We're joined again this week by Jacob from NerdWallet, this week to discuss a VERY important topic: high-converting keywords. We discuss: What types of keyword drive conversions? (It's not just bottom-of-funnel!) How to find high-converting keywords in your niche (Full article contains modifiers to use in your research) Why it's important to craft a targeted, compelling offer How to build a web page that converts Key links: 1. Sponsor #1: uSerp: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠userp.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a great backlink-building agency 2. ⁠Grab my SEO brief template⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Drive expertise, connection & ranking 3. ⁠Read the ⁠full teardown here.⁠ 4. View sh*t loads of awesome case studies in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SEO case study library⁠⁠

This case study is about an underdog website. A new company, launching into a competitive niche and winning some of those most difficult keywords. Maze broke through on topics like “UX Design” and “UX Design Tools” by focusing on: Thorough, well-crafted content Superior UI/UX designs Scalable link building CRO techniques These are the core tenants of the SEO revenue engine that has allowed Maze to fuel its growth via search. Listen to this episode to find out: 1. The SEO engine companies like Hubspot, MoonPay, UserZoom, PiktoChart and Maze have under the hood, and how to build one yourself. 2. How to pioneer your category via search. Winning growth EVEN when no one is searching for what you do. 3. How to avoid wasting search visitors. Most traffic reads and leaves, not anymore with this 3-step process. 4. A simple yet powerful technique for backlink building that will put you AHEAD of your competitors. Maze did this to beat a powerful competitor. Note: Got questions? Jake kindly offered How the F*ck listeners a free 15-minute chat to SaaS peeps who wants help implementing this. ⁠Book here.⁠ —— Sponsors: 1. ⁠⁠⁠Grab my SEO brief template⁠⁠⁠ - Drive expertise, connection & ranking 2. Sponsor #1: uSerp: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠userp.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a great backlink-building agency 3. Sponsor #2: Workello: https://workello.com/?fpr=howthefck for a platform that helps scale hiring writers 4. ⁠Read the full teardown here. 5. View sh*t loads of awesome case studies in our ⁠⁠⁠SEO case study library

Jacob Clarke joined the show today from NerdWallet's stupidly successful SEO team. He helps us define topical authority and drill down into how to achieve it to accelerate growth results. In SEO, the concept of topical authority is one that's relatively new in our lexicon. But it's one of THE most powerful tools to have in your belt when building an SEO-driven content strategy. Topics covered: Why prioritize topical authority? Two tried & tested methods for measuring authority. And a step-by-step for building authority. Key links: 1. Reduce time and improve rankings: Get the ultimate SEO brief template 2. Sponsor: uSerp: ⁠⁠⁠⁠userp.io⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a great backlink-building agency 3. Read this in article format 4. View sh*t loads of topical authority case studies in our SEO case study library

I had an amazing conversation with Ash Read this week on the show. For those of you who know the software company Buffer, Ash was their Editorial Director for 6 years. So, you know, this is going to be an episode where you'll about scaling traffic with quality content systems. Since 2020, Ash has been building a niche blog empire. Starting with LivingCozy.com, which focuses on home & furniture product reviews. The site received over 335,000 monthly page views in Feb 2023 and earned ~$10K a month this time LAST year. Expect to learn: 1. Living Cozy's initial content strategy and how it's evolved 2. Three types of content and why they write them 3. Why expertise is so important and how they get it for every article 4. How Ash uses "layering" to ship more content quickly 5. The ins and outs of Living Cozy's content operation 6. Living Cozy's backlink strategy Sponsors: 1. ⁠⁠Mentioned SEO brief template⁠⁠ 2. Sponsor: uSerp: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠userp.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a great backlink-building agency 3. Read this in article format 4. View sh*t loads of topical authority case studies in our ⁠⁠SEO case study library

Learn about E-E-A-T and how to demonstrate it with SEO expert, Olga Zarr. Topics: What is E-E-A-T? Does it matter for everyone? How can I demonstrate it to Google? Key Links: Mentioned SEO brief template Read this in article format. Become a How the F*ck member & unlock 30+ SEO case studies.

Eli Schwartz has advised the who's who of technology companies: Zendesk, Coinbase, Quora, InsightTimer, and many more. During his 7-year tenure at SurveyMonkey, his growth team of 5 was responsible for 2/3 of their annual revenue. In total, over $1bn in organic value (yes, that includes both branded search and content strategy). "By the time I left, we were generating an average $200 million a year in revenue sourced from organic search."—Eli Schwartz He systemized his learnings at SurveyMonkey into an approach called Product-led SEO. A methodology used by companies like Canva, Coinbase, Language Drops, and more to drive explosive growth. — In this episode, we learn all about it: The SurveyMonkey Story - $200M in annual organic revenue - $1BN over 7 years he worked there [9:37]  Inventing product-led SEO at SurveyMonkey [17:26] The REAL definition of product-led SEO [19:32 - 24:16] How product-led SEO drives revenue. The buyer journey [24:22-28:20] Predicting the end of Google’s dominance [31:48] Is Product-led SEO for you? [39:40] Common mistakes people make with Product-led SEO? [49:28] — Want to really understand this technique? I break down this strategy in full at thefxck.com: Premium case study: https://seo.thefxck.com/surveymonkey-seo-case-study/ Premium Library: Access our library of 25+ ⁠⁠Premium SEO strategy⁠⁠ guides for scaling your traffic FAST for £17. — Sponsors: Workello: ⁠⁠⁠workello.com/howthefck⁠⁠⁠ to get 10% off uSerp: ⁠⁠⁠⁠userp.io⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a great backlink-building agency

