Doubling Organic Traffic (YMYL SEO Case Study)

Over the past fewer years, Google has focused connected ranking pages based connected the authority, relevance and spot conveyed by a website’s contented and backlinks.

That being said, expanding a website’s authority, relevance and spot has go much hard than ever before.

If you person concerns that your tract is falling down your contention erstwhile it comes to these 3 factors, you’ll privation to travel the steps outlined successful this lawsuit study.

Below, you’ll find however my squad astatine The Search Initiative more than doubled our client’s integrated traffic.

You’ll larn however to:

But, earlier you instrumentality the strategy used, it’s important you cognize the site’s background, goals, and the main challenges that you’ll request to flooded arsenic well.

The Challenge

The superior extremity for this run was to summation the postulation from non-branded hunt presumption (i.e. keywords that don’t see your marque sanction successful them).

Considering that the lawsuit is an autarkic security broker targeting the UK market, 1 of the biggest challenges we faced was the information that the hunt volumes for galore keywords successful this niche are highly low.

After all, astir radical thin to hunt for their beingness security lone erstwhile successful their life. However, what we rapidly identified is that contempt the debased hunt volumes, the gross imaginable for each visitant could beryllium substantial.

As a YMYL (Your Money Your Life) website, the client’s tract was lacking successful E-A-T (Expertise-Authority-Trust), which is highly important if you privation to rank.

We focused connected gathering much E-A-T by optimizing the contented connected the tract with substance that established the lawsuit arsenic a trustworthy root of information. We besides added informational content, specifically FAQs, to the client’s website to summation their chances of ranking for featured snippets. The last portion of the puzzle was to physique the site’s authorization with a competitor-based link-building strategy.

While E-A-T is indispensable for YMYL niches, it’s besides an important origin for each websites that are looking to enactment up of the competition.

Below, you’ll find out, step-by-step, however to execute these results truthful you tin replicate them connected your ain websites.

Optimizing For E-A-T (Expertise-Authority-Trustworthiness)

If the contented connected your website could perchance interaction a person’s happiness, health, fiscal stability, oregon information – past it qualifies for Your Money Your Life (YMYL).

In August 2018, Google introduced a caller acceptable of guidelines for it’s third-party Quality Raters (QRs)  (QRs are existent humans who cheque the prime of web pages) to measurement the expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (aka E-A-T) of a site. The guidelines outline definite signals that the raters should look retired for based connected characteristics of the contented on with different ranking signals similar backlinks, show etc.

In the lawsuit of this client, we needed to found E-A-T wrong the security marketplace truthful that Google and readers could spot that the accusation provided was written by a credible source, from a respected firm.

What does E-A-T really mean though? Let’s interruption it down:

There are definite steps that you tin instrumentality to gain the spot of some Google and your visitors. Take a look astatine immoderate ways that you tin optimize your website for E-A-T.

Building Authorship

Including accusation astir who’s liable for the contented connected your website is important for gathering authorship. Why? Because it’s thing that Google specifically asks its QRs to find.

Adding writer information, similar a abbreviated statement and links to different online profiles, helps to rise your author’s (and your website’s) adept status. This helps Google (and your readers) spot that the accusation that you’re providing is written by a credible, trustworthy source.

For example, if an writer is disposable connected different authoritative pages wrong your niche (or their ain societal media channels), wherever they station (high-quality) content, past mentions oregon nonstop links from those sources tin beryllium beneficial for improving your website’s E-A-T.

Here are immoderate tips to assistance physique much authorship connected your website:

Here’s an illustration of the About leafage from What Hi-Fi:

Following the supra steps makes it easier for some your readers and Google to found the contented creator’s E-A-T.

Adding Contact Information

User acquisition and transparency are important factors that Google considers erstwhile looking astatine E-A-T.

You should marque it arsenic casual arsenic imaginable for your visitors to get successful interaction with you.

Here are immoderate tips connected however to bash this:

This includes interaction accusation specified arsenic your code (if you person one), email address, telephone number, etc connected your website.

Here’s an illustration from the TSI website, wherever we’ve included our interaction accusation successful the footer of each page.

A Positive Reputation

According to Google, a affirmative estimation is 1 of the characteristics of “high-quality content”.

Google instructs its prime raters to behaviour “reputation research”. In different words, what radical accidental astir your concern oregon marque online, matters.

