Improving Search and Funnel Performance for Education Platform

Background

BuildUncapped provides courses, resources, and application support for founders aiming to get into top startup accelerators. The product was strong and the content library was growing, but search performance needed to reflect that quality.

Build Uncapped partnered with Captiva to strengthen its search foundation, improve its content performance, and create a digital marketing framework that could scale with demand.

1. Unfocused Strategy

Existing content was valuable but broad. Articles didn’t align with the exact terms or questions founders were searching, such as:

• “YC application examples”
• “Techstars interview prep”
• “How to write a one-liner”
• “How to explain traction to investors”

High-intent queries weren’t mapped to dedicated pages, leaving Build Uncapped buried behind generic search results.

2. Weak Page Hierarchy

Many articles were long and narrative-heavy, making it difficult for search engines to understand:

• Page purpose
• Key takeaways
• Expertise signals
• How content connected across the site

Internal linking was inconsistent and there wasn’t a clear hub-and-spoke model around core business topics.

3. Limited Funnel Alignment

The site didn’t guide users toward the course in a structured way. Traffic landed on strong content but didn’t translate into predictable conversions because:

• CTAs were inconsistent
• Course messaging was hard to find
• Navigation didn’t match how founders naturally seek information
• Product pages weren’t reinforced by surrounding educational content

Our Approach

Search-Focused Content Mapping

We rebuilt the content strategy around a keyword and intent analysis that revealed the highest-value queries in the accelerator space. From this, we created:

• Accelerator “pillar pages” (YC, Techstars, NEO, SPC)
• Focused how-to guides aligned with specific founder pain points
• Structured templates and examples for application components
• Comparison content covering accelerators, acceptance criteria, and timelines

This created a clear, targeted content ecosystem built around real search demand.

Technical & On-Page Optimization

We strengthened the site’s search performance by:

• Improving header hierarchy and on-page structure
• Adding descriptive subheadings and summaries
• Implementing internal links that tied content clusters together
• Increasing page load speed and reducing unnecessary scripts
• Updating metadata, FAQs, and schema where relevant

This made pages easier for search engines to interpret and easier for users to skim.

Digital Marketing Enhancements

To improve conversions, we introduced several improvements:

• Clearer CTAs throughout informational content
• Simplified product messaging on the course page
• Consistent “Get Started” and “See Examples” pathways
• Refined navigation focused on the founder journey
• Better placement of social proof from admitted founders

This created a smoother path from discovery → education → enrollment.

Takeaway

This client didn’t need gimmicks — they needed a structured, search-aligned content system and a clearer digital funnel. By focusing on foundational optimization, clean content architecture, and stronger marketing pathways, we turned their website into a reliable acquisition engine.

Search became their most predictable channel — driving qualified traffic, supporting course enrollment, and reinforcing authority in the accelerator education space.