SEO Case Study: B2B accounting software achieved MQLs 25→110 in 6 months
On March 10, 2025, a Miami based B2B accounting software provider partnered with Goforaeo to rebuild its organic acquisition engine and reduce overreliance on paid channels. The company had a solid product, but its inbound motion was underperforming because search visibility and on site conversion fundamentals were not set up for a competitive SaaS category.
Disclaimer: Company name and a few identifying details are anonymized due to an NDA.
Project Snapshot
This engagement focused on building a repeatable organic pipeline system, not a one off traffic spike, so we designed the work around measurable buyer intent and lead qualification from day one.
- Location: Miami, Florida, United States
- Start date: March 10, 2025
- End date: September 10, 2025
- Timeframe: 6 months
- Product: B2B accounting software (mid market SMB focus)
- Primary channels: Organic search and supporting referral placements
- Key result: Organic MQLs increased from 25 per month to 110 per month within the 6 month window
- Quality guardrails: MQL definition tied to firmographic fit and intent actions (not simple newsletter signups)
Starting Point: What Was Not Working
The product delivered clear value to finance teams, but organic demand capture was leaking at multiple layers: technical health, content alignment, and lead capture paths. The most important finding was that the site was generating visits that did not match the ICP, and the visits that did match intent were not being guided to a clear next step.
Baseline Metrics (Pre kickoff, February 2025)
We used February 2025 as the benchmark month because it represented “normal” seasonality and steady marketing activity before changes started.
- Organic MQLs: 25
- Organic sessions: 8,400
- Non branded clicks (Search Console): 2,050
- Organic CVR to MQL: 0.30 percent
- Sales accepted leads from organic (SALs): 14
- Sales qualified leads from organic (SQLs): 9
- Demo request rate from organic landing pages: 0.55 percent
- Top 10 ranking keywords: limited depth in commercial intent terms, heavy reliance on informational queries
Funnel and Content Observations
A few patterns stood out during the first two weeks of audits and call reviews with sales and customer success.
- High intent pages were missing: there were no strong comparison pages, no “for industry” pages, and weak pricing and integration discovery paths.
- Content did not map to buying stages: blog posts existed, but few were designed to move a finance buyer toward a demo, trial, or consultation.
- Lead capture did not match intent: the same generic form was used across pages, creating friction for demo ready visitors and low quality for sales.
- Technical issues were compounding: crawl inefficiencies, template duplication, and slow pages reduced the ability to rank for competitive software terms.
Measurement and Attribution Setup
Before scaling anything, we made sure the team could trust the numbers and trace them back to decisions. This prevented the common trap where “traffic” goes up but pipeline impact remains unclear.
Tracking Decisions Implemented (March 2025)
We aligned all reporting around one source of truth for “organic MQL” and ensured marketing and sales agreed on the definition.
- Defined organic MQL as leads from organic sessions that met firmographic fit (company size range, industry match, region served) and showed intent (demo request, pricing click plus time threshold, integration page visit, or multi page visit sequence).
- Connected CRM lifecycle stages so organic leads could be tracked from first touch to SAL and SQL without manual spreadsheets.
- Created a Looker Studio dashboard for weekly review, but kept GA4 and CRM as the reference systems for validation.
Strategy Overview
We approached this like a demand capture and conversion problem, not a publishing problem. The work combined technical SEO, content designed for commercial intent, and conversion paths that matched the buyer journey for finance teams.
Pillar 1: Technical SEO and Site Health Fixes
The first 30 days prioritized removing barriers that prevented ranking growth and improving page experience so conversion improvements would stick.
- Resolved index bloat by tightening parameter handling and reducing thin template pages
- Improved internal linking between product, integrations, and use case pages
- Fixed duplicate metadata and canonical inconsistencies
- Reduced page load friction on core landing templates (image compression, script cleanup, and improved layout stability)
Pillar 2: Intent Led Content Architecture
We rebuilt content around what buyers actually search when they are evaluating accounting software, especially controllers and finance managers who need proof, workflows, and risk reduction.