In the final episode with Adam Smith, we look at the keyword research system behind his "beast" SEO case study. Here's the background on the niche site: He bought an aged domain (DR 27) He wrote 4 million words (2,300 blog posts) It's currently at ~40,000 monthly visitors in <6 months We've already heard: How to identify a profitable niche to target. How to leverage aged domains to fuel traffic growth. In this week's episode, we explore how to raid competitor sites for content ideas that you're all but guaranteed to win. Adam calls the system "tomb-raiding SEO", and it's the exact process he used to build the content strategy for the "beast". — Want to really understand this technique? I break down this strategy in full at thefxck.com: Premium case study: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Tomb Raiding SEO: The Keyword Strategy Behind the "Beast" Premium Library: Access our library of 25+ ⁠Premium SEO strategy⁠ guides for scaling your traffic FAST for £17. — Sponsors: Workello: ⁠⁠⁠⁠workello.com/howthefck⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get 10% off uSerp: ⁠⁠⁠userp.io⁠⁠⁠ for a great backlink-building agency

More with Adam Smith! This time? The hardest part of niche blogging: Actually choosing a sub-niche you don't regret. This is the best methodology I've seen to find areas of traffic you can win, quickly. Adam tells us how to take a data-led approach to this. The savvy ones of you out there will have already noticed—this methodology (for finding untapped, uncompetitive traffic to win) also applies to SaaS and services. Really, it's one of the most fundamental principles of SEO research. But taken through a lense I'd never considered before. Expect to learn: How the experts (who frequently build and flip websites) choose niches. How to use a SERP analysis to identify weak points where YOUR brand new site can still steal traffic. Tricks & tips for winning traffic, fast! Want to really understand this technique? I break down this strategy in full at thefxck.com: Premium case study: ⁠How to Choose a Profitable Niche (Win Easy Traffic, Fast) Premium Library: Access our library of 25+ Premium SEO strategy guides for scaling your traffic FAST for £17. — Sponsors: Workello: ⁠⁠⁠workello.com/howthefck⁠⁠⁠ to get 10% off uSerp: ⁠⁠userp.io⁠⁠ for a great backlink-building agency — Related reads: ⁠⁠Most profitable blog niches⁠

This week, I caught up with niche website expert, Adam Smith, to learn how to use aged domains to accelerate traffic-building success. Expert to learn: What is an aged domain? What use cases do they have in SEO? How can you evaluate them properly (9-step process) so you don't buy a red flag domain? How to implement them without Google knowing (the ENTIRE redirect process) — Get How the F*ck Premium: Premium case study: Aged Domains Premium Library: Access our library of 25+ Premium SEO strategy guides for scaling your traffic FAST for £17 at ⁠www.thefxck.com⁠. — Sponsors: Workello: ⁠⁠workello.com/howthefck⁠⁠ to get 10% off uSerp: ⁠userp.io⁠ for a great backlink-building agency — Related reads: ⁠Most profitable blog niches⁠

In this week's SEO case study, we revisit a story we released in December 2022: How Monday.com Scaled its SEO (1,000 articles in 12 months). In part one, we lifted the hood of the content operation that underpinned Monday's very first major investment into SEO. We learned how Monday worked with the content production company, Codeless.io, to make up for lost time. In part two, we hear from two Monday insiders. Eliana Atia, Brand and SEO Content Team Lead, who joined the team just after the IPO, 6 months after the project started. Zoe Averbuch, Senior SEO Manager, who led the project while it unfolded. Eliana and Zoe tell us the logic behind the strategy; the return on investment for Monday; and how they've since iterated their strategy. Expect to learn: ⚡ Monday's SEO philosophy: Why failing fast, learning, and iterating were all part of the plan. ⚡ Working together with the paid acquisition team: How Monday's 8 years of heavy ad spend helped optimize their SEO strategy. ⚡ Why prioritization is everything in SEO. And why this means it's important to ship new content before it's fully edited. ⚡ Return on investment: Was the experiment worth it? How has Monday's SEO strategy iterated from their learnings? ⚡ Moving forward: What were their biggest learnings and how are they continuously maintaining their enormous content library? Read the teardown: Access our full library of 25+ Premium SEO case studies and deep best practice insights for £17 at www.thefxck.com.