7 Ways to Boost Your Traffic with

SEO and Content Marketing

By Colin Pang

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy to help

your website rank highly on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)

Good SEO = Good Organic Search Results

Paid Ads

Good SEO helps you rank high on Organic Search

Results

What a typical Search Engine Result Page (SERP) looks like:

Organic Search Results

Your Organic Search Results Matter

Source: http://www.advancedwebranking.com/ctrstudy/

Google Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR) History Mar 2015

Top ranked organic search results à High click-through rate (CTR)

For example, 200, 000 people search for “men’s watches”

Position #1 on desktop search, you get 25.84% X 200,000 = 51, 680 visitors

CTR: 25.84%

Your Organic Search Results Matter

Source: http://www.advancedwebranking.com/ctrstudy/

Google Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR) History Mar 2015

CTR: 2.85%

CTR dramatically drops for lower ranked search engine results à Low web traffic

Position #6 to #10 on desktop search, you get 10 times lesser traffic: 5700 visitors

That’s why SEO is important

Source: http://www.advancedwebranking.com/ctrstudy/

Google Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR) History Mar 2015

With excellent SEO practices… you can achieve 10X more traffic

CTR: 25.84% CTR:

2.85%

SEO Karate by Happy Marketer

On the other hand, what is

Source: http://www.advancedwebranking.com/ctrstudy/

Content Marketing

What is Content Marketing?

Content Marketing is a digital marketing strategy that entails the creation and

distribution of relevant, valuable, unique and consistent content to

acquire and retain customers.

Why is Content Marketing Important?

Brand Awareness

Web Traffic

User Engagement

Generate/Nurture Leads

SEO & Content Marketing Work Hand-in-Hand

SEO Content Marketing

#1

Identify the right

Keywords

#1 - KEYWORDS

Find the keywords that people search for when they are looking for something related to your brand or product offering, and ensure that your

website is optimized with such keywords.

#1 - KEYWORDS Some free ways to identify keywords

#1 - KEYWORDS Google AdWords Keyword Planner

Google’s FREE Keyword Planner tool lets you find new keywords based on many criteria that include

•  Product Category •  Targeting (location, language, search

channel, negative keywords) •  Date Range

#1 - KEYWORDS

Google AdWords Keyword Planner Identify keywords to target based on •  Average monthly searches •  Competition

Google AdWords Keyword Planner

#1 - KEYWORDS

Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels > Organic Traffic and you will see Primary Dimension as “keywords”

Track your current site with Google Analytics

Review the top organic keywords that are driving traffic to your website.

Optimize well-performing keywords (based on traffic, low bounce rate, high average session duration) to rank higher in search

#1 - KEYWORDS

Use Google Trends as a complement to AdWords Keyword Planner. You can compare the level of interest among potential target phrases and customize it based on various filters •  Geography •  Time Duration •  Categories •  Search Type Allows you to see any upward or downward trend and plan what prospective keywords to target accordingly.

#2 Understand the cumulative power of

Long-Tail Keywords

#2 Long-tail Keywords What are they?

•  Longer and more specific keyword phrases •  Often less competitive to rank •  Often draws better quality traffic & higher

conversion rates

Long-Tail Keywords

#2 Long-tail Keywords Why it makes sense to target long-tail keywords

#2 Long-tail Keywords Why it makes sense to target long-tail keywords

#2 Long-tail Keywords Some ways to find long-tail keywords

Google Autocomplete

#3 Optimize your

Website Architecture & Technical Issues

#3 Architecture & Technical Issues

Even if you have the best content on your site, if your site is structured in a way that

search engines cannot crawl and find your content, you won’t appear on search results.

#3 Architecture & Technical Issues •  URL Structure

Ensure it is easy for users and search engines to understand Good Practices •  Use words in URL •  Straightforward •  Meaningful •  Simple directory structure •  Try to include the keyword you are targeting in the URL structure •  Try to match URLs to titles

#3 Architecture & Technical Issues •  URL Structure

Ensure it is easy for users and search engines to understand

Bad Examples to Avoid •  Use dynamic parameters (www.example.com/asd?id=123) •  Too long (www.example.com/this-is-a-terribly-long-example-of-a-url-structure.html) •  Too many folders (www.example.com/region/country/destination/route/flight.html)

#3 Architecture & Technical Issues •  Create Sitemaps

One for users

One for search engine Create a XML sitemap so that search engines can easily navigate your site and hence, show your site in search results. *VERY IMPORTANT FOR SEO*

Create a simple sitemap page that shows a hierarchical listing of pages on your site for visitors to see.

#3 Architecture & Technical Issues •  Is your site mobile-optimized?

“More than half of searches on Google

(100 billion monthly searches) now happen on mobile”

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/8/9480779/google-search-mobile-vs-desktop-2015

Amit Singhal Google’s Senior VP of Search, October 2015

#3 Architecture & Technical Issues •  Best practices for mobile-optimization

RESPONSIVE DESIGN

#3 Architecture & Technical Issues •  Best practices for mobile-optimization

•  Don’t block CSS, JavaScript •  Legible font sizes •  Use HTML5 and avoid plugins, especially Flash or Java •  Titles and Meta descriptions should be short and sweet •  Optimize for local search

#3 Architecture & Technical Issues

Fast, free way to check if your site is mobile-friendly or not https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

#3 Architecture & Technical Issues

Lots more await you in the technical world of SEO i.e. canonicalization, 301 redirects, robot.txt, etc

For more in-depth information and how-to-dos,

check out these resources: •  Moz Technical Site Audit Checklist •  Google’s SEO Starter Guide