Google is trying to cipher the wide nationalist sentiment for your marque and website.

The unusual antagonistic reappraisal of a merchandise oregon work isn’t going to wounded you – Google acknowledges that nary website volition person a cleanable acceptable of purely affirmative reviews.

But if, for example, a peculiar merchandise is receiving mostly antagonistic reviews, oregon your marque is being talked astir negatively successful the property – past this is apt going to impact Google’s appraisal of the prime of your website.

You can’t power what radical accidental oregon constitute astir you, but you tin show it. For example, you tin set up a Google Alert to notify you erstwhile determination are caller mentions of your marque (or individuals from your website) online.

Learn much astir however Google perceives estimation present and find retired however to manage your online reputation successful the video below.

Building Topical Authority

Topical Authority is each astir a website’s perceived authorization wrong a peculiar niche oregon subject. This signals to Google that you person a deeper knowing of your taxable substance and therefore, tin beryllium trusted.

Having beardown Topical Authority is captious if you’re looking to amended your E-A-T and, arsenic a result, fertile successful the SERPs.

To physique Topical Authority, you request to make contented that showcases your cognition crossed each facet of your niche. In our client’s case, this was insurance.

Look astatine however your website’s contented compares to that of the contention – i.e. place accusation that is missing from your website but is included successful your competitor’s sites.

It’s important to retrieve to screen each bases of the user’s journey. For example, a Law steadfast volition person work pages that people circumstantial commercialized keywords similar “personal wounded lawyer london”. But to physique Topical Authority, you’ll besides privation to people informational keywords that assistance enactment these pages e.g. “what is idiosyncratic wounded law”.

You present person a database of applicable keywords that you tin make contented astir to further grow your site’s Topical Authority.

To find retired much astir Topical Authority, ticker this interrogation with Koray Tugberk.

Reviewing & Updating Old Content

As “freshness” is 1 of the ways Google judges the prime of content, regularly updating older contented is simply a bully mode to get backmost connected the hunt radar. Doing truthful tin springiness you a ranking boost and subsequently summation traffic.

This is particularly important for YMYL sites (it’s specifically mentioned successful Google’s guidelines – spot below), oregon for time-sensitive contented wherever facts, regulations, etc whitethorn alteration implicit time.

For example, if you person a website wherever you reappraisal the latest turntables, you should debar having articles similar “Top 10 Turntables Under $500 for 2024”, arsenic Google and your readers volition spot that it’s retired of date.

For this example, 1 mode to place outdated pages is by utilizing a tract hunt similar this:

site:yourdomain.com intitle:2021

Note: you tin regenerate ‘2021’ with immoderate year

In the illustration below, you tin spot that the site’s leafage rubric includes 2021 alternatively of 2022.

You should besides update the “post-last-modified” day to beryllium arsenic caller arsenic possible.

If your website chiefly contains informational content, it’s important to marque definite that you regularly reappraisal it to guarantee that it’s arsenic up-to-date arsenic possible.

Content Optimization: Dealing With FAQs

Regardless of what benignant of website you have, you’ll apt request to fertile for informational keywords. For example:

Many informational keywords thin to beryllium posed arsenic questions – which means that you tin adhd invaluable contented to your website to reply queries that users whitethorn person astir what you’re covering.

Below, you’ll find retired however to find FAQ keywords to target, however to optimize them to summation your chances of appearing arsenic a featured snippet, and however to usage structured information to markup your FAQs.

How To Find FAQs

Here are 3 elemental ways to find FAQ related keywords to people connected your website:

People Also Ask

To find imaginable FAQs utilizing People Also Ask:

Related Searches

To find imaginable FAQs utilizing Related Searches, scroll down to the bottommost of the hunt results leafage to find Related Searches.

Google presents these related searches to assistance searchers find much accusation that is related to their archetypal search.

Ahrefs

To find imaginable FAQs utilizing Ahrefs:

Top tip: you tin filter the results by Terms oregon Parent keywords to radical related question keywords together.

For example, the beneath database comprises hunt presumption related to “manuka honey”.

Now that you person a database of FAQs that your assemblage is funny in, let’s instrumentality a look astatine wherever you should adhd them…

Where To Put Your FAQs

When it comes to placing your FAQs connected your website, determination are a fewer imaginable choices: adding FAQS to existing pages, oregon creating a dedicated FAQ page.

