Chasing Clicks: How I Wrote Articles Readers Were Already Searching For

 

For a website whose revenue depended on how many people read each page, I found what readers were searching for, wrote articles to match, and promoted them every day. 

At a glance

Role: Content Writer (SEO and content marketing)
Client: A content website that earned revenue from page views
Worked with: Sub-editors, Editor and SEO specialists
Duration: 2.5 years
Tools: Google Trends, Google Analytics, IO Analytics, Keywords Everywhere, an in-house CMS, social media groups, push notifications
Result: The stories garnered lakhs of page views that boosted the revenue

The challenge
The client’s revenue depended on page views. They needed articles that were search-friendly and on trending topics, and that brought in the most views every day.

What I did

• Followed current trends through Google Trends and trending news stories, to choose topics people were already searching for
• Studied the audience’s interests and traffic sources in Google Analytics and IO Analytics
• Researched the most-searched keywords with tools such as Keywords Everywhere
• Wrote SEO-friendly articles and published them through the in-house content management system
• Shared the articles in social media groups to bring in readers
• Scheduled push notifications to send more people to each article
• Tracked page views constantly, to see which topics worked and adjust the next day’s plan

The result

• Delivered 5-10 articles per day
• Page views grew steadily month-on-month as I strategized consolidated stories and different content formats
• My Editor was impressed and vested more responsibilities and stories to me

What I learned about leading
This role taught me that results come from hard work, and that they last when the work is sustainable. I learned to look after my health and keep a balance in everything I did, which kept my output steady over the long run. Working closely with the team strengthened my interpersonal skills, and daily analysis of audience data taught me to read what readers care about and turn it into stories that matter to them.

Skills shown: SEO writing, keyword research, web analytics, content marketing, social media promotion, data-driven decisions