- Project: Online Ticket Sales Website Design, SEO & Booking System In Short Notice
- Sector: Seasonal events, Local Business
- Client: Ovens Pumpkin Patch
- Target Audience: Families in Cork, Ireland
The website was launched under severe time constraints. The focus was to meet ticket sales demand within a very short seasonal window. No automation could have replaced the human decision-making required. Priorities were chosen carefully under deadline pressure.
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- Built on WordPress with a Kadence template.
- No schema and no internal linking at launch.
- Technical SEO managed with RankMath defaults.
- Two backlinks from agriculture event sites and one from a local news site.
- No directory listings or citations due to lack of time.
- Competition for target queries was low in Cork.
- Exact-match domain aligned with the main keyword. A brandable domain will be migrated later.
- Keyword research was carried out using Google Keyword Planner for accuracy.
- Focus on commercial keywords only. No “what is” blog type traffic that can collapse when AI overviews appear.
- Exact-match domain aligned with the main keyword. A brandable domain will be migrated later
- Keyword research carried out using Google Keyword Planner for accuracy
- Focus on commercial keywords only, not “what is” style blogs that often collapse when AI overviews appear
Commercial Goal
The target was 1–2k ticket sales through SEO and social media. Channel attribution will be documented in later updates.
Planned Reporting
- Dated progress updates will be added.
- Ticket sales by channel will be tracked and reported.
Progress Timeline
| Date / Day | Milestone | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Launch and index request | Sitemap submitted in Google Search Console. |
| Day 12 | Page one visibility | Ranking appeared on page two for core local queries. |
| Day 28 | Early performance | 124 clicks, 1.61k impressions, 7.7% CTR. |
| Day 30 | Peak position | No.2 for “pumpkin patch cork”. Cited in ChatGPT. |
| Ongoing | Updates planned | Dated updates and attribution will be added. |
What We Did Before Day 30
- Mapped queries for local and nearby areas in minutes.
- Set titles and meta descriptions on key pages within one hour.
- Added some FAQs for long-tail search intent. This needs a phase two review.
- Submitted URLs for instant indexing.
- Shared live links across social media channels.
Results
- No.2 for “pumpkin patch cork” in under 30 days.
- Appeared in AI results from ChatGPT and Gemini.
- Good query row counting with 65+ ranking queries secured within one month.
- Top terms: pumpkin patch cork, pumpkin picking cork, pumpkins cork.
Why It Worked
- Exact-match domain aligned with the main keyword (preferred brandable but seasonal timeline was too short)
- Lower competition in the local market
- Titles matched search intent and were fast to deploy
- Seasonal demand created rapid query growth
- Core entity optimisation in place: About page, Contact page, Privacy Policy, Booking Policy, Google Maps and Bing setup
- Used RankMath instant indexing for Google and Bing
- Verified with both Google and Bing webmaster tools
- Basic Google Business Profile optimisation and synced with Bing Places
- Clean site structure and user-friendly journey with quick crawl cycles
- Canva visuals filled gaps due to limited images
- Three free local backlinks delivered more impact than paid guest posts
Expert Opinion: New Domains and Ranking Reality
New domains often struggle for up to a year. Older domains usually benefit from stronger trust and crawl history. Many new sites suffer from slow PageRank growth, especially in strict sectors such as medical or legal.
Google can also misinterpret domain names for page rank. Some appear thin or irrelevant to algorithms, making progress slow. Anchor text, entity association, and link velocity all affect outcomes. In most cases, new domains perform poorly for long periods.
This case is different. The exact-match domain, low competition, and seasonal demand gave the site an edge. Strong titles, clear business info, user experience, and basic SEO fundamentals created fast traction. Sometimes a new domain can rank quickly, but predicting which ones succeed is very difficult.
AI Search Visibility
The site appeared in ChatGPT and Gemini for pumpkin patch queries. Clear entities, concise copy, and local terms made the page suitable for conversational AI systems. A local media listicle that cited the client was crawled by ChatGPT, which then moved the site higher in AI recommendations. Fresh and relevant content in external sources had a direct impact.
Bing Places was still pending approval, which limited visibility in some ChatGPT outputs. Gemini ranked the site in first position during AI mode queries.
Key Observation: Listicle freshness matters. After a Cork media outlet published an updated “Top Spooky Pumpkin Patches in Cork” list, ChatGPT began citing it immediately and placed the client at the top of its recommendations.
See below, AI search before 30 days;
After 30 days, we secured two valuable media links. Within a day, the client was placed higher in AI search results for the same query.
See below after the 30 days:
Important note: Was very interesting after the 30 days, we followed the a local news sites on social media. They then added the client to there updated listicle “Top Spooky Pumpkin Patches In Cork” with the client at the top. One day later ChatGPT crawled this new article for its recommendations for the same search and moved the client to the top of the list. The new artilce was linked most vendors for Chatgpt reasoning.
This shows freshness of listicle articles can play a big factor. Dont forget this artiocle was also relevant.
Also worth noting is bing places, sometimes ChatGPT will list bing places. Unfortunately Bing was pending approval so wasnt live at the time.
Gemini ranked no.1 in AI mode.
Known Gaps at Launch
- No schema implemented.
- No internal linking between pages.
- No local citations or event directories.
- Limited backlinks at launch.
- Content not optimised for nearby searches.
- Content not structured for conversational parsing &NLP
Keyword Research Process
Seasonality was critical. Interest dates were selected carefully in Google Keyword Planner. Third-party tools lacked accuracy. Google’s data provided the most reliable intent signals for tickets.
- See SEMRUSH data below:
- See ahrefs data below (one good hint of lead value here is the keyword with cpc)
Update: Phase Two Optimisation (After 30 Days – 8/9/2025)
- Added LocalBusiness and Organisation schema (RankMath applied them separately per page)
- Optimised the About page for stronger authority.
- Expanded copy to target nearby locations such as Ovens and Ballincollig.
- Added internal links for brand terms.
- Acquired free links from Cork blogs and media sites. One listicle reached No.1 and drove AI visibility.
- Targeted long-tail keywords around pumpkin picking.
- Implemented GA4 tracking and ticket attribution for SEO and social.
- Started organic social campaigns for wider reach.
Key Takeaways for Site Owners & Marketers
- Map titles to search intent and act quickly.
- Use exact-match domains only when pressed for time. Brandable domains perform better long-term and with the growing importance of Brand SEO.
- Expect slow progress in YMYL and high-trust industries such as medical, education, legal etc.
- Apply schema, internal linking, and local signals for stability.
- Maintain visibility across both Google, Bing and AI-driven search engines.
- Get the fundamentals right — SEO and AI search rely on the same core principles
Need Support
If you need fast traction for a new site, our team can help. We create structured SEO and AI search roadmaps and track the metrics that matter.