Key page types added or rebuilt:
- Comparison pages (for competitive alternatives and category comparisons)
- Industry use case pages (for services businesses, agencies, multi entity operators, and regional tax complexity)
- Integration and workflow pages (payroll, invoicing, bank reconciliation, ERP handoffs)
- Decision support content (implementation checklists, migration guidance, security and compliance explainers)
Pillar 3: Conversion Rate Optimization for Qualified Leads
Instead of trying to force every visitor into the same form, we offered intent matched next steps.
- Demo focused CTAs on high intent pages
- Short “book a consult” form for bottom funnel visitors
- “Download” assets only where they supported qualification, not where they distracted
- Added trust proof near conversion points (security, customer logos, quantified outcomes, time to value statements)
Pillar 4: Authority Building Without Spam Links
We avoided volume link building and focused on placements and partnerships that a finance buyer would actually trust.
- Industry relevant directories and software marketplaces
- Accounting and finance community contributions
- Co authored content with implementation partners where appropriate
- PR style mentions for data backed insights
Month by Month Execution and Results (No tables, full narrative)
Below is the month by month progression using the same organic MQL definition established during setup. Each month reflects end of month totals, with execution activities focused on compounding gains rather than isolated campaigns.
March 2025 (Kickoff and Stabilization)
March was about fixing leaks and creating the foundation to scale.
Actions completed:
- Full technical audit, crawl cleanup, and priority fixes pushed live
- Rebuilt internal linking structure around product and integration discovery
- Established baseline reporting and weekly review cadence with marketing and sales
Outcome for March 2025:
- Organic MQLs: 29 (up from 25 baseline)
- The increase was modest, but lead quality improved because forms were cleaned up and routing was fixed, reducing misclassified submissions.
April 2025 (Commercial Intent Pages Go Live)
April introduced the first wave of pages built for evaluation stage searches.
Actions completed:
- Published core comparison pages and rebuilt the primary product pages for clearer intent alignment
- Added FAQ blocks driven by sales objections and common implementation concerns
- Launched first CRO updates on high traffic pages (CTA placement, simplified form fields, and trust proof)
Outcome for April 2025:
- Organic MQLs: 38
- Organic CVR to MQL: improved from 0.30 percent to roughly 0.38 percent as CTAs became more relevant to visitor intent.
May 2025 (Topic Clusters and Use Case Expansion)
May focused on building topical authority and giving Google and users a clearer understanding of who the product is best for.
Actions completed:
- Built industry use case clusters with supporting blog content that linked into product pages
- Expanded integration pages and added workflow examples (how reconciliation, approvals, and reporting work)
- Started targeted outreach for a small set of finance relevant placements
Outcome for May 2025:
- Organic MQLs: 52
- Non branded clicks: climbed meaningfully as more pages began ranking for problem aware searches, not just brand terms.
June 2025 (CRO Iteration and Lead Quality Tightening)
June was about scaling conversions without letting lead quality drop. This is where many programs fail, so we tightened qualification logic.
Actions completed:
- Implemented intent based form logic (short demo form on bottom funnel pages, longer form only where necessary)
- Added “proof sections” built from real customer outcomes, framed as operational wins (close faster, fewer errors, clearer audit trail)
- Improved page speed and reduced friction on mobile layouts
Outcome for June 2025:
- Organic MQLs: 71
- Organic SALs: increased alongside MQLs because lead scoring and routing improved, not just volume.
July 2025 (Authority and Trust Layer Added)
July increased rankings velocity by pairing strong content with trust signals and credible mentions.
Actions completed:
- Published a finance buyer guide and implementation checklist designed to support evaluation conversations
- Secured a handful of high relevance placements (software directories, partner sites, and niche finance publications)
- Strengthened E E A T signals: clearer authorship, updated about pages, tighter compliance and security messaging
Outcome for July 2025:
- Organic MQLs: 92
- Demo request rate from organic landing pages: moved closer to 1 percent as pages matched buyer intent better.