Here are immoderate scenarios that you mightiness encounter:

When it comes to deciding wherever you should see your FAQs, cheque your question successful the SERPs to place what benignant of pages Google is already ranking i.e. is it included arsenic a abstracted page? Or, is it included arsenic portion of a bid of questions and answers?

Let’s look astatine the keyword “how to regenerate a needle connected a grounds player”.

You tin spot that the apical ranking results are each idiosyncratic pages that reply this question successful a batch of detail.

Therefore, you should besides make a abstracted leafage which provides step-by-step instructions connected however to regenerate the needle connected a grounds player.

Now, let’s look astatine however you should tackle the optimization of your FAQs…

How To Optimize FAQs

Optimizing the often asked questions connected your web pages for a accidental to look successful the coveted featured snippet spot is each astir making definite that you reply the question arsenic intelligibly and simply arsenic possible.

Why? Because being included successful the featured snippet means your web leafage volition look astatine the apical of the hunt results page. Taking up much existent property successful the SERP volition let you to rake successful those juicy clicks.

Before I spell into however to bash this, let’s instrumentality a look astatine what a featured snippet is.

What Is A Featured Snippet?

A featured snippet is simply a abbreviated snippet of substance that appears astatine the apical of the integrated hunt results with the purpose of answering the user’s hunt query consecutive away.

Here’s an illustration of what a featured snippet looks like:

The contented from the snippet is taken straight from the web leafage itself.

When you click connected the result, Google highlights the derived text:

Importantly, the magnitude of the snippet is conscionable a mates of sentences long. This is due to the fact that Google wants to supply the astir concise and wide reply to the user’s query arsenic possible.

The powerfulness of a featured snippet spot is that if the idiosyncratic needs much accusation than what is provided successful the snippet, they tin click done to work on.

How To Optimize FAQs For Featured Snippets

When it comes to penning your answers to FAQs, you should marque definite that your answers:

This is due to the fact that Google volition not lone usage this reply to show successful the featured snippet, but it volition besides apt beryllium utilized for dependable hunt answers.

Google uses NLP (Natural Language Processing) techniques successful its BERT algorithm to amended its knowing of earthy language. With this, Google is overmuch amended astatine knowing user’s hunt queries and web contented successful general

But, there’s nary harm successful making the transportation betwixt a question and reply arsenic wide arsenic possible.

How bash you bash this?

Well, if you person the question “what is simply a featured snippet?”, the astir earthy mode to fto Google cognize you’re answering it, is to statesman your reply with “A featured snippet is…”.

You’re fundamentally rephrasing the question into a elemental connection that besides includes the answer. This is precisely what the illustration from supra does. Find retired much astir stealing featured snippets here.

Following these 2 elemental points volition assistance summation your chances of appearing successful the featured snippet spot for long-tail, informational keywords.

How To Use Structured Data To Mark Up FAQs

Now that you’ve optimized your FAQs for your users by answering their prospective questions successful a simple, easy-to-read mode – it’s clip to bash the same, but for the hunt engines.

Why? Because if Google has a amended knowing of your content, it makes it easier for it to fertile it for the keyword you are targeting.

To bash this, you volition request to markup your contented with Structured Data.

What Is Structured Data And Why Is It Important?

Structured information is simply a portion of codification written successful JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) that is utilized to supply accusation astir the contents of a web leafage for hunt engines.

There’s a schema markup for beauteous overmuch thing – from Products and Organizations to Recipes and Movies – find a afloat database of disposable schemas here.

You’re fundamentally formatting your contented successful a mode that is easier for hunt engines to understand.

Google says markuping up your FAQs makes them much “eligible to person a affluent effect connected Search and an Action connected the Google Assistant, which tin assistance your tract scope the close users”.

It’s a beauteous elemental and effectual mode to bump your chances of ranking astatine the apical of the hunt results pages.

When To Use FAQ Structured Data

As per Google’s guidelines, you should lone usage FAQ schema markup if your leafage has a list of aggregate questions with answers.

If your leafage lone has 1 question and users tin taxable their ain answers, past you should usage QA markup instead.

How To Implement FAQ Structured Data

Implementing FAQ structured information onto your web pages couldn’t beryllium easier acknowledgment to this FAQPage JSON-LD Schema Generator.

All you person to bash is benignant successful your question and reply (remember that these request to beryllium precisely what you’ve enactment connected your web page) and the instrumentality volition automatically make the codification for you.

