Project overview
David Jones isn’t just a department store, it’s an Australian icon. But when it comes to organic search, even icons lean on seasoned experts. While their competitors (hello, Myer) were making SEO gains, David Jones was lagging behind.
They had the brand authority, the product range, and the loyal customer base. What they didn’t have? A site that Google loved, a clear Technical SEO strategy, a content strategy built for organic growth, and a seasonal game plan to cash in on peak shopping periods.
So, we rolled up our sleeves, fixed what was broken, and made sure David Jones’ SEO was as premium as their product selection.
The Challenges
Legacy Migration Errors
David Jones went through a large migration, but without Technical SEO expertise it was far from smooth. Poor URL mapping, lost signals, and a confused Google meant visibility dropped fast. A migration without SEO can quickly damage search performance.Duplication Confusion
Multiple URLs fighting for the same keywords? It’s a classic case of SEO cannibalisation. Google doesn’t know which page to rank, and customers end up in a loop. Clean canonicals and URL structure is everything.Orphaned & Invisible
Poor linking keeps important pages out of sight and out of mind. Orphaned pages don’t just hurt discoverability—they waste crawl budget and block users from converting. Internal linking is how you tell Google (and your shoppers) what matters.Underperforming Content
David Jones’ content wasn’t aligned with what people were searching for. Weak metadata, incorrect headings, missing on-page content, and mismatched product listing pages meant they weren’t showing up for the highest value keywords.The Competitor Creeper
While David Jones leaned on brand power, Myer was climbing the ranks with long-tail keywords and smart programmatic SEO plays. High-intent traffic was going to the competition.Seasonal Slip-Ups
Key moments like Christmas and Black Friday fell flat without clear strategy. No evergreen URLs, weak SEO content, and missing keywords meant search engines couldn’t connect the dots, leaving both rankings and shoppers behind.
How We Did Our Magic
- [01]Cleaning Up the Technical Chaos
Optimised crawl efficiency – Fixed internal linking, XML sitemaps (like a website’s floor plan), and robots.txt (a text file that tells search engines which pages they’re allowed to crawl and which ones are off-limits).
Standardised canonical tags for PDPs and PLPs – Told Google which version of a page is the preferred one to avoid confusion when multiple URLs lead to the same or similar content.
Fixed duplicate titles & meta descriptions – Cleaned up thousands of pages with repeated metadata.
Improved site speed & Core Web Vitals – Because nobody likes a slow-loading site, least of all Google. - [02]Supercharging On-Page SEO & Content
Keyword research & implementation – Prioritised non-branded, high-intent keywords to attract new customers.
SEO-friendly blog structures – Added keyword-infused headings to articles to boost discoverability.
Internal keyword training – Created an SEO playbook so the David Jones marketing team could keep momentum going.
Long-tail seasonal pages – Built out targeted pages (e.g. Christmas, Black Friday) to capture in-the-moment search demand. - [03]Competitive & Seasonal Growth Strategy
Digital PR & Link Building Strategy – Earned high-authority backlinks (e.g. from official industry publications) to boost domain strength.
Revamped Local SEO – Added store-level schema markup (a special code that helps search engines understand store details like location and opening hours).
Fixed seasonal SEO issues – Optimised Christmas and Black Friday pages, consolidated subcategories under clear URLs, and improved internal linking for peak trade periods.
The Results (AKA, The Fun Part)
Our strategy unlocked massive growth across the board boosting visibility where it counted, driving more qualified traffic, and turning search interest into real revenue growth.
76.48%
increase in indexed keywords (from 801K to 1.4M in just six months)57.6M
in organic revenue over six months140%
increase in Top 3 keyword rankings1#
rankings for high-value keywords like Valentine's day gifts, Christmas gifts and kids’ Christmas outfits
“Jacob and his team provided us with exceptional SEO support across strategy, reporting, technical SEO, and both on-page and off-page optimisation.”
Our takeaways
David Jones’ SEO glow-up wasn’t about minor tweaks—it was a full-scale digital overhaul. By tackling technical issues, optimising content, and nailing seasonal SEO, we helped them capture more search traffic, boost revenue, and reclaim their competitive edge.
Now, David Jones is doing more than just keeping up with Myer—they’re leading the charge in organic search.
Oh, and top 5 rankings for Black Friday Sales and #1 for Christmas gifts? That’s like finding the perfect present under the tree—wrapped, tagged, and ready to go.
CONTACT
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