The website had a mix of common issues often found in long running sites:
- Duplicate URLs pointing to the same content
- Incorrect or inconsistent canonical tags
- Redirect chains and unnecessary redirects
- Broken links, 404 errors
- URLs with formatting issues
These issues can confuse search engines like Google and create friction for users trying to navigate the site.
What We Did
We focused on cleaning up the technical structure of the website:
- Reviewed and corrected canonical URLs
- Removed duplicate and conflicting URLs
- Simplified redirect chains
- Fixed broken links and 404 errors
- Standardized URL structures
- Reviewed SEO configurations in Yoast SEO
The goal was to make the site easier to understand, for both search engines and users.
The Results, Month over Month
- Organic Search, +38 percent, 179 to 247 sessions
- Direct Traffic, +60 percent, 742 to 1,187 sessions
- Referral Traffic, +310 percent, 69 to 283 sessions
Following these improvements, the client reported a significant increase in program applications.
We did not modify the form itself. The increase came from users being able to reach the correct pages more reliably and complete the form without encountering errors or unnecessary redirects.
Why This Happened
One important detail is that the client did not expect to see results this quickly.
In this case, accumulated changes over time created friction:
- Multiple versions of the same content
- Redirect chains
- Broken or outdated links
Once these issues were resolved, the site did not need to grow, it simply needed to function correctly.
We did not add new content or redesign pages, the improvement came from making sure the site works as intended.
That is why the increase in traffic and form submissions happened quickly.
This case shows how technical improvements can make an existing website perform better.
The demand was already there, it just needed better structure and guidance.
Want to Improve Your Website’s Performance?
At Calli Web Services, we help organizations improve performance through technical SEO and structured optimization.
If your website has evolved over time and may have accumulated technical issues, we would be happy to review it.
