From Google Penalty to 3,371% ROI: How We Recovered JerseyGram’s E-Commerce Empire

Overview

JerseyGram is Nigeria’s premier destination for authentic football club jerseys, national team kits, basketball jerseys, and custom sportswear. In 2021, the company faced an existential crisis when Google hit them with a manual penalty following a devastating Japanese malware attack and toxic backlink bombardment.

With organic traffic, their lifeline, completely throttled and sales plummeting, JerseyGram needed more than just a quick fix. They needed a complete digital resurrection.

CLIENT

INDUSTRY

JerseyGram

E-Commerce • Sports Retail

CATEGORY

YEAR

Web Dev

2021

Through strategic penalty recovery, comprehensive technical restructuring, and conversion-focused redesign, we transformed JerseyGram from penalised to profitable in just 4 weeks, delivering a 3,371% ROI that continues to compound years later.

What We Did

We kicked off with an intensive 72-hour audit and security overhaul. With security restored, we launched our systematic penalty removal strategy: Timeline: Manual penalty lifted within 4 weeks. Whilst the penalty was under review, we rebuilt JerseyGram from the ground up, beyond technical fixes, we built a content foundation for sustainable growth. 

Our Approach

01 | Emergency Diagnosis & Security Restoration

We kicked off with an intensive 72-hour audit and security overhaul:

What We Discovered

  •   3,847 infected files from Japanese malware injection
  •   12 backdoor entry points allowing continued reinfection
  •   15,847 toxic backlinks from gambling, pharmaceutical, and adult sites
  •   Zero mobile optimisation despite 68% mobile traffic
  •   Flat site architecture with no proper category hierarchy
  •   Duplicate content across 40% of product pages

Immediate Actions

  •   Isolated and removed all malware code
  •   Sealed security vulnerabilities and hardened server configuration
  •   Implemented 24/7 security monitoring
  •   Changed all access credentials
  •   Set up automated malware scanning

02 | Strategic Penalty Recovery

With security restored, we launched our systematic penalty removal strategy:

Backlink Audit & Disavowal

  •   Analysed 15,847 toxic backlinks across 2,400+ referring domains
  •   Created comprehensive disavowal file covering 92% of harmful links
  •   Submitted detailed reconsideration request to Google
  •   Documented all remediation efforts with evidence

Domain Migration Strategy

  •   Conducted comprehensive 301 redirect mapping
  •   Migrated from jerseygramm.com to jerseygram.com
  •   Preserved link equity whilst distancing from penalty history
  •   Monitored crawl errors and fixed redirect chains

Timeline: Manual penalty lifted within 4 weeks.

03 | Complete Site Restructure & Redesign

Whilst the penalty was under review, we rebuilt JerseyGram from the ground up:

Information Architecture Overhaul

  •   Created 50+ primary product categories aligned with search demand
  •   Built comprehensive subcategories for Club Jerseys, National Teams, Basketball, Women’s, Kids’, Retro, Tracksuits, and Custom categories
  •   Designed intuitive navigation reducing clicks-to-purchase from 4.2 to 1.8
  •   Implemented faceted search for team, player, size, and season

Technical SEO Foundation

  •   Optimised Core Web Vitals (LCP: 4.8s → 1.2s)
  •   Implemented schema markup for products, reviews, and breadcrumbs
  •   Created XML sitemaps for efficient crawling
  •   Built internal linking strategy distributing authority to money pages
  •   Optimised image delivery with lazy loading and WebP format

On-Page Optimisation

  •   Rewrote 340+ product descriptions with target keywords
  •   Created unique meta titles and descriptions for all pages
  •   Optimised heading structure (H1-H6) across site
  •   Implemented FAQ sections on category pages
  •   Added trust signals (secure checkout, authentic guarantees, customer reviews)

 

Conversion Optimisation

  •   Redesigned product pages with high-quality imagery
  •   Simplified checkout process (5 steps → 3 steps)
  •   Added size guides and jersey customisation previews
  •   Implemented exit-intent popups with discount offers
  •   Optimised mobile experience for thumb-friendly navigation

04 | Content & SEO Strategy

Beyond technical fixes, we built a content foundation for sustainable growth:

Keyword Targeting

  •   Identified 280+ high-intent keywords across club and national team jerseys
  •   Created content briefs for category pages targeting ‘buy [team] jersey Nigeria’
  •   Optimised for long-tail searches like ‘authentic Manchester United jersey Lagos’
  •   Built location-specific landing pages

Content Development

  •   Created buying guides (How to Spot Fake Jerseys, Jersey Size Guides)
  •   Built blog covering football news and jersey releases
  • Developed comparison pages (Home vs Away Kits, Player Editions)

Manual penalty lifted within 4 weeks

Manual penalty lifted within 4 weeks

Organic search remains #1 revenue channel 2 years later and the site Continued ranking dominance across thousands of football jersey keywords (2 Years Post-Launch)

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JerseyGram is Nigeria’s premier destination for authentic football club jerseys, national team kits, basketball jerseys, and custom sportswear. In 2021, the company faced an existential crisis when Google hit them with a manual penalty following a devastating Japanese malware attack and toxic backlink bombardment.

With organic traffic, their lifeline, completely throttled and sales plummeting, JerseyGram needed more than just a quick fix. They needed a complete digital resurrection.