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The importance of SEO in organic rankings is being realized by companies all around. This has prompted companies to use well-crafted SEO strategies to drive traffic, increase conversion rates, and boost brand awareness; however, one dilemma that many companies face early on is whether to focus more on PPC or SEO. In other words, choosing between paid and organic results.
The general consensus on the matter is that PPC, or paid online marketing, will always provide instant results, whereas, SEO strategies will take time and nothing can be guaranteed. The truth, however, is far more complicated.
In a nutshell, if you want a successful website, you should go all-in with your SEO efforts. You can always run paid ads for more impressions, quicker conversions (if you have a product-based service, for example), and better awareness, but when it comes to generating long-term, sustainable, and scalable results, investing in proper SEO strategies is a no-brainer.
In this article, we’ll take a look at 7 creative SEO strategies that produced stellar (and impactful) results for different businesses and service models.
Let’s jump right in.
What Are SEO Strategies and Why Do They Work?
An SEO strategy is the process of planning, organizing, and utilizing several steps to improve organic rankings in SERPs. The steps include several on-page and off-page optimization techniques. One of the most common is batch planning for content creation, and promoting it effectively.
The most important aspect of SEO, one that holds the most value, is links. Internal links are links you insert throughout your website to link to other relevant pages or content. Backlinks are when external sites link to your website as a reference. Links are undoubtedly one of the biggest contributors to ranking higher up in search engine results.
An effective SEO strategy will usually consist of creating entire plans of:
- Content creation – writing high-level content focused on search intent, targeting keywords with decent keyword traffic and low competition, etc.
- Organic link-building strategies – strategic guest posting, PR & outreach, thorough content distribution, etc.
- Technical website optimization – increasing page speed, submitting a site map, optimizing (compressing) images, fixing broken links, etc.
Furthermore, SEO strategies also account for specific ways to drive more qualified traffic, generate more targeted leads, increase conversions, and much more.
All of these efforts coupled together create a powerful user-intent-based experience for visitors. And since Google loves ranking websites that focus on user experience, SEO strategies always provide positive organic output. Just make sure to steer clear of any black hat SEO tactics or risk being penalized by Google.
5 Top SEO Strategies with Outstanding Results
Talking about how great SEO strategies are doesn’t do much good.
Therefore, here’s a collection of SEO strategies by leading companies, agencies, and consultants that provided superb results.
1. 200% Boost in ProFlowers’ Organic Traffic by Siege Media
ProFlowers is an online flower delivery and gift service. The e-commerce store specializes in potted plants, fresh-cut flowers, and mixed bouquets.
Siege Media is a content marketing agency that specializes in search engine optimization, and they started working with ProFlowers in 2015.
The Challenge/Problem
Up until 2015, ProFlowers was just another brand with limited organic reach. The organic traffic to their website was inconsistent and their blog wasn’t doing well, either.
This is mostly because they were developing in-house content focused on gift tips and guides. While that works, there was still a lot of room for improvement – the blog needed to be niche-specific and comprehensive.
What They Did
Siege Media started by changing up ProFlowers’ design to make the site and blog more attractive. They then revitalized their content strategy to include shareable mid-funnel content, while also adding search-driven, bottom-funnel content.
Search-driven content tends to increase traffic and overall conversions, while shareable content builds links.
Siege used in-house photography and created custom assets for posts, making the posts more linkable and shareable across Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
Videos were created to generate thousands of views and to show in video snippets.
The Results
Over the years, ProFlowers saw a 200% increase in their site’s organic traffic. On the other hand, their blog saw a 532% increase in organic traffic.
More than 1,150 referring domains were generated. On average, each piece of content drove 10,000 monthly visitors, while the average monthly traffic value for blog posts came out at approximately $7,000.
2. 221% Increase in Dream Cottages’ Organic Traffic by Assertive Media
Dream Cottages is a holiday cottage agency with over 300 properties. It was acquired by Sykes Cottages and are spread over much of South West England.
Assertive Media is a UK-based digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO, PPC, social media marketing, and conversion optimization.
The Challenge/Problem
Dream Cottages had an outdated website and no clear SEO strategy. A website audit revealed that the site was poorly optimized for mobile – it had a clunky menu and poor page-level engagement.
The challenge was to deliver a rejuvenated website and a complete SEO strategy within a limited budget.
What They Did
Assertive decided to use existing user data along with new behavioral data to develop a customer strategy. The idea was to use this data to create a user-friendly website design at first, then focus on SEO efforts.
The agency first designed and built an entirely new mobile-first website. Based on extensive data, the intuitive site was designed based on user intent and friendliness, subsequently streamlining the user journey and improving engagement
They also integrated new functionality by adding features like image browsing, enhanced short-listing, and dynamic review feeds.
Then, they created new content for the website for all the pages, while also deploying resources into jumpstarting the company’s blog. The content was structured, incorporated LSI keywords, and met the readability standards of the target audience.
