SEO Case Study: 8 Ways To Increase Search Traffic

If you want to increase your search traffic you need to make improvements to each of the 3 different areas of SEO - technical, content and high quality links.

When you do that, search traffic will grow:

The problem is a lot of people skip over the technical and content part.

So I want to show you how to make improvements to all 3 pillars of SEO including link building to help you gain more favor with Google! Ultimately, all we need to do is give them what they want.

So here are 8 things that you can do to start increasing your websites search traffic right now:

Simple Ways To Increase Your Search Traffic

To enhance the search traffic for your website, it’s crucial to grasp that SEO comprises three fundamental components:

1. Technical SEO: These involve the behind-the-scenes elements of your website, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, and proper indexing by search engines.
2. Content Optimization: High-quality, relevant content is essential. Ensure your website provides valuable information, answers user queries, and engages visitors effectively.
3. Link Building: Establishing authoritative links from other reputable websites to yours can significantly boost your search rankings.

By making targeted improvements in these areas, you’ll witness a noticeable increase in your website’s search traffic.

Let’s delve into each aspect further!

1. Technical Improvements

Technical SEO is the first pillar of SEO and serves as the bedrock for all digital marketers.

Establishing a robust foundation is paramount for achieving success.

Without a solid technical base, investing resources in link-building and content creation becomes futile.

Let me show you two immediate actions you should take to fortify your website’s technical SEO:

Basic SEO Error Checking

It’s astonishing how many people seek my SEO consultation services while harboring numerous fundamental errors on their websites, which account for a whopping 90% of their issues.

Unfortunately, most people underestimate the significant impact that these “basic errors” have on their search rankings.

Thankfully, you’re not part of the majority.

In this lesson, I’ll guide you through swiftly identifying and rectifying these basic errors that hinder your site’s ranking.

Identify Problems With Google Search Console

If you haven’t realized it yet, Google Search Console is your ultimate SEO companion.

Think of it as seeing your website from Google’s perspective.

Let me guide you through using each GSC report to address website problems step by step.

Indexing Section

If your content isn’t indexed, it won’t show up in search results.

As AI-generated content proliferates, getting indexed has become more challenging. Google now carefully evaluates everyone’s content before ranking it.

In GSC, under Indexing, you will see:

• Pages
• Video pages
• Sitemaps

Start by reviewing each report for indexing errors flagged by GSC.

Click on any errors to learn more about them and see which specific pages are impacted.

Note all the issues you find.

Enhancements & Shopping Section

Now, let’s check the shopping and enhancement section. Keep in mind that your setup might differ based on your website’s structure.

There are various reports here, but don’t feel overwhelmed. Click through each report and take note of any errors you come across.

Note: If you don’t see the shopping or enhancements section in GSC due to your site setup, that’s perfectly fine—just leave it be.

Security & Manual Actions Section

Lastly, check the Security & Manual Action Report.

Ideally, you’ll see a green check mark here, indicating no errors.

However, if you encounter a manual penalty, it’s time to seek professional assistance.

Reach out to our Google Penalty Recovery team—they’re experts in navigating these challenging situations.

Recovering from manual Google penalties requires skilled professionals who understand the intricacies and can help restore your organic traffic.

Fix All Identified Problems

This next step is crucial.

Go through all the issues listed in Google Search Console (GSC) and resolve them.

If you’ve already fixed some during the Semrush audit process, simply click “validate fix” for those.

Ensure to validate each and every fix in GSC right after you have made changes. This will help you stay on track and move forward.

Depending on your site, this could take some time. But make sure you get each error sorted out.

Internal Linking Strategy

Internal linking plays a crucial role in search engine optimization.

So now, I’m going to show you how you can enhance your website’s internal linking structure to elevate your rankings.

This strategy offers a valuable quick-win opportunity, so let’s get started!

Why Internal Links Are Important

Internal links grant you control over the flow of both human visitors and search engine bots, allowing you to utilize them in various ways.

Not only that, but a few years ago, Google stated:

This has been confirmed more recently by Google’s John Mueller himself, who went on record to say:

“The context we pick up from internal linking is really important to us… with that kind of anchor text, that text around the links. That’s really important to us.”

In summary: Don’t underestimate the power of internal linking. If it matters to Google, it should matter to you too.

