Case Study - Food

How Ballerina Farm Grew Traffic +111% in 5 Months

Real search growth in a competitive category - verified Ahrefs data, no estimates.

31k - 65.3k
Monthly organic visits
+111%
In 5 months
#3
"sourdough kit"
BA
Ballerina Farm - ballerinafarm.com - Food - 2024-11 to 2024-12
The Challenge

Winning search in a competitive category

Ballerina Farm operates in a space where buyers research extensively before purchasing. Search visibility is where purchase intent lives - being absent from page 1 means losing customers to competitors before they ever see your brand.

The challenge: ranking for high-intent category terms means outranking established players with years of content authority and domain strength. Generic tactics don't work. What does is a systematic approach built around real buyer search behavior.

QCK came in with a data-driven content strategy targeting the exact searches that precede purchase decisions - not vanity rankings, but terms that convert.

The Competitive Landscape

Farmhouse on Boone
Blog-First Lifestyle Brand
A blog-first content operation with years of compounding SEO equity across homesteading, sourdough, and farmhouse living topics that drew massive organic traffic.
Lodge Cast Iron
Cookware Editorial Authority
A legacy brand with strong editorial content around cast iron cooking that dominated product-adjacent recipe and technique queries in the homestead cooking space.

QCK found opportunity in brand-specific and community-driven queries around Ballerina Farm's viral content and product line, capturing demand that generic homestead publishers couldn't serve.

Non-Branded Keywords - The Real Proof

These are cold-traffic terms. People searching these don't know Ballerina Farm exists yet. That's the opportunity - and the win.

8,400
Searches/mo - "sourdough kit"
Ranking #3
9,900
Searches/mo - "sourdough starter kit"
Ranking #3
6,700
Searches/mo - "high protein flour"
Ranking #5
The Work

What QCK Did

Content Strategy

Built a comprehensive keyword map covering every stage of the buyer research journey — identifying the exact terms buyers use: “sourdough starter kit”, “sourdough kit”, and “high protein flour”. Prioritized by search volume, intent, and competitive gap — targeting the terms where real purchase decisions happen.

Content Production

Created and published keyword-targeted articles and landing pages at scale — built around the exact terms buyers search: “sourdough starter kit”, “sourdough kit”, and “high protein flour”. Each piece optimized for a primary keyword + supporting terms + internal links to product pages.

Technical SEO

Full technical audit and remediation. Fixed heading hierarchy, rewrote meta titles and descriptions, submitted updated sitemap to GSC, resolved indexing gaps, and implemented systematic internal linking.

On-Page Optimization

Optimized product and collection pages for search and conversion. CTR-focused title tags, FAQ schema on informational pages, and copy aligned with target keywords while preserving brand voice.

The Numbers

Results That Compound

SEO doesn't flip overnight. But when the strategy is right, the data tells a clear story.

+111%
Organic Traffic - 5 Months
31k - 65.3k visits/mo
2025-03 low - 2025-08 peak
#3
"sourdough kit"
Non-branded, high-intent
5
Months to Peak
From traffic low to high
Post-engagement compounding

Monthly Organic Traffic - ballerinafarm.com

Traffic low to peak window - 5 months

Organic Traffic
KeywordPositionMonthly Searches
sourdough kit #3 8,400
sourdough starter kit #3 9,900
high protein flour #5 6,700
hannah neeleman #5 5,300

Top Organic Pages

/
27.3k
visits/mo
#1 ballerina farm
/products/farmer-protein-powder
8.8k
visits/mo
#1 ballerina farm protein powder
/collections/shopall
7.6k
visits/mo
#3 ballerina farm
/collections/farmer-protein-powder
4.4k
visits/mo
#9 ballerina farm
/products/sourdough-kit
2.2k
visits/mo
#3 sourdough kit
/pages/about-us
1.8k
visits/mo
#14 ballerina farm
Client Voices

What QCK Clients Say

★★★★★

"Our keywords have scaled to page one of Google at a pace we have not seen before. We have had massive keywords solely because of pages that QCK has created."

Steve Gmelin
VP Digital Sales & Strategy
115% increase in page-1 keywords in 5 months
★★★★★

"We are so impressed and thankful to have QCK as our SEO partner. They tackled keywords that other agencies said were impossible and now we are ranking above Amazon and other larger companies."

Liz Lenhart
Director of Growth Marketing - Itzy Ritzy
125% increase in page-1 keywords
★★★★★

"QCK ranked us for challenging keywords like 'teeth whitening strips' on the first page, aligning us with major industry players. Their high-touch approach and expert advice set them apart."

Christina Ramirez
CEO - Zimba
1,000% increase in organic traffic
★★★★★

"In just 2 months of working together, we saw a 53% increase in organic traffic. Their approach is transparent and proactive - qualities that are refreshing in the world of SEO."

Nate Prince
CEO - Flowblend
53% traffic increase in 2 months
★★★★★

"QCK has made significant improvements in our organic rankings in just 6 months. They are nimble and flexible and overdeliver."

Shuyler Mowe
CEO - Nicks Boots
Verified Clutch review
★★★★★

"These guys have been amazing for us. They grew our organic SEO off the charts and generated a huge increase in sales. Now, our site ranks quickly for almost any new product or content we post."

Dennis Mistrioty
CEO - Hello Batch
12x increase in organic sales
"
Rankings don't lie. When a brand starts showing up for the exact terms their buyers are searching, everything downstream gets easier - ads convert better, email lists grow faster, and sales cycles get shorter.
- QCK SEO Team
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