Finally, the SEO strategy was deployed in full force – it included a lot of technical SEO and constant site optimization.
The Results
By the first 6 months, Dream Cottages saw a 110% increase in their organic traffic. After 18 months, that number increased to 221%.
Additionally, the bounce rate was reduced by 41%, which inadvertently increased lead gen and conversion rates.
3. 1,500% Increase in WhiteSands Treatment Center’s Brand Searches by Over the Top SEO
WhiteSands Treatment Center is a residential rehabilitation treatment provider based in Florida. They were mostly relying on expensive PPC campaigns to drive traffic.
Over the Top SEO is one of the most renowned SEO firms in the industry, recognized by major publications like Forbes, The New York Times, and Entrepreneur, among others.
The Challenge/Problem
Google has a very specific way of dealing with rehabilitation centers: They curate search results to reduce the amount of lead generation and affiliate websites shown in organic results.
As a result, there’s a lot of competition, especially because this shifts government sites to the top of the results.
Due to this, WhiteSands relied on expensive PPC campaigns, as that was the only way to get to the top of the SERPS, according to them.
What They Did
OTTSEO developed a detail SEO strategy and laid down a plan. The goal was to rank in the top 3 on Maps and organic results in Tampa, Florida.
The idea was to not only go for local SEO but to cover a significant part of Florida.
They chose keywords like drug rehab and optimized WhiteSands’ website for them.
An effective on-page strategy was made which included user-intent-based content. The blog was populated with relevant topics and was properly optimized and promoted.
OTTSEO also optimized the landing page, working on the design, loading speed, and overall SEO.
The nail in the coffin was a comprehensive link-building campaign – OTTSEO built links from major medical and drug-related website, essentially driving all relevant traffic towards the WhiteSands website.
The Results
WhiteSands saw a massive influx of leads – the SEO leads alone brought in over $60 million.
Before it all, organic brand searches were around 80 people per month, on average. After optimization, that number increased to 1,200 people per month, on average – a staggering 1,500% increase.
The website was in the top 3 results on all 50 locations in both organic and maps results.
This ultimately increased the direct location traffic by almost 50%, and month-to-month phone call leads by 75%.
4. 2,400% Increase in Collette’s First Page Rankings by Titan Growth
Collette is a unique travel business dating back to over 100 years – they provide guided travel experiences world-wide, specializing in thrill-seeking adventures.
Titan Growth is a renowned SEO and Paid Media firm. The San Diego-based agency specializes in using a mix of PPC and SEO strategies to boost revenue and profits.
The Challenge/Problem
While Collette is a relatively well-known company, they were still not getting the reach they wanted online. Therefore, they wanted to expand their online reach in existing and new markets.
Collette wanted to reach potential customers through a purely organic presence. After getting leads, the idea was to use paid campaigns and go all the way.
However, the ideal way to go about it was to make use of both organic and paid efforts.
What They Did
Titan Growth recognized this opportunity and deployed a simultaneous campaign.
For organic outreach, Titan focused on on-page and technical SEO. The idea was to drive international traffic, since travel businesses can’t be limited to local SEO.
Using several SEO tactics like href-lang tags and site structure optimization, Titan boosted Collette’s international organic ranking.
Meanwhile, a well-structured content strategy was deployed so they could tap into various markets. The blog included topics that addressed what potential customers searched for, while also providing other user-intent based content, such as, explaining visa-related processes.
For paid search reach, existing paid campaigns were restructured to work in unison with their organic efforts.
Extensive demographic research helped target more appropriate leads, while the campaigns also expanded into new markets.
The Results
Within 6 months, Collette saw a massive spike in organic growth across multiple markets.
The first page rankings in the UK market increased by a whopping 2,500%, whch, of course, meant more traffic and conversions.
The Australian, US, and Canadian markets received a 2,400% increase in organic growth.
Other than that, the paid search efforts resulted in a 45% decrease in cost per acquisition, while engagement metrics like click-through rate (CTR) increased significantly.
5. 575% Increase in Northshore University HealthSystem’s Organic Traffic by Rise Interactive
NorthShore University HealthSystem specializes in providing a complete healthcare solution. It employs more than 10,000 people, including over 900 primary and specialty care physicians.
Rise Interactive is a digital marketing agency specializing in SEO. It is now an award-winning agency based in Chicago, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City.
The Challenge/Problem
NorthShore wasn’t getting the traffic it wanted. They wanted to increase their brand awareness, as well as, their visibility. Additionally, they wanted more people to know about their services and their patients. Since the healthcare market in the US is very competitive, it was hard to get on the first SERP for relevant keywords.
What They Did
Rise Interactive has a dedicated SEO Quick Win strategy that they employed. They started by identifying potential first-page content on NorthShore’s website. They then analyzed whether the content, metadata, and design could be tweaked to provide better results and more traffic.