Now, let me show you an example with my “link building services” article, which has several internal links from various pages:

These links utilize the exact anchor text “link building services”, contributing to the page’s top-ranking position on Google for the same term:

This is just one of the ways we can take advantage of internal linking!

Check Your Internal Linking Structure

The good news is that Google Search Console gives you everything you need to build more (and better) internal links.

First, log into GSC, click “Links”, then “Internal Links”.

Now, Click “More” at the bottom. This should give you a list of all your pages and tell you how many internal links they have.

Here is what you want to see:

1. Your website’s home page should have the most internal links.
2. After that, the pages linked in your site’s navigation bar and footer should follow.
3. The pages that generate the most revenue for you should be near the top of this internal linking report.

To clarify further:

Prioritize the pages that bring in the most money by ensuring they receive ample internal links.

As you can see in the screenshot above, we have a problem because the homepage is NOT the most internally linked page.

How To Fix Internal Linking Problems

There are three things I want you to do:

1. Prioritize Homepage: Ensure that your home page receives the most internal links pointing to it.
2. Prioritize Important Pages: Your crucial pages should have more internal links than less important ones. You can achieve this by either adding or removing internal links within your site.
3. Optimize Anchor Text: For existing internal links, aim for as close to 100% exact match anchor text as possible.

For instance, if your page is about “the best blue widgets” and you’re targeting that keyword, use “the best blue widgets” as the anchor text consistently without making it appear unnatural or spammy.

Does that make sense?

Managing this manually could be time-consuming. So let me share a few shortcuts to help you efficiently handle your internal linking profile.

1. Adding New Internal Links

Let’s say you just wanted to add internal links to an existing or a new piece of content about link building.

The first thing you should do is go to Google and use this search operator:

• site:yourdomain.com “target keyword”

This will give you a list of pages that are relevant to your target keyword.

These are the pages you want to add internal links to.

Go through all the pages in the results and try to find natural internal linking opportunities where you can add “exact match” anchor text for your target keyword.

Repeat this process for each of your main pages first.

Don’t forget that when inserting new internal links, you might need to rewrite some text to make it sound more natural and organic.

2. Removing Internal Links

It’s pretty much the same process…

All you have to do is a Google Search using the same search operators:

• “site:yourdomain.com “target keyword”

This will show you all the pages that might have internal links on them.

Remove internal links as needed.

3. Optimising Existing Internal Links

For this process, you’ll need to use Screaming Frog. If you don’t have it already, download Screaming Frog. The free version will let you crawl 500 URLs.

Not bad, right?!

Then, go to Spider > Configuration and Uncheck the option to “Check External Links”.

Then, start a website crawl.

Once it’s done, set the filter to “HTML”. Then, search for the page you want to optimise existing internal links for.

Click on the “Inlinks” tab at the bottom of the page.

Then, click the “From” column.

Ideally, you want to update the anchor text of every existing linking page to use exact match anchor text.

Or, at least, the exact match anchor text within a phrase for example “these link building services” or “this list of link building services”.

But this isn’t always possible.

For example:

Category pages will usually link with the full title of a page.

However, where you can, you should try to get as close to 100% exact match anchor text on your internal links without being spammy.

PRO TIP: Whenever you publish new content, do a quick Google search to find and add relevant internal links to that piece of content.

Now, let’s move on to the easy part…

Go to Google Search Console and request indexing for every page where you’ve made changes while optimizing existing internal links and adding new ones.

Whew! That was quite an effort, but it’s definitely worth it.

2. Quick Content Improvements

Next, let’s shift our attention to the second pillar of SEO: Content

Without content, there’s no traffic, so it’s crucial to treat content with the respect it deserves.

I’ll guide you through keeping your content fresh effortlessly and creating linkable content step by step.

Keeping Content Fresh

Google values aged pages that have been consistently updated over time. This signals that the site is well-maintained and its content can be trusted.

So let me show you the easiest way to update content step by step!

Which Content Should You Update?

Wondering which content you should update? Follow these steps:

1. Create a list of content that hasn’t been updated in the last 6 months.
2. For each piece of content:

• Update the title to make it more relevant.
• Rewrite the opening paragraph to engage readers.
• Add an FAQ section or update existing FAQ questions to address common queries.
• Verify that the existing content is accurate and up-to-date.
• Check images and screenshots to ensure they’re still relevant.
• Confirm that all links are working.