August 2025 (Compounding Gains and Scaling What Worked)
August was about doubling down on the page types that produced qualified demand and refreshing what was underperforming.
Actions completed:
- Updated early pages with new internal links from fresh content, improving crawl paths and relevance
- Expanded the comparison set based on Search Console queries that were already generating impressions
- Ran conversion focused experiments on pricing and integration paths to reduce drop offs
Outcome for August 2025:
- Organic MQLs: 110
- This month represented the clearest “system level” win: more qualified traffic, higher conversion, and better sales acceptance.
Early September 2025 (Validation and Handoff)
By September 10, 2025, we validated that the gains were not a one week anomaly and documented the operating system for the internal team.
Actions completed:
- Locked reporting definitions and trained the team on the playbook
- Prioritized the next 60 day backlog based on conversion data and ranking opportunities
- Documented content briefs, internal linking rules, and CRO checklists for repeatability
Before vs After Proof Points (February 2025 vs August 2025)
We compared February 2025 (pre engagement benchmark) against August 2025 (best performing full month inside the engagement window) to show clear before vs after proof.
- Organic MQLs: 25 to 110
- Organic sessions: 8,400 to 15,600 (growth came from non branded discovery, not only brand searches)
- Non branded clicks: 2,050 to 5,400
- Organic conversion rate to MQL: 0.30 percent to 0.70 percent (driven by CRO and intent matched CTAs)
- Organic SALs: 14 to 48
- Organic SQLs: 9 to 26
- Sales feedback: fewer “student” or “job seeker” leads, more finance operators with active evaluation timelines
Tools and Tech Stack Used
Tools were chosen to support execution speed, measurement integrity, and cross team clarity.
- Google Analytics 4 for behavioral and conversion tracking
- Google Search Console for query level visibility and indexing validation
- HubSpot CRM for lifecycle stages, lead scoring, and pipeline attribution
- Looker Studio for executive dashboards and weekly review reporting
- Screaming Frog for technical audits, crawl diagnostics, and template issues
- Ahrefs and Semrush for competitor research, content gap analysis, and keyword prioritization
- Hotjar for heatmaps and session recordings to identify friction points
- Clearbit (or similar enrichment) for firmographic fit checks and cleaner MQL qualification
- Google Tag Manager for event tracking consistency across forms and CTAs
Why This Worked (The Logic Behind the Outcome)
This result happened because each improvement reinforced the others, creating compounding effects instead of isolated wins.
- Technical fixes made it easier for content to rank and for users to have a smooth experience.
- Commercial intent pages captured evaluation stage demand that the site previously ignored.
- CRO ensured increased traffic did not leak at the point of conversion.
- Qualification logic ensured the volume increase did not overwhelm sales with low fit leads.
- Authority building added credibility, improving both rankings and buyer trust.
What We Would Do Next (Next 90 Days)
With the engine established, the next phase would focus on expanding categories and improving win rates, not just lead volume.
- Build deeper industry pages for the top converting verticals identified in CRM data
- Expand integrations content into “how it works” workflows and migration playbooks
- Create a pricing and packaging education hub that reduces sales cycle friction
- Continue link and mention acquisition focused on finance trusted sources
- Run ongoing CRO experiments on the highest intent paths (pricing, comparisons, integrations)
Key Takeaways
If you are trying to scale organic MQLs for B2B software, the biggest unlock is aligning search intent with conversion intent, then measuring it in a way sales will trust.
- Start with clean attribution and a shared definition of “qualified.”
- Build pages for buyers who are comparing solutions, not only researching concepts.
- Treat CRO as part of SEO, because rankings without conversions do not create pipeline.
- Prioritize relevance and trust over volume when building authority.