SEO CASE STUDY –Mortgage Niche SEO Results:

THE PROBLEM:

This​ mortgage lenders web ​site​ ​was​ ​getting​ ​almost​ ​zero​ ​traffic,​ ​even​ ​though​ ​it​ ​had been live for over 6 years.​ ​The​ ​owner​ ​had invested​ ​a​ ​fair​ ​amount​ ​of​ ​time​ ​on​ ​this​ ​site​ ​and​ ​built​ ​out​ ​a​ ​significant​ ​amount​ ​of​ web​pages,​ ​however​ ​it wasn’t​ ​getting​ ​hardly​ any organic​ ​traffic.

SEO Audit

The​ ​first​ ​thing​ ​we​ ​always​ ​do​ ​is​ ​audit​ ​a​ web​site​ ​to​ ​see​ ​if​ ​it​ ​has​ ​any​ ​serious ​underlying​ ​issues.​ ​This​ ​website had​ ​no​ ​penalties,​ ​it​ ​just​ ​never​ ​ranked​ ​on page​ ​1​ ​for​ ​the​ ​target​ ​keywords in his industry.​ ​It​ ​also​ ​had​ ​no​ ​over optimization,​ ​they​ ​just​ ​didn’t​ ​have​ ​many​ quality inbound ​links.

Ahrefs is the newest entry into the link research tool space.​ ​It shows​ ​organic​ ​keywords​ ​but​ ​it​ ​doesn’t​ ​tell​ ​the​ ​entire​ ​story​ ​–​ ​You​ ​can​ ​see​ ​below​ ​that​ ​the site​ ​had​ ​keywords​ ​in​ ​the​ ​top​ ​100,​ ​but​ ​that’s​ ​not​ ​as​ ​important​ ​in​ ​being​ ​in​ ​the​ ​top​ ​10.​ ​That’s​ ​where our​ ​“easy​ ​wins​ ​analysis”​ takes a site from zero to hero.

Easy​ ​Wins​ ​Analysis

With​ ​our​ ​easy​ ​wins​ ​analysis,​ ​we​ dive deep to find​​ ​keywords​ ​that​ ​are​ ​ranking​​ ​in​ ​Google,​ ​but​ ​are stuck on pages 2-4.​ ​If​ ​we​ ​can​ ​identify​ ​these,​ ​we​ ​can​ ​push​ ​them​ ​up and​ ​see​ ​quicker​ ​traffic​ ​gains.

For​ ​this​ ​site,​ ​we​ ​identified​ ​over 1,000 potential​ ​easy​ ​wins​ ​keywords,​ ​ranking​ ​mostly​ ​on​ ​pages​ ​2 and 3​ ​with​ ​queries between​ ​20​ ​–​ ​8,000,​ ​with​ ​CPC​ ​between​ ​about​ ​.50​ ​cents​ ​–​ ​$8.

This​ ​website​ ​had​ ​HUGE​ ​potential,​ ​but​ ​since​ ​the​ ​site​ ​wasn’t​ ​cracking​ ​page​ ​1,​ ​it​ ​wasn’t​ ​delivering any traffic, or leads.

Before we did anything, we noticed their website was well optimized for keywords like ‘mortgage loans’ and ‘home loans’, but they failed to optimize for their own local, which caused them to compete with thousands of lenders, when they really only needed to compete with 40 (give or take).

So, we updated their title tags and content accordingly. Then, it was was time to get to work.

Content​ ​Gap​ ​Analysis

With​ ​the​ ​content​ ​gap​ ​analysis,​ ​the goal is​ to ​look​ ​for​ ​their competitors​ ​keywords​ ​that​ ​our clients mortgage website​ ​wasn’t currently ​targeting​, and​ ​this​ ​becomes​ ​the​ ​basis​ ​for​ ​our​ ​content​ plan.

For​ ​this​ ​site,​ ​we​ ​found​ ​just over 100​ ​keywords​ ​with volume​ ​between​ ​140​ ​–​ ​3000​ ,​ ​with​ ​similar​ ​PPC​ ​costs​ ​to the​ ​easy​ ​wins.​ ​We​ ​worked​ ​with​ ​the​ ​client​ ​to​ ​target ​high​ ​priorities​ ​and​ ​selected​ ​some​ ​keywords based​ ​on​ ​their​ ​industry​ ​trends​ ​knowledge​.

Here’s​ ​what​ ​our​ ​campaigns​ ​looked​ ​like:

Month​ ​1:

• 1​ ​Guest​ ​Post​ ​–​ ​Exact​ ​match​ ​on​ ​easy​ ​wins ‘mortgage loans CITY NAME’
• 1​ ​Guest​ ​Post​ ​–​ ​Exact​ ​match​ ​ ​on​ ​another​ ​easy​ ​win ‘CITY NAME Refinance home loans’
• 2 blog post (1,000 works)​ ​ ​informational​ ​kw​ ​focus​ ​based​ ​on​ ​industry​ ​trends

Month​ ​2​ ​

• 1​ ​Guest​ ​Post​ ​–​ ​Exact match ​keyword​ ​variation ‘mortgage companies CITY NAME’
• 1​ ​Guest​ ​Post​ ​–​ ​Exact match keyword​ ​variation ‘mortgage lenders CITY NAME’
• 1 Campaign to earn 10 links from .edu websites
• 2 blog post (1,000 works)​ ​ ​informational​ ​kw​ ​focus​ ​based​ ​on​ ​industry​ ​trends

Month​ ​3​ ​–​ ​Similar,​ ​But​ ​got​ ​more​ ​anchor​ ​text​ ​diversity

• 1​ ​Guest​ ​Post​ ​–​ ​Branded “COMPANY NAME’
• 1​ ​Guest​ ​Post​ ​–​ url “companyURL.com’
• 1 Press Release
• 2 blog post (1,000 works)​ ​ ​informational​ ​kw​ ​focus​ ​based​ ​on​ ​industry​ ​trends

Results:

Since​ ​this​ ​site​ ​had​ ​a​ ​fair​ ​amount​ ​of​ ​content​ ​already,​ ​and​ ​had​ ​so​ ​many​ ​opportunities​ ​for​ ​easy wins,​ ​we​ ​really​ ​focused​ ​on​ ​getting​ ​those​ ​easy​ ​wins​ ​to move up​ ​to​ ​page​ ​1.

After just 3 months​ ​–​ ​The​ ​traffic​ ​exploded:

Takeaways:

This​ ​was​ ​only​ ​3​ ​months​ ​of​ SEO ​work​ ​and​ ​this​ ​site​ ​has​ ​so much ​more​ ​potential.​ ​In​ ​the​ upcoming months,​ ​we’ll begin​ ​linking​ ​some​ ​high​ ​volume​ ​keywords​ ​that​ ​we​ ​used​ ​for​ ​content.​ ​This​ ​site​ ​is​ ​set​ ​up​ ​for domination​ ​in​ ​the​ ​mortgage lender industry for their locality.

Of course, a website that is thin on content and has no inbound links will not always produce results this quickly. However, the process remains the same. You simply have to stick with the plan Good (relevant) content, and quality links from authoritative websites, equals more traffic and more leads.