8x Traffic in 1 Week

Posted by on Friday, April 22, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

In the in-box this morning:

Just happened to pull up the Google Analytics today. Katie’s redesign has moved the traffic up by a factor of about 8x . Not bad for her first week.

Congrats !

The reason? Strategic content tweaks.

 

This client is building a niche-audience television network using “over-the-top” technology (“OTT”). This is cool because the content is piped online and directly to televisions. Probably the coolest thing—for full disclosure—is that this client is my father, and, this is our first time working together.

 

I’m going to share the content “tweaks” I did the past week for these results. The important thing to note is that the content itself is virtually unchanged. The traffic came from selective changes to the content’s organization and presentation.

8x the traffic in one week = sweet.

I promised not to share confidential numbers, but take a peek at one metric:

Last week: 1.8 pages/visit
This week: 3.3 pages/visit (83% increase)

 

Content tweaks

RVNewsNet.com is still a work-in-progress. However, here are the “secrets” that got us this far in a week.

  • Update Site Layout
  • Simplify Categories
  • Add Tags
  • Write Stronger Headlines

 

Update Site Layout

Don’t bury your content! Last week the site used a template that kept visitors three clicks from any show content. It also had pitifully small graphics—not so great for a visual medium!

Before:

RVNewsNet - Before (click to enlarge)

After:

RVNewsNet - After (click to enlarge)

This layout showcases stills from the shows immediately. A visitor can watch the video with just one click. The images are bigger, too.

 

Simplify Categories

You need to establish a leader when it comes to web content. Do this by constructing an easy-to-understand hierarchy. Organization matters. At RVNewsNet.com I condensed 30+ categories into much tighter organization. This helps a visitor navigate more easily.

 

Add Tags

There were so many categories because the team members updating the site confused categories with tags. Try fewer categories, more tags. Establish an editorial guide for contributors.

Leverage these tags by adding “related posts” plug-ins and a tag cloud. A tag cloud has the additional navigation benefit, too.

 

Write Stronger Headlines

Turn headlines like this:

NASA creates rv that runs on chicken fat

to:

NASA RV Powered by Chicken Fat

Note the following changes:

  • it’s shorter – great for readers who are scanning
  • selective caps put emphasis on keywords
  • keyword “RV” is closer to the beginning
  • …I’d like to believe this headline is more interesting, too.

 

Primary Content Didn’t Change

The video content and the blog content itself did not change. Rather, it was providing a more structured and organized approach that lead to significantly increased traffic — in other words, content strategy.

Now, if only Dad had hired me first! ;-)

© Katie McCaskey LLC
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“Katie McCaskey offers content marketing services and strategy to businesses of all sizes. Learn to make the most of your web content at www.katiemccaskey.com“

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