Education SEO Case Study

Should I merge my blog subdomain into my main site?

1,937%Organic User Growth

KIS Academics is a tutoring service for high school students across Australia. They were growing fast but organic search wasn't keeping up. The root cause was an architecture problem that's incredibly common — and incredibly impactful when you fix it.

The Problem

The blog lived on a subdomain (blog.kisacademics.com), splitting authority from the main site. Subject and state-specific landing pages didn't exist. The site was growing content but not growing organic visibility because the structure was working against it.

What We Built

  • Subdomain migration — merged blog.kisacademics.com into the root domain to consolidate authority
  • Subject-specific landing pages for every high school subject
  • State-specific landing pages targeting VCE, HSC, SACE, WACE, and QCE students
  • Education-driven content strategy targeting parent and student search intent

The Results

  • 1,937% increase in organic users
  • 735% increase in keyword base
  • 527% increase in page 1 keywords
  • 142% increase in total keywords post-merge
  • 237% increase in first-page keywords post-merge

KIS Academics was one of the clearest ROI stories I oversaw at StudioHawk. A single architectural decision — consolidating the subdomain — unlocked nearly 20x organic growth. It's why I always audit site structure before touching content.

Read the full StudioHawk case study →

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About the Author

Lawrence Hitches is an AI SEO consultant based in Melbourne and General Manager of StudioHawk, Australia's largest dedicated SEO agency. He specialises in AI search visibility, technical SEO, and organic growth strategy - leading a team of 115+ across Melbourne, Sydney, London, and the US. Book a free consultation →