Easy, right?!

Re-Index With Google Search Console

After refreshing a piece of content, make sure to re-index it using Google Search Console.

Remember to do this each time you update content. Typically, it takes 8-72 hours before you see the updates reflected in the search results.

Rinse & Repeat

Keeping our content fresh for Google and visitors is crucial.

Here’s my approach:

Schedule a task or calendar entry to update content every 6 months. This ensures your content stays fresher than your competitors’, maximizing your ranking opportunities.

Remember:

If a piece of content includes an FAQ section, simply update one question with a 40-50 word answer every 6 months. That’s sufficient to maintain its freshness.

Alternatively, consider making it a monthly task to stay ahead of the game.

Creating Linkable Content

While ranking content that drives leads and sales is important, there’s another crucial aspect you should consider.

In this lesson, I’ll guide you on creating content that attracts links from major media publications every day without any cost.

It’s like having link-building on auto-pilot!

What Are Statistics Posts?

Statistics posts are essentially summaries of important data, trends, and statistics related to a specific topic or company.

Statistics posts are usually straightforward to create and rank for. All you need are a few quality links, a well-crafted post, and a couple of custom graphics.

But here’s the exciting part:

Once you reach the top 3 rankings, big media links start coming your way on autopilot!

Why?

Because journalists are constantly seeking statistics to reference in their articles. When they discover a relevant statistic, they cite the source and provide a link back to the site.

Statistics roundups simplify the job for journalists, allowing us to relax while those valuable high-authority links come in automatically.

The key lies in curating excellent stats and writing about relevant topics.

Create A List of Ideas In Your Niche

Generating ideas for statistics posts can be easy. All you have to do is brainstorm a list of relevant topics in your niche, including:

• Tools
• Services
• Providers
• Manufacturers
• Brands
  

And, anything else you can think of that could yield interesting statistics.

But don’t stop there…

Consider exploring hot topics and current news within your niche.

Conduct research to identify what’s currently trending.

We recommend using Google News to find relevant topics that have been covered by multiple news and media outlets.

Ask yourself this question - What specific news frequently breaks on a subject or topic?

These topics are perfect because you already know that journalists are writing about them and looking for data to reference right now.

The key is to make each post specific and focused. Avoid writing generic statistical posts, as they won’t rank well, and journalists won’t link to them.

For example, consider these specific posts that could work:

• Ecommerce Statistics
• Online Gaming Statistics
• Remote Work Statistics
• Gender Pay Statistics
• Mobile Usage Statistics
• Climate Change Statistics
• Mental Health Statistics
• Influencer Marketing Statistics
• Diabetes Statistics
• Fentanyl Statistics
• Crime Statistics
  

When brainstorming statistics topics, remember that the sky is the limit. Just ensure they are relevant to your niche.

You could also focus on:

• BRAND Statistics (e.g., Facebook Statistics)
• PRODUCT Statistics (e.g., iWatch Statistics)
• SERVICE Statistics (e.g., Zoom Statistics)

And don’t forget to consider location-specific ideas:

• US Lottery Statistics
• Arizona Car Crime Statistics
• United Kingdom Health Care Statistics

Get creative, brainstorm ideas, and create the ones that are most likely to gain media coverage in your niche!

3. Simple Link Building Strategies

Link building is the final pillar of SEO that deserves your attention, and it’s often the most challenging.

If you’re seeking assistance with link building, consider companies like LinksThatRank, which specializes in creating high-quality, relevant backlinks across various niches.

On top of that, you can explore these other recommended guest posting services if you find yourself stuck on the link-building aspect.

The Easiest Link Building Strategy

Truth be told: Link building is a demanding task.

Even with top-notch strategies, it requires significant time, effort, and skill to see results.

That’s why many website and business owners opt to outsource link building to reputable services. This way, you can focus on running your business while SEO professionals handle your links.

Which link-building service should you choose? We recommend LinksThatRank.

They have a strong reputation for building high-quality links that genuinely boost your rankings in the search engine results.

Here’s what sets them apart:

• They follow a 23-point quality control checklist to ensure you receive effective links.
• Carefully select target anchor text to avoid triggering penalties.
• By default, they provide 1,000 words of content per placement.
• Enhance placements with internal and external links for a natural appearance.
• Maintain a strict blacklist of sites with “write for us” pages and known guest post farms and PBN networks.
• They’ve even developed their own link-building tool to identify toxic backlinks.

