Are You Content Marketing? Maybe You Should

[MatthewC]

I put up a web site a little over 1 year ago using ITC. I like the site by the way, no complaints. I then hired a big name SEO company, paid them $1,500 and in return got rather basic advice that if I write a Blog post every week of at least 300 words, preferably close to 1,000, my site (shieldinsurancesolutions.com) will get on the first page of a google search.

Sure enough, after writing every week for 90 days my site was first page for some select long-tail searches. Did I get any business? 3 requests for a quote and 1 sale. My current site traffic is just under 1,500 new visitors per month. I still don't get much organic business. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I am not willing to shovel out the bucks for advice anymore either.

The bottom line -blogging good content will improve your page search rankings, but may not get you much business. There must be more to capturing business than just traffic.

I slowed down my blogging considerably. It takes way more time than it was worth to me.

 

[scagnt83]

I put up a web site a little over 1 year ago using ITC. I like the site by the way, no complaints. I then hired a big name SEO company, paid them $1,500 and in return got rather basic advice that if I write a Blog post every week of at least 300 words, preferably close to 1,000, my site (shieldinsurancesolutions.com) will get on the first page of a google search.

Sure enough, after writing every week for 90 days my site was first page for some select long-tail searches. Did I get any business? 3 requests for a quote and 1 sale. My current site traffic is just under 1,500 new visitors per month. I still don't get much organic business. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I am not willing to shovel out the bucks for advice anymore either.

The bottom line -blogging good content will improve your page search rankings, but may not get you much business. There must be more to capturing business than just traffic.

I slowed down my blogging considerably. It takes way more time than it was worth to me.

Lol. I could have told you that and I would only charge $500. Or 1001 websites and web articles on the net could tell you that for free.


You need to post links and excerpts of your blog posts on social media such as linked-in, facebook, twitter, & G+. That will help your ranking a good bit.

Now you can PM me with your address so I can send you a $250 invoice

 

[MatthewC]

Lol. I could have told you that and I would only charge $500. Or 1001 websites and web articles on the net could tell you that for free.


You need to post links and excerpts of your blog posts on social media such as linked-in, facebook, twitter, & G+. That will help your ranking a good bit.

Now you can PM me with your address so I can send you a $250 invoice

Yep, I expected much, much more from that SEO company. In fact, they did not live up to their guarantee and as their 1 year "service" was nearing expiration they would not even return my phone calls. Live and learn.

 

[JohnWalker]

I put up a web site a little over 1 year ago using ITC. I like the site by the way, no complaints. I then hired a big name SEO company, paid them $1,500 and in return got rather basic advice that if I write a Blog post every week of at least 300 words, preferably close to 1,000, my site (shieldinsurancesolutions.com) will get on the first page of a google search.

Sure enough, after writing every week for 90 days my site was first page for some select long-tail searches. Did I get any business? 3 requests for a quote and 1 sale. My current site traffic is just under 1,500 new visitors per month. I still don't get much organic business. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I am not willing to shovel out the bucks for advice anymore either.

The bottom line -blogging good content will improve your page search rankings, but may not get you much business. There must be more to capturing business than just traffic.

I slowed down my blogging considerably. It takes way more time than it was worth to me.

This is what I mean when I say take a professional SEO's advice with a grain of salt. Don't feel bad, I learned that same lesson the hard way myself... except for $5,000 a month. Don't give up. If you're dedicated enough you'll figure out what all the "industry leaders" are doing and realize you can do it better for way less money.

I took a look at your blog content and I think, content wise, it's better than 85% of the insurance related stuff I see out there. Although I would work on the appearance of the post, you're off to a good start. If you read my earlier posts in this thread, it's not just about good content. Its also about promotion and distribution.

Your site as a very low domain authority. What that really means is you have no trust with google. It is also the reason why bigger brand sites can create significantly worse content and still out rank you.

What I suggest is you start learning how to network online and build links using outreach to increase your sites authority. The more authority your site has the farther your blogging efforts will go. Don't expect to get love just because you have good content.

