The Challenge
Our client is a leading manufacturer and distributor of a natural resources product.
When this client came to us for help, their website was not optimized
for search engines so their website was not appearing at the top of
Google for relevant search terms. In fact, when we began our work, the
client had zero first-page Google rankings for any of their priority keywords.
For their #1 top-priority keyword, our client was ranking 63 in Google
(that's page 7). In other words, they were nowhere to be found in
Google!
If this sounds familiar, then you may be feeling overwhelmed or even
helpless by how far you have to climb to get to the first page of
Google. It's at times like this when it's important to remember the
famous Chinese proverb, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a
single step."
I guarantee if you do nothing, then you'll never reach the coveted first
page of Google. But if you take action, even the smallest action, then
you'll start to pick up the necessary momentum to propel you forward.
Let's take a look at some of the small steps we took with our client that got them moving in the right direction...
The 5 Small Steps We Took
The first small step was a website audit.
We audited the website to identify all of the specific issues that were
preventing the website from ranking high in the search engines. Based
on that audit, we created a custom search engine optimization plan...
The second step was keyword research.
We conducted research to identify the specific terms that prospective
customers would use to find our client’s products when searching in
Google.
The third step was to edit the website
based on our keyword research. For example, we documented edits to the
page Titles, Headers, Meta Descriptions, and some of the page copy to
make it more relevant to the target keywords. Then, since our client had
its own web development team, our client’s web developers implemented
the website edits that we had documented.
The fourth step was to get some inbound links
(links from other website pointing to your website). Inbound links are a
major factor in search engine rankings so we dedicated a lot of
resources towards building new links to the website. We submitted the
client to relevant business directories, and we conducted research and
outreach to request links from relevant websites. As a result, the
client attracted new links to their website, and this helped improve
rankings.
Finally, the fifth step was to create more pages
on the website to increase the chances that our client would rank for
relevant keywords. We researched topics for informational articles that
would form a “Knowledge Center” on the client’s website. We then drafted
the articles for the client’s approval, and the client’s web developers
added the articles to the client’s website.
As you can see, this was fairly straight forward and none of the steps are too daunting.
Now for the best part... Let's look at the results...
The Results
As I mentioned above, when we began our work, the client had zero
first-page Google Rankings for any of the priority keywords that we were
tracking. For the top-priority keyword, the client’s ranking was #63 in
Google.
Today, the client has 10 first-page Google Rankings for priority
keywords. For their top-priority keyword, the client’s website currently
ranks #2 in Google!
Below is a graph of our client's Organic Search Traffic (SEO Traffic)
and conversions from July 2015 to March 2017. As you can see, they had
231 visits from search engines in July 2015. Then in March 2017, they
had 843, which is an increase of 265%! Conversions (visitors contacting
our client about their products) increased as well from only about 3-4
per month to now 10-18 per month.
