Consulting a Consultancy firm that visited my university - covelent

This case was developed during my Master's programme at Warwick Business School, as part of the 'Introduction to Consulting' module, when Covelent's CEO engaged our cohort to provide strategic recommendations for improving and growing the business.

Introduction

When “covelent” or “covelent consulting” is searched on Google, the company does not appear in any of the initial search pages (See Figure 13, Figure 14 in Appendix). Moreover, Google gives the result - “These are results for covalent”, meaning the results relate to Covalent, and not Covelent (See Figure 14 in Appendix), likely because Google assumed it was a spelling-error as it interprets user input and offers results despite typo (Hallam, 2017). Unless we type "covelent.com" directly in browser, the website does not show up in results. This is a major issue, as only 22% of website visits come from direct traffic, such as typing URLs or using bookmarks. (Guha, 2024). 

Furthermore, 70% of users prefer organic google search, with 60% of them choosing one of the top three listings (Ziakis et al., 2019). Moreover, 54% of business leaders use platforms like Google to search for terms such as "consulting firms" to find consulting firms (Consultancy.uk, 2017). If Covelent is hard to find online, it is missing out on opportunities.

This report applies the 4S framework (Garrette et al., p. 42) to define the problem, using hypothesis tree to structure it and develop a strategy for enhancing Covelent’s digital branding, and online visibility.

Figure 1: 4S Framework. (Garrette et al. 2018, p. 42)

Problem Structuring Using the 4S Framework

To structure the problem effectively, the 4S Framework (State, Structure, Solve, and Sell) will be applied to diagnose and address Covelent’s digital visibility challenges. In the State phase, the core issue is defined. The Structure phase breaks the problem into specific hypotheses. The Solve phase identifies targeted solutions to the problems. Finally, the Sell phase presents tangible, evidence-based recommendations.

2.1 State – Identifying the Problem

Consultancy.uk’s survey reported - 65% of businesses use firm's website content, 62% refer to online publications of consulting firms, 57% visit firm's website, and 54% use search engines to find a consulting firm (See Figure 2). Hence, Covelent’s weak digital presence significantly undermines its ability to attract potential clients, impacting its growth and brand positioning. To compete in the consulting industry, where trust and expertise are paramount, Covelent must enhance its digital footprint or risk diminishing its market relevance.

Figure 2: Consultancy.uk How clients find consulting firm [online]

Structure – Breaking Down the Problem Using a Hypothesis

To analyse Covelent’s visibility problem, this report will focus on a hypothesis, which will form the basis of the issue tree.

Hypothesis: Covelent’s weak digital presence is limiting client acquisition and brand credibility.

From this hypothesis, the issue tree is constructed (See Figure 3) using problem areas: SEO deficiencies, weak social media engagement, which are key factors that affect website rankings (Ziakis et al., 2019), and lack of thought leadership, as 62% of businesses use online publications from consulting firms to find them (Consultancy.uk, 2017). 

Figure 3:  Issue Tree – made using  https://miro.com/  [online]

SEO Deficiency

Research shows that page load time is a key in SEO factor (Ziakis et al., 2019), with ideal website load-time being 0-2 seconds (Sematext, 2025). Since Covelent has a page load time of 0.7 seconds (See Figure 4), this factor can be excluded from the analysis.

Figure 4: Covelent Load Time   [online]

The backlinks, or references from other websites pointing to company’s website, is one of the most critical factors that impacts website ranking, as Google’s algorithm assesses website's importance based on references from other sites pointing to it (Ziakis et al., 2019). Furthermore, according to Google, backlinks contribute up to 80% of a website’s ranking (Roche, 2022). Covelent’s backlink profile reveals a critical flaw, majority of its most popular backlinks originate from spam links such as Weebly (See Figure 6) and other dubious-harmful websites (See Figure 7) (See Figure 16,17,18 in Appendix), resulting in low search rankings, less traffic, and a damaged reputation (Ahmad, 2024). Additionally, its Domain Authority, which indicates how well a website is likely to rank on search engine result pages (Akhtar, 2020), remains critically low at 17 (See Figure 5). A domain authority score of above 40 is considered good, while a score above 60 is regarded excellent (Stewart, 2024). This suggests that most of Covelent’s backlinks are low-quality and appear untrustworthy to search engines (Moz, 2019), which can be tracked back to the fact that its most popular backlinks are from dubious sites. A strong backlink strategy requires high-authority external websites, such as Forbes, linking to Covelent, signaling relevance and trustworthiness to search algorithms (Quinton, et al., 2009).

