The Solution

1. Domain Consolidation

Problem before:
The website existed in too many forms — .co, .com, www, and http versions — and Google treated them as separate sites.

What I did:

• Created a single, permanent destination for every version:
  → https://bustem.com/

• Used Cloudflare redirect rules to route all other versions (.co, www, http) directly to that one, in one clean 301 hop.

• Preserved all paths and query strings (so analytics, backlinks, and UTM data stayed intact).

Result:

• No more multi-hop redirects.

• No more duplicate site versions.

• All link equity and ranking signals now point to the correct .com domain.

2. SSL and HTTPS Cleanup

Problem before:
Some URLs were insecure (http), and others were secure (https), causing SSL handshake errors and redirect loops.

What I did:

• Installed and validated proper SSL certificates on the .com domain.

• Enabled Full SSL mode in Cloudflare for end-to-end encryption.

• Disabled “Always Use HTTPS” to avoid Cloudflare creating double redirects, instead enforcing HTTPS manually via my rule.

Result:

• Zero SSL handshake errors (525s).

• Every request now lands securely at https://bustem.com.

Google and users trust the site’s HTTPS identity.

3. Redirect Hygiene

Problem before:
Requests bounced around through multiple steps (co → www.co → www.com → https.com), wasting time and crawl budget.

What I did:

• Mapped all redirects into a single hop per request.

• Verified everything using httpstatus.io, ensuring each variant returns exactly one 301 → 200 sequence.

Result:

• No redirect chains or loops.

• Clear signal to Google that each URL has a single permanent home.

4. Canonical and Sitemap Updates

Problem before:
Google didn’t know which domain to trust or index, since both .co and .com were live and interlinked.

What I did:

• Updated canonical tags on all pages to point to https://bustem.com.

• Submitted an updated XML sitemap to Google Search Console reflecting the .com domain only.

• Verified that Google began re-indexing .com URLs and dropping the old .co ones.

Result:

• Google now indexes the correct domain.

• Crawling and indexing efficiency improved.

• Ranking signals unified under one property.

5. Backlink Recovery

Problem before:
High-quality backlinks still pointed to .co URLs, wasting link equity.

What I did:

• Because I redirected every .co page to its exact .com equivalent, those backlinks now automatically pass full SEO value to the new domain through 301 redirects.

Result:

• No loss of link equity.

• Previously “invisible” authority now strengthens .com pages.

6. Structural SEO Enhancements

Problem before:

• The site lacked breadcrumbs, so search engines couldn’t understand its hierarchy.

• Headings were messy — multiple H1s, skipped levels, and inconsistent use.

• Missing About page weakened EEAT trust signals.

What I did:

• Added breadcrumb navigation to show content hierarchy.

• Reorganized heading structure (H1–H3) for clarity, accessibility, and SEO semantics.

• Added a dedicated About page to improve brand trust, entity clarity, and “real business” signals for Google.

Result:

• Better user navigation and search crawler comprehension.

• Improved page relevance and EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authority, Trustworthiness).

7. Technical SEO + Crawl Fixes

Problem before:

• Google reported “Crawled – not indexed” issues for blog and service pages.

• Redirect loops and duplicate content caused crawl inefficiencies.

What I did:

• Eliminated all duplicate URLs.

• Fixed internal links to point directly to the canonical .com versions.

• Ensured sitemap URLs matched final destinations (no redirects inside sitemap).

• Improved heading structure and page load speed, making indexing easier.

Result:

• Googlebot can now crawl and index all valuable pages cleanly.

• Crawl budget is no longer wasted on duplicates.

8. NAP and External Consistency

Problem before:
Social media profiles and citations (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) still pointed to bustem.co.

What I did:

• Updated all external business listings and social profile links to https://bustem.com.

• Ensured consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) and domain across all platforms.

Result:

• Local SEO trust improved.

• Google’s entity understanding of “Bustem” is now unified.

• Users never land on outdated URLs.

9. Structured Data (Schema) Implementation

Problem before:
The site had no schema markup, so Google couldn’t identify key business info (organization, reviews, products, etc.).

What I did:

• Added JSON-LD structured data (Organization, WebSite, WebPage, BreadcrumbList, etc.) to help Google understand the site’s structure and business identity.

Result:

• Increased eligibility for rich results (like star ratings, breadcrumbs, and brand panels).

• Stronger entity association in Google’s Knowledge Graph.

10. UX & Branding Cleanup

Problem before:
Inconsistent redirects and domain confusion made the brand feel unreliable to users and Google.

What I did:

• Standardized the brand’s online footprint to one canonical domain (bustem.com).

• Fixed SSL trust errors.

• Improved site architecture and navigation consistency.

Result:

• Clean, professional user experience.

• Trust restored across browsers, users, and search engines.

Brand equity consolidated under one clear digital identity.