Case Study: Cleveland Clinic achieves 43% SEO traffic growth and 16% more appointment sessions with BrightEdge

Elevating SEO at Cleveland Clinic: 43% Increase in Trafc, 16% Increase in Appointment Sessions, 2/3 of Visitors Now Come from Organic Search

Cleveland Clinic, managing a 20,000+ page site, faced limited SEO capacity—only two staff focused on search—so despite strong in-house content they struggled to gain the visibility their work deserved. The organization prioritized empowering caregivers and marketers with SEO knowledge and changing content planning to reflect patient language rather than clinical jargon.

They hired a search lead, pursued BrightEdge certification, and delivered ongoing in-house SEO training to 90+ colleagues across service-line marketing, content, web development and patient education, while using BrightEdge tools for keyword research, content gap analysis and site optimization during a responsive redesign. The effort drove major gains: two-thirds of site visits now come from organic search, SEO traffic rose 43% over two years (15% YoY in 2018), 150+ content gaps closed, +3.5M Health Library sessions (19% YoY), 87% higher image search visibility, 97% faster page loads, and a 16% increase in appointment-form sessions from organic search.

Cleveland Clinic

Scott Mowery

Sr. Director Digital Marketing