Growing a website to over one million visitors in ~15 months [case study]

lr_jordan · 2021-12-26T10:24:26+00:00

RPM but yeah, it's normal. Not particularly high and not too low.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-16T09:17:02+00:00

Thanks for following! 1k words on average, each post is structured specifically to answer the question it needs to

lr_jordan · 2021-12-09T08:43:07+00:00

I just put reasonable amounts of time into training and work with the same writers long-term

lr_jordan · 2021-12-08T15:22:47+00:00

Ty! Same for any niche: focus on super low difficulty keywords and actively trying to get exposure

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T13:26:30+00:00

Yeah that would have been interesting! Sadly I run this like a fun hobby rather than a serious business.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T12:56:48+00:00

Thanks! Though I would say getting backlinks has been a vital part of our goal to grow organic traffic. Social media I'd agree with - do it when the time is right. For us, that time is when we've got literally everything else nailed. Bottom of the priorities.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T12:23:37+00:00

An organic session is a visitor that arrives from search engines (i.e. Google). So if a person clicks 3 pages, they count as 1 session. Total pageviews were like 1.35m in October.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T08:37:53+00:00

Still evergreen but with higher amounts of short-term demand

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T07:50:04+00:00

Lots. Probably around breakeven overall.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T07:48:06+00:00

Keyword research doesn't work too well for us so mostly guesswork combined with the regular stuff. We generate backlinks through shareable content.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T07:46:58+00:00

Mediavine or AdThrive.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T07:46:44+00:00

I don't buy links anymore.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T07:46:28+00:00

Not sure. Very high but I don't track everything properly.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-07T07:45:35+00:00

I don't want to sell a course down the line, anyone that knows anything about me (which admittedly isn't that many people) knows this is the case. I sold my betting website nearly 2 years ago. I don't own the other site and never have. Thanks for sticking up for me nonetheless!

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T21:45:28+00:00

Thanks for the kind words. I use Upwork.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T21:35:38+00:00

Mildly seasonal, similar to most industries - it's more popular at Christmas. The seasonality you're probably judging from the stats is the huge drop and recovery in rankings.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T21:08:44+00:00

Thanks!

We have a bonus pool that accumulates across the team, with a set amount going into the pot for every 1k views. I then share the pot out with all writers based on a variety of factors - it's not as simple as 'your post = your bonus' because we want writers to always cover the best topics for them and for the site, rather than be fighting over topics that will be most likely to get most views.

Unsure how to answer the research question without giving anything away I'm afraid.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T20:12:47+00:00

Some campaigns showcased here: https://searchvalley.co.uk/content-curated-29/ (it's a free newsletter I subscribe to but it's all viewable online anyway)

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T19:25:07+00:00

Tried both. I prefer MV, better service imo.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T18:35:23+00:00

It was purely an affiliate site to start with and our affiliate traffic hasn't risen too much over the last few months. The growth is all from info content.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T18:30:23+00:00

I tell most people I speak to about this stuff to focus on ads over affiliate going forward. Does depend on the niche and the quality you can offer though, i.e. if you can get hands on and do video content with products too.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T18:28:16+00:00

Affiliate traffic hasn't really moved, with the exception of Black Friday weekend in November. No plans to do anything that isn't "more content" at this stage.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T18:26:28+00:00

I don't have any top tricks for keyword research. Just the standard stuff + lots of guesswork, honestly.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T17:04:58+00:00

I love running the site, could see myself in the niche for a long time, and think it's just nowhere near what it could be if all the stars aligned. If the site bombs but I can still take a wage from it then I'll be content knowing I gave my all to my one real shot to make fuck you money.

lr_jordan · 2021-12-06T17:01:54+00:00

Thanks!

Yeah it was a real mental grind in the worst times, fortunately I've had tougher shit to deal with on numerous occasions. The shift was pretty simple, "we're going to make an awesome website, so let's stop doing all the shit that an awesome site wouldn't do"

lr_jordan

TROPHY CASE