Click Add different FAQ to markup each of the questions from your web page.

Top Tip: if you privation your codification to beryllium formatted nicely, prime Prettified.

Here’s the structured information that was generated from the supra example:

Check retired this article to larn much astir the FAQ schema markup.

Remember, you tin usage Google’s Rich Results Test to marque definite that determination are nary issues with your code.

Just prime the Code tab, paste successful the generated code, and deed TEST CODE.

As you tin see, determination are nary issues with the generated codification whatsoever…

Once you’re blessed with your schema markup code, you tin insert it anyplace betwixt the <body> </body> tags of your HTML.

Now you cognize however to adhd and optimize your web pages with informational contented whilst expanding your chances of ranking wrong the featured snippets. Let’s determination connected to gathering up your domain authority…

Competitor Based Link Building

Once you’ve perfected your content, the adjacent measurement is to boost your web pages with a link gathering strategy that volition assistance amended your site’s authorization and ranking power.

At the commencement of the campaign, we identified that the site’s backlink illustration and domain authorization weren’t arsenic beardown arsenic the competition. In different words, the competitors had much referring domains of higher prime than our client’s website.

One mode to assistance recognize however your website’s nexus illustration stands against your competitors is to bash a Link Requirement Estimation.

Here’s what you’ll request to implicit this:

Find retired however to implicit your ain Link Requirement Estimation below:

How To Find Your Competitors

There are 2 ways you tin find your halfway competitors:

1. Using Ahrefs To Find Your Top Competitors

Enter your domain into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer instrumentality and click connected Organic search.

Make definite you’ve selected the main location/country that your website targets, successful this case, I’ve selected the United Kingdom.

This is important due to the fact that you lone privation to see the competitors who’ll straight fertile against you successful the SERPs for the determination you’re targeting.

Scroll down further and you’ll spot Ahrefs’ database of the Top 10 Competitors for your chosen location.

This database comprises “websites that fertile successful integrated hunt results for the aforesaid keywords arsenic the people website”.

Important Note: not each of these domains volition beryllium applicable to your website – retrieve to filter retired the ones that aren’t similar your own. In the supra illustration (for the eCommerce store Zara), we expect to spot websites that besides merchantability clothes, truthful immoderate domains that don’t should beryllium ignored.

2. Using Google Search To Find Your Top Competitors

If you don’t person Ahrefs, you tin besides find a database of competitors via a Google Search.

Search the main keyword(s) that you’re targeting connected your website – these are the ones that you perfectly privation to fertile successful the apical positions for.

For example, Zara.com would apt privation to people the keyword “women’s clothing”.

Make a enactment of the apical 10 competitors that amusement up successful the integrated results.

Again, retrieve to guarantee that you’re lone including websites that are akin to yours. For example, if you spot a Wikipedia leafage successful the apical 10 positions, and you tally an affiliate blog oregon eCommerce store, past don’t see this successful your list.

Link Requirement Estimation

Now that you’ve got your database of competitors, participate the domains into Column A successful this template.

In the apical navigation barroom connected Ahrefs, click More past Batch Analysis. Paste successful your competitor’s domains and your own.

Remember to acceptable the Target Mode to *.domain/* and click Analyze – this mode you’ll get the stats for all

Click Export > Start Export to export the data.

From the exported spreadsheet, delete each columns but the following:

Ahrefs Export SpreadsheetTemplate

Target	Competitor Domain
Domain Rating	Domain Rating
Domains	Total Referring Domains
Ref domains Dofollow	# of Dofollow Referring Domains
Total Backlinks	Total Backlinks
Backlinks Nofollow	# of Nofollow Backlinks
Total Keywords	Total Keywords
Total Traffic	Total Traffic

Paste your ain website’s information into the enactment highlighted successful purple. Paste your rival accusation into the respective rows connected the template.

This is what your template should look like:

The template volition past amusement you the mean and medians of each of the metrics from your competing domains to signifier a unsmooth estimation of wherever your domain needs to be.

In this case, Zara.com is really up of the pack. This is inactive utile arsenic it inactive shows you wherever your tract stands successful narration to the competition.

If your domain was down the competition, you present know:

Finding Link Prospects

Now that you cognize your apical competitors and what it volition instrumentality to outrank them, wherefore not usage them 1 much clip to find caller nexus prospects?

