In this case study, we talk about how we redesigned and redeveloped a website for a internationally recognized brand MyFitnessPal, while maintaining their SEO results and improving their website performance.
MyFitnessPal isn’t just a popular app, it’s a global juggernaut. Founded in 2005, the platform now counts roughly 220-250 million registered users spanning more than 120 countries, logs over 11 million website visits every month, and pulled in about US $310 million in 2023 revenue—making it one of the highest-earning health-and-fitness apps worldwide. Any redesign that risked even a fractional traffic dip could translate into eight-figure losses, which is why protecting their hard-won SEO moat was absolutely critical.
The Challenge
- Massive footprint: 10k+ recipe, article, and video URLs.
- Mission-critical SEO: Any traffic loss would hit ad revenue and subscriptions.
- Aging codebase: Monolithic theme, render-blocking scripts, unused CSS.
- Global audience: Performance had to improve equally in NA, EU, and APAC.
Our Strategy
- SEO-First Replatforming
- Full crawl & redirect matrix (301s, canonicals, hreflang preservation).
- Pre-launch test site in “noindex” mode; side-by-side rank monitoring.
- Component-Driven Front-End
- Vanilla WordPress implementation with Elementor Pro.
- Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) for custom post types and custom fields.
- Perf & Infrastructure
- Cloudflare APO + edge caching rules; Brotli, HTTP/2 push, stale-while-revalidate.
- Front-end improvements to meet performance goals without impacting the user experience.
- Content & Schema Upgrades
- Structured data (
HowTo,Recipe,FAQ) auto-generated via Advanced Custom Fields. - Author, nutrition, and review metadata resurfaced for richer SERP snippets.
- Structured data (
- Launch Playbook
- “Change freeze” for 14 days; daily rank & vitals audit.
- Monitoring SEO and performance results to ensure everything is working properly post launch.
Results
- Site-wide Core Web Vitals pass-rate jumped from 22% to 96%.
- Google organic traffic held steady despite a full rebuild.
- Pagespeed Insights mobile score improved from 3 to 81% on mobile.
What the Client Said
Partnering with Clio Websites at Ness and now MyFitnessPal has been awesome. We recently worked with them to relaunch the MyFitnessPal blog. Working with Nat and Clip made the entire process not just seamless but genuinely enjoyable. They demonstrated an exceptional understanding of WordPress, harnessing its full potential to transform our blog into a dynamic and user-friendly platform.
They played a pivotal role in updating backend and frontend performance to ensure optimal functionality and speed. Throughout the entire process, Clio Websites maintained clear communication and project management, keeping us informed every step of the way. Deadlines were met with precision, and any unforeseen challenges were met with proactive solutions, demonstrating their dedication to client satisfaction.
I give Clio Websites a 10/10 and highly recommend them for all of your WordPress and website needs! – Editorial Director, MyFitnessPal
Key Takeaways
- Redesigns don’t have to tank rankings when migration is SEO-led.
- Core Web Vitals gains translate directly into engagement and ad revenue.
- A great solution future-proofs marketing teams for rapid iteration.
Why Clio Websites
Ready to modernize without losing momentum? Let’s put your worries to rest.
Don’t gamble with hard-earned traffic, book your audit today and watch your site fly.