Here is a quick example of how to build some authority for your site: After poking around the internet for medicare link opportunities, I found this site:

InsureBlog

It's a medicare blog that has a side bar listing "blogs of interest". Your content, especially posts like:

Why Choose Medicare Supplement Plan N - Shield Insurance Solutions

Are very relevant to this blogs readers and the site has a very good page and domain authority. You could try to do a guest post for this site but I think a better, and easier, approach would be to try and get listed in the "blogs of interest" section by connecting with the publishers and showing them that your content can add value to their readers (which I believe it does).

Activities like this go beyond the link. These guys seem to post regularly and have indications of an actual reader base. Connecting with these guys can get your content promoted throughout their network and even result in prospective quotes and other opportunities.

When I hear people say "Blog, Blog, Blog and you will rank" I automatically assume they have no idea what they are talking about and they just want your money. If that's the primary advice they give you on how to rank, run. Any expert can blog, the challenge is finding people who care about what you've written and promoting your work so it's seen and shared. This is how you become an authority.

EDIT: After a bit more research, it turns out that blog is ran by a member of this forum which is an easy common ground to work with. People on this forum can be helpful.

I know this may come as a surprise but promoting content and gaining quality editorial links should still be the top priority for any site that wants to rank. Blogging only works when you have authority and your content ranks because of your sites "expertise" on the subject.

For instance, if you google "California good driver" you'll see my site (shiftins.com) in the #1 position above sites like dmv.org, statefarm, farmers, gieco, and a .gov. If you click the link the content is garbage (I admit) but that page alone drives a few hundred visits / month because google sees my site as an authority on car insurance in California. They show me love even when that specific page has 0 links and is admittedly total crap. I never intended for that page to rank at all but it did based on my sites authority alone.

I know I was kind of all over the place but hopefully this helps.

 

[MatthewC]

Thanks JohnWalker --- yes that helps a lot!!

 

[stuy119]

To be fair, if you're getting hits, it might be a conversion problem rather than a traffic problem. Just my $0.02.

 

[MatthewC]

To be fair, if you're getting hits, it might be a conversion problem rather than a traffic problem. Just my $0.02.

You may well be right too.
What is frustrating is that even after paying an SEO company for guidance, I have no idea what an acceptable conversion rate would be.

I am considering switching my site to a different design where I will have more control over sorting blogs by type and adding conversion tools like "free quote" etc. I also want my web viewers to have the ability to take action / convert from my home page, something that is missing at the moment.

Any idea where I can get stats on what conversion rates I should shoot for?

 

[Josh]

You may well be right too.
What is frustrating is that even after paying an SEO company for guidance, I have no idea what an acceptable conversion rate would be.

I am considering switching my site to a different design where I will have more control over sorting blogs by type and adding conversion tools like "free quote" etc. I also want my web viewers to have the ability to take action / convert from my home page, something that is missing at the moment.

Any idea where I can get stats on what conversion rates I should shoot for?

Most SEO companies are useless, so that's a starting point.

Conversion rates are a semi-arbitrary number as well. Some offers converting at 0.5% would be great, others 5% would be terrible, so putting a number on it might not actually help you outside of having a way to measure it.

One of the biggest things that happens with sites that don't convert is the either (1) don't answer the visitors question or (2) don't have an obvious call to action. Do yourself a favor and google some terms you'd like to compete for and see how those sites are set up, most of the affiliate sites are VERY experienced folks at getting conversions so it'd be worth looking at what they're doing and why they're doing it.

Do you have Google Analyitics on your site?

 

[MatthewC]

Josh -- I like your idea about looking at affiliate sites for how they convert. I have done that to some degree. It's how I decided to go ahead with re-designing the site-- so that it has a better call to action on the home page.

I do use googleanalytics (and bing webmaster occasionally). They are good at seeing how many people are visiting and if they are clicking through.

 

[JohnWalker]

Most SEO companies are useless, so that's a starting point.

Finally..... something we agree on haha!