#4 Create and Distribute

Compelling Content

#4 Compelling Content

Use the A-I-D-A

approach

#4 Compelling Content

Awareness Interest Desire Action

Awareness Interest Desire Action

#4 Compelling Content

Ensure that your audience is aware of you by being on all the platforms they are on: •  Search Engines •  SEO-Optimized Website and Blog

•  Social media channels •  Unified marketing strategy across channels

to ensure that you are on the top-of-mind

#4 Compelling Content

Awareness Interest Desire Action

Stir up interest and cause them to click on the content shared on the various channels

•  Identify WHO is your target audience •  Create different customer personas based on

their demographics and interests •  Appeal to them with catchy headlines •  Surprise •  Questions •  Curiosity •  Negatives •  How-to

#4 Compelling Content

Awareness Interest Desire Action

*KILLER TIP* Headline Analyzer http://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer Write awesome headlines for blog posts and email subject lines to drive social shares, traffic and SEO value.

#4 Compelling Content

Awareness Interest Desire Action

Generate desire among users to make them take action (e.g. follow your site, purchase product) •  Offer quality content •  Inspiration •  Empathy •  Utility

•  Produce content on a consistent basis •  Make it interactive, i.e. infographics, video •  Testimonials

Awareness Interest Desire Action

#4 Compelling Content

Get them to take action (i.e. follow, share, sign up, purchase) •  Visible follow & share buttons •  Good landing page optimization •  Master the art of the call-to-action

•  Copywriting •  Positioning on page •  Imagery pairing and Visual elements

•  Do A/B testing

#4 Compelling Content

Two killer content marketing strategies are shared in the later slides

#6 Newsjacking #7 Skyscraper Technique

#5

Blog Regularly

#5 Blog

Marketers who prioritized blogging are

13X more likely to achieve positive ROI

Source: HubSpot State of Inbound, 2014

#5 Blog

Long-Term Impact

Source: HubSpot

#5 Blog

Don’t forget to

Guest Blog

#5 Blog

Benefits of Guest Blogging

1. Establish Yourself as an Industry Authority

2. Increase Exposure and Traffic to your website

3. Build Backlinks to your website, that further boost your SEO performance

#6

Newsjacking

#6 Newsjacking

“Newsjacking is the process of injecting your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real-time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself or your business.”

#6 Newsjacking

#6 Newsjacking

Keep abreast with the latest news

•  Identify what type of news you want to newsjack •  Set up Google Alerts •  Follow real-time industry news or experts on social

media, especially Twitter, Facebook and YouTube •  Subscribe to RSS feeds

#6 Newsjacking Killer Tip: Google Alerts

www.google.com/alerts

#6 Newsjacking

And when an opportunity arises,

•  Speed is key •  Create relevant content around the news, but with a

unique twist that draws interest •  Be careful about controversial topics

#6 Newsjacking

Best combined with social media Case Study: Oreo News Opportunity: 8.32pm, Feb 3th 2015 Power blackout at Super Bowl XLVII Game

Real-time Newsjacking Oreo’s Twitter account tweeted this at 8.48pm

Viral Response Tweeted 10,000 times within one hour à  Dominated mind share of customers à  Boosted brand reputation à  Positive effect on web traffic

Skyscraper

technique

#7

Note: The Skyscraper technique was originally coined up by Brian Dean of BACKLINKO fame and has since gained popularity http://backlinko.com/skyscraper-technique

What is the Skyscraper Technique?

Find content that’s proven to perform well in your niche, i.e. “the tallest skyscraper”

and slap 20 stories to the top of it.

#7 Skyscraper Technique

Step 1: Find link-worthy

content

Step 3: Reach out to

the right people

Step 2: Make the content

better

http://backlinko.com/skyscraper-technique

#7 Skyscraper Technique

Step 1: Find link-worthy

content

Link-worthy content is content that other websites will want to link to because it’s valuable and relevant. In other words, find content that is proven to be so awesome that many people are linking to it.

Free Tools:

•  Moz Open Site Explorer https://moz.com/researchtools/ose/ •  Topsy http://topsy.com/ •  Buzzsumo http://www.buzzsumo.com

#7 Skyscraper Technique Open Site Explorer (https://moz.com/researchtools/ose/)

Type in a website that generates many links from their content

Make sure to select “Top Pages”

#7 Skyscraper Technique Open Site Explorer (https://moz.com/researchtools/ose/)

Look for content with at least 25 linking root domains

#7 Skyscraper Technique

Step 1: Find link-worthy

content

Buzzsumo (www.buzzsumo.com)

You can select the type of content

Type in any keyword to quickly find any content in any industry

#7 Skyscraper Technique

Details •  Longer lists •  More in-depth information •  Well-researched case studies

Up-to-Date •  Spruce it up with the latest information

Design •  More visually appealing •  Images and Infographics

Step 2: Make the content

better

“Creating epic content is the key in getting outstanding results from the Skyscraper technique”

#7 Skyscraper Technique

•  Develop a list of RIGHT prospects •  in the same niche •  interested in your content topic •  linked an article to that topic

•  Email Outreach •  Craft your pitch/email template and how they can

benefit from linking to your content •  Actively promote

Step 3: Reach out to

the right people

Even if you have epic content, it doesn’t matter unless people read it. The last step is the most important as you need to actively promote your content.

These are just a few of a whole arsenal of digital marketing

techniques…

Author: Colin Pang

http://linkedin.com/in/djpang @djpang

Need help with SEO or content marketing? Write to us at hello@happymarketer.com or visit us at www.happymarketer.com