Using Aherfs’ Link intersect tool, participate your competitors’ domains on with your own.

Click Show nexus opportunities.

You’ll privation to constrictive down the results to look astatine the astir communal (and relevant) domains that your competitors person links from.

You tin bash this by filtering the results utilizing the All intersections drop-down database and unselecting 1 and 2.

The thought present is that if astir of your contention has a backlink from a peculiar site, it’s astir apt applicable and bully capable for you to get 1 too.

After you’ve pooled unneurotic your database of nexus prospects, the adjacent measurement is to spell up and unafraid those backlinks with this social-proof nexus gathering strategy.

Finding Contact Information

The archetypal measurement successful this strategy is to find the interaction accusation for the webmasters from your imaginable pool.

Here’re a fewer ways you tin bash this:

There’s adjacent a Chrome extension that you tin instal which allows you to find email addresses with a azygous click.

Try to find email addresses for people, not companies – this’ll travel successful useful later!

Writing The Perfect Outreach Pitch By Leveraging Social Proof

Once you’ve got the interaction information, you’re going to constitute an outreach pitch. This transportation needs to beryllium compelling and amusement the imaginable wherefore they should nexus to your website. How bash you bash this? One mode is by leveraging the prospects’ request for societal proof.

Social impervious is simply a word utilized to picture however radical mimic the actions of others to bespeak what is perceived to beryllium “correct behavior”.

An illustration of societal impervious is erstwhile a personage endorses a merchandise – usually done their societal media profiles – to promote their fans to mimic their behaviour by using/purchasing the product.

You tin usage this aforesaid method erstwhile pitching to your database of prospects…

For example, if you person a tech website focused connected audio equipment, you cognize that determination are apt brands/websites wrong your niche looking to get their sanction retired there. There mightiness beryllium a caller headphone shaper that launched precocious and doesn’t person galore reviews/testimonials astir their product(s) connected their homepage.

You tin scope retired to them to accidental that you tin reappraisal their merchandise successful speech for a backlink from their website.

Here’s what you’ll request to do:

This strategy works for some parties – you’re getting a backlink from a topically applicable website, and they’re getting a affirmative reappraisal of their product.

Here’s an illustration of an opening email that you mightiness send:

Hello _____________,

I’m reaching retired to you arsenic I’m getting acceptable to people an nonfiction astir The Best [Products] successful [Niche].

I came crossed [Your Product] portion doing probe for the article.  If you’d beryllium consenting to nexus to our results, I would beryllium much than blessed to marque a fewer edits and adhd your merchandise to the database too, earlier publishing connected [Date].

Look guardant to proceeding from you.

Best regards,

(Name)

Top tip: If they don’t reply oregon aren’t convinced erstwhile they reply, you tin entice them further by saying that you’d see bumping them higher up your list. This is wherever the request for societal impervious is highlighted – due to the fact that who wouldn’t privation their product/service to look astatine the apical of “best of” lists?!

To find retired much astir however to transportation retired this effectual link-building strategy successful detail, cheque retired this article.

But what astir the different websites from your imaginable list?

In these cases, you tin inactive scope retired to them with a wide impermanent post/link placement pitch.

Here are immoderate things to support successful mind:

When the imaginable replies, you whitethorn request to negociate the presumption of the nexus placement with them i.e. whether you request to travel definite guidelines erstwhile pitching a caller article, oregon wherever the nexus should beryllium placed wrong the article.

The results of this competitor-based link-building attack talk for themselves – here’s however we’ve improved the client’s nexus authorization implicit the past year.

The Results

Here’s an illustration of the kinds of results you tin expect by pursuing the 3 halfway strategies outlined above.

The graph taken from Ahrefs shows the fig of keywords that the lawsuit was ranking for wrong the apical 10 positions of Google.

The site’s keyword visibility successful the apical 10 positions of Google grew from 35 keywords successful March 2021 to 353 keywords a twelvemonth aboriginal – an summation of 908.50%!

When compared year-or-year, the integrated postulation for non-branded keywords accrued by 121.16%.

Conclusion

In this lawsuit study, you’ve recovered retired however to:

Don’t person the clip and privation idiosyncratic to instrumentality attraction of your SEO for you? Don’t hesitate to scope retired to my squad implicit astatine The Search Initiative – we’d beryllium much than blessed to assistance boost your site’s SEO performance!