In a nutshell: You’ll receive higher-quality links.

Here’s a recent example of one of their client case studies:

LinksThatRank stands out as one of the premier link-building services globally.

If you’re committed to boosting your SEO traffic but lack the time for link building, let LinksThatRank handle it for you.

Link Building For New Sites

If your website is new and struggling with low traffic, prioritize acquiring links from authoritative sites with a Domain Rating (DR) of 35 or higher, particularly for your homepage.

By doing so, you’ll enhance your site’s credibility and visibility in the eyes of search engines. Over time, this strategy will contribute to better rankings for specific search terms related to your content.

In other words, early focus on building links from strong sites will accelerate your website’s growth and facilitate attracting visitors in the future.

Link Building For Established Sites

If your website has a Domain Rating (DR) of 20 or higher and is already attracting good organic traffic, consider focusing on building links to specific inner pages.

Utilize tutorials like this to find opportunities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1I1RANUV18

By following this approach, you’ll enhance the visibility and authority of those specific pages, ultimately improving their rankings in search results. Leverage your site’s existing success to drive targeted traffic to these key areas.

In summary, use this tutorial to strengthen your established site’s link profile and maintain a competitive edge.

Simple Resource Link Building

Resource page link building is yet another link-building strategy that follows the traditional pipeline -

1. Find a page we want a link from
2. Find contact details
3. Negotiate the link

This is actually a very effective strategy in terms of ROI per link; it’s our 3rd most effective link-building strategy in that respect.

BUT:

It doesn’t scale and the opportunities are limited in any given niche.

What Is Resource Page Link Building?

Resource page link building is getting yourself featured on a website's “resource” page on their site.

These resource pages often contain information about the best:

• Products
• Services
• Tools
• Research
• Statistics
• Guides
  

In any given niche. You simply pitch the website owner to feature your statistics post. If they accept, you get a backlink to your site.

The reason this works so well for statistics posts is because people love stats! It’s a win for the website owners and for their audience.

Step #1 – Find Resource Pages

This is actually pretty easy.

We are going to use a simple Google search to help find existing resource pages in your niche.

Just do a search like this -

• [Your niche] + “resources”

This will bring up many of the websites in your niche and the resource pages attached to them.

Many of the world’s top travel blogs showed up in the first four results and as you work down the page, you can find lots of travel resource pages from smaller blogs as well.

Just work your way through the search results and collect a list of relevant resource pages you want to be featured on.

Step #2 – Find Their Contact Details

This is the same process as the last lesson. You should be doing this in your sleep by now -

• FindThatLead
• Hunter

Record all of the contact emails you find

Step #3 – Send The Email

Now it’s time to pitch!

It’s important to avoid being pushy and forceful. Remember, you’re looking for the site owner to do you a favour and they’ll only do that for someone they like.

It should feel like you have something valuable that helps them and their audience.

Just edit and delete information to make it sound more like you!

Hey [First Name],

I’ve been researching [topic] for a while now and I felt pretty stuck until I found your resource page. Learning about [topic] from the link on there really helped me do [desired outcome].

Since you helped me so much I’d love to offer something in return. I’ve [written] an article about the latest [statistics topic] and I think it would be a great help to your audience and a good addition to your resources page!

I’ve also attached a handy image that you might like -

[Your link]

Keep up the great work, and I really look forward to reading more of your stuff.

Have a great day,

[Your name]

And as always:

Don’t forget to schedule your follow-up emails!

It’s often the second or third email that will get a response-

In terms of ROI, this link-building strategy provides solid results. It’s our 3rd best performer.

It’s a great way to lock in a few quick links to your new post! Follow this process every single time you create a statistics post!

Wrapping It Up

Remember that SEO success results from a combination of efforts in technical optimization, content creation, and link building.

Implement the steps I’ve shared with you on your own website as soon as possible. It would be fantastic to see more results like this:

And don’t forget:

If you need help with link building, rely on the team at LinksThatRank! They take the hard work out of link building, allowing you to focus on more critical tasks.

If you’re not quite ready for link building yet, consider taking the 100% free 28 Day SEO Challenge to further enhance your site’s performance.