Considering that, they first began with on-site meta data optimization. For all of the content, Rise tweaked the title tag, meta descriptions, and URL slugs. This helped NorthShore get better rankings for targeted keywords, while better meta descriptions resulted in more clicks.
Additionally, Rise focused on creating new content. Through keyword research, they identified potential topics that would interest customers, created new content on it all, and optimized it.
The SEO firm aso changed the page layouts by rearranging the headings, adding loads of internal links, and ultimately, making it more visually appealing.
Rise understood that a lot of healthcare providers tend to ignore proper content, so they took advantage of it and based the entire campaign around it.
The Results
Within one month, NorthShore started showing up on the first SERP for all major targeted keywords.
Furthermore, they saw a 575% increase in organic traffic and a 101% increase in page visits.
Meanwhile, the increased ranking and traffic subsequently boosted clicks and leads.
6. 452% Increase in Introhive’s Organic Traffic by TopRank Marketing
Introhive is an AI-powered SaaS platform that specializes in data structuring and relationship-building. It helps increase employee productivity, revenue, and helps improve the customer experience.
TopRank Marketing is a B2B digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and influencer marketing.
The Challenge/Problem
Out of all the traffic Introhive received, only 11% was organic. It was lacking in the search engine result pages and didn’t have as many search impressions as they wanted. They wanted to increase awareness on their CRM data automation and relationship intelligence solutions, and wanted to reach more industries.
What They Did
TopRank saw a huge opportunity in increasing the organic ranking of the website. They started with extensive SEO research so they could also properly execute strategies for social media, content, and influencer marketing.
It began with keyword research, SEO audits, and competitor analyses. They highlighted content gaps, page-one ranking opportunities, and high-priority pages. Using this information, they developed a monthly blog content plan, a link-building strategy, on-page optimization tasks, and technical SEO checklists.
After developing an entire SEO strategy, TopRank continued with its efforts, monitoring the results, as well as, tweaking and optimizing for further success.
They had an ongoing SEO and analytics research process along with a set monthly content creation plan. They made use of creative design services and influencer nurturing to develop better relationships. Finallyl, they used social media and employee advocacy program management to engage with audiences, and promote the content and any events that may come up.
The Results
In two years, Introhive’s organic traffic increased by 452%. Additionally, 46% of all traffic to the website is now organic traffic – a 318% increase.
There was also a 155% increase in the site’s average session duration, as well as, a 16.5% reduction in bounce rate. Not only that, 17% more pages were clicked on during any given session.
The organic search impressions increased by a massive 704%. The first page ranking increased by 110%, resulting in an 89% increase in clicks from organic search.
7. 155% Increase in Juggle Street’s Member Registrations by Arrow Digital
Juggle Street is a platform that connects babysitters and caregivers with people who need them, in other words, it lets people find babysitters fast and efficiently.
Arrow Digital is a full-suite digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO and SEM across several industries.
The Challenge/Problem
Juggle Street wanted to move on from being a neighborhood business, and wanted to become a household name. They wanted to make the idea of their platform common and something that parents seek out, rather than be marketed to. Additionally, they wanted a significant increase in member registrations and better social media reach.
What They Did
Arrow Digital started by focusing on brand awareness and lead acquisition. Arrow developed a large SEO campaign with over 100 keywords so they could target all suburban and metropolitan areas for a long time.
Arrow focused on one specific thing, electronic word of mouth. Since parents tend to share their experiences on social media and the internet, that was their secret weapon to bolster Juggle’s awareness.
With that in mind, Arrow Digital made efforts to grow Juggle’s social media community through constant photo advertising, video, and slideshows on Facebook.
After the SEO campaign, they launched a PPC campaign to further increase their visibility in the SERPs.
The Results
After 5 months, there was a 155% increase in member registrations on Juggle Street.
The social media reach on Facebook increased by 3 times, and drew more than 14,000 users to Juggle’s website, reducing the cost per conversion from $30 to $17.
There was also a 10% increase in the registration conversion rate with the cost per conversion going below $20.
Juggle’s page one ranking was doubled, and they enjoyed a 220% increase in total website sessions.
Creating an SEO Strategy that Lasts
In the past few years, a lot of misconceptions have surfaced and been rectified. People used to talk about how keyword research is only for marketers. Nowadays, everyone mentions keywords first – whether you’re writing copy, blogs, making ads, or doing SEO.
Every company is now trying to find the perfect SEO strategy that lasts. Truth is, there is no perfect SEO strategy and ‘one size’ never fits everyone.
Every company’s goals, objectives, and processes are different. And SEO strategies need to be customized according to those different variables.
Once you understand all the factors, you can develop an SEO strategy that works. However, you’ll have to repeat the process again and again.
In the end, it’s the unique SEO strategies that stand out and provide outstanding results.