Figure 5: Covelent Backlinks [online]

Figure 6: Covelent Popular Backlinks [online]

Figure 7: Covelent’s most popular Backlinks [online]

Lack of Thought Leadership

Covelent’s lack of thought leadership is another barrier to its visibility and reputation. While the firm produces valuable content, such as its well-written article on due diligence (Covelent, 2025), the firm’s contents are not optimized for search engine visibility due to lack of external backlinks in its articles and no promotion beyond its own website. This hampers SEO performance and prevents the content from reaching a wider, more targeted audience as backlinks play a critical role in determining a blog’s visibility on the internet (Agarwal, 2024). Lastly, Covelent has very limited articles which limits its opportunities to consistently showcase its expertise and engage a broader audience on the internet.

Weak Social Media Engagement

Covelent’s weak social media presence also limits its ability to connect with potential clients and professionals. For instance, Covelent suffers with similar searchability issues in LinkedIn (See Figure 8). This indicates that LinkedIn’s algorithm is unable to recognize or link to Covelent’s official page, directing users to a misspelled version instead. Consequently, Covelent’s company page is not easily discoverable, reducing the firm’s visibility on a platform widely used by professionals for networking and brand-building.

Moreover, even when the company page is found, Covelent suffers from minimal engagement on LinkedIn. The firm posts infrequently and has little to no community engagement with its posts (Covelent-LinkedIn, 2025), which prevents Covelent from building relationships with potential clients and professionals. This struggle with searchability and engagement underscores a broader weakness in Covelent’s social media strategy, which hampers its digital outreach and overall business development efforts.

Figure 8: Covelent LinkedIn Search [online]

Solve – Strategic Recommendations to Enhance Digital Visibility

Addressing Covelent’s digital challenges requires a targeted approach focused on improving SEO, strengthening thought leadership, revamping social media engagement, and enhancing digital marketing. The following actions are recommended to drive measurable improvements in online presence and brand positioning.

Improving SEO Performance

Firstly, to address Covelent’s critically low Domain Authority, the first step is to manually reach out to webmasters of the harmful domains and request the removal of the backlinks (Starr, 2024). In cases where removal is unsuccessful, Covelent should utilise Google’s Disavow Tool to indicate which backlinks should be excluded from influencing rankings (Google, 2025). However, removing poor backlinks is only part of the solution. To improve domain authority, Covelent should simultaneously develop a high-quality backlink acquisition strategy, targeting relevant authoritative websites such as Consultancy.uk.

Strengthening Thought Leadership

Secondly, thought leadership is critical for brand positioning; research shows that 62% of businesses use online publications from consulting firms to evaluate their expertise (Consultancy.uk, 2017). Covelent should engage in knowledge-sharing activities on high-authority platforms like Consulting Magazine, publish guest articles, and host webinars on niche topics like “AI in M&A Due Diligence”, attracting potential clients while improving Covelent’s digital footprint (Zoom, 2024).

Reengineering Social Media Presence

Lastly, Covelent's limited engagement on LinkedIn restricts its professional reach. To improve discoverability with potential clients, a strategic overhaul is needed. This involves optimizing the 'About' section with more relevant keywords and details, consistently publishing SEO-focused long-form articles to establish thought leadership and boost search rankings, and maintaining frequent updates to signal activity and value to both LinkedIn's algorithm and external search engines (Dell, 2022). Additionally, Covelent should implement targeted SEM campaigns such as Google Ads to amplify its reach, increase visibility across digital channels, and enhance lead generation and client acquisition.

Sell

Overall, Covelent’s limited digital visibility presents a threat to its growth and client acquisition. The proposed digital transformation strategy directly addresses the firm’s SEO deficiencies, lack of thought leadership, and weak social engagement. Firstly, strengthening Covelent’s backlinks profile can significantly improve its search rankings as quality backlinks can increase web traffic by up to 97% (Della-Denunzio, 2025). Simultaneously, investing in thought leadership through guest articles and webinars will position Covelent as an authoritative voice, influencing decision-makers early in the sales funnel as 62% of businesses assess firms based on their online content (Consultancy.uk, 2017). Additionally, optimizing LinkedIn will boost client engagement and lead conversion (Sharma, et al., 2021) and SEM campaigns offer measurable ROI, with each dollar in Google Ads typically yielding $2 in revenue (Marino, 2023). A great strategy firm deserves great visibility and hence, Covelent must invest in its digital presence—not just to be seen, but to be chosen.

Appendix

Figure 13. Google search – “covelent”

Figure 14. Google search – “covelent consulting”

Figure 15: Google search - “covelent” to “covalent”

Figure 16: Covelent Backlink - 1

Figure 17:Covelent Backlink - 2

Figure 18: Covelent Backlink - 3

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