When it comes to generating immediate ROI, SEO content blogging isn’t exactly top of the list.
But long-term investment into high-quality content marketing can end up paying dividends for organic traffic, brand awareness, and more — all of which are crucial factors for eventual revenue growth.
Case in point: Allen Brothers’ “Steak Insiders” blog.
Today, we’re sharing how we helped this eCommerce client launch a new blog and develop industry-leading content to generate:
- 76% increase in organic traffic YoY
- 123% increase in organic clicks YoY
- 45% increase in organic impressions YoY
Keep reading to find out how we did it — including our tips for building a successful blog marketing strategy of your own.
The video below is hosted on YouTube. If you need assistance with viewing the video, please contact [email protected].
Learn more about our content marketing services by connecting with our SEO experts today.
Client Background
Allen Brothers is a premium online meat purveyor that ships prime beef, seafood, and other protein products to customers across the United States. They originally partnered with Inflow in 2020 for paid search advertising services, adding search engine optimization efforts to the docket in 2021.
In addition to general content and technical optimization of their site, Allen Brothers had a specific goal: to demonstrate expertise and enhance brand awareness within their industry by launching a new blog, entitled “Steak Insiders.”
Our strategic plan for Allen Brothers began with an initial optimization phase, focusing on technical website reviews and on-site enhancements for high-priority pages.
As we progressed with these initiatives, we developed a content strategy for a new blog to support our ongoing efforts in late 2022.
Allen Brothers’ SEO Blog Strategy
Blogging for blogging’s sake isn’t enough. Like all digital marketing efforts, it requires building an extensive strategy before your writers ever fire up their laptops.
So, to maximize Allen Brothers’ business investment in this channel, our team started by detailing a unique plan of action, addressing the client’s thought leadership and brand awareness goals.
Key to the success of this model? The commitment to ongoing content production.
The best SEO content strategies have a snowball-like effect. The more consistent and long-term your efforts, the greater the results down the road.
In other words, publishing one blog every six months will not deliver meaningful results, no matter how incredible that singular piece of content may be.
With a commitment from Allen Brothers to approve and publish content regularly, we put our strategy into action.
Developing the Hub & Spoke Model
Starting a blog from scratch offers endless possibilities. What topics will you cover? How will you organize them? How will you create cohesive themes?
At Inflow, we often recommend the hub and spoke model for clients new to content marketing. By selecting a few main topics (“hubs”) and related subtopics (“spokes”), brands can easily focus on the themes most useful to their audiences — without getting overwhelmed (or distracted) by ad hoc suggestions that pop up along the way.
Here’s an example of this model in action for Allen Brothers:
While it still offers endless opportunities for content topics, the hub and spoke model also makes content marketing much simpler to implement from a planning perspective. It also allows for easy internal linking, which is crucial for increasing dwell time and helping customers navigate a website.
Not all content has to fit within a specific hub/spoke category, either. We also created standalone articles that address the biggest questions from Allen Brothers’ customers, such as:
- “How to Defrost Steak” (as all steak products are shipped frozen)
- “Wet Aged vs. Dry Aged” (two of Allen Brothers’ offerings)
- “Fathers’ Day Grilling Gift Guide” (as Father’s Day is a popular sales period)
Because steak is Allen Brothers’ flagship product, our content marketing strategy thus far has focused on beef-related topics. However, following this approach, similar hub and spoke ****** can easily be built out for all of the brand’s product lines in the future (lamb, veal, chicken, etc.).
Not sure which hubs and spokes to start with? In addition to audience research, conduct extensive keyword research to see which queries your customers are asking about your product/industry.
Incorporating Industry Expertise
When it comes to content topics, Allen Brothers isn’t just competing with fellow butchers. They’re also competing with scores of food bloggers and educators, all going after the same SEO keywords.
So, to ensure Allen Brothers’ blog content stood out, we relied on expert writers in the culinary field.
Anyone can write a blog about top steak cuts, using whatever information they find in top-ranking SERP results. But, by incorporating an expert’s tone of voice, Allen Brothers’ content contains more unique anecdotes and opinions that your average content marketer cannot replicate.
With Google increasingly rewarding high-authority content, this focus on E.E.A.T. (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) remains integral to our clients’ success. Allen Brothers is just one example of this in action; other expert-driven content we’ve created has increased client revenue by as much as 300%, not to mention won our team coveted Search Engine Land Awards.
The video below is hosted on YouTube. If you need assistance with viewing the video, please contact [email protected].
By combining this expert-led approach with the detailed optimization guidance from our team, we’ve developed a content library for Allen Brothers that rivals the best blogs out there — and meets the high standards required from a brand of their stature.
Learn more about how we build optimized content briefs for clients by downloading a free copy of our SEO Content Brief template today.
Frequently Optimizing Existing Content
Of course, publishing high-quality, SEO-optimized blog content is just the first step.
To maintain organic rankings and traffic, blog content must also be continuously updated and improved.
With two years of blogs published, older content will eventually require a refresh to remain visible on the search engine results pages. As part of our ongoing content marketing services, we analyze traffic and engagement metrics for each piece, asking:
- Is this ranking as expected?
- Have the search results changed since it was first published?
- Are there any new SERP features that we want to try to target?
Where possible, we optimize certain content pages to maximize their performance. For example, when Google’s AI Overviews started rolling out this spring, we made key updates to selected pages to target those listings:
The same goes for frequently changing SERP features, such as this new “Things to Know” addition, where Allen Brothers also claimed a top spot for an incredibly broad keyword:
By optimizing existing blogs for these features and maintaining a consistent republishing frequency, we’re able to capitalize on emerging traffic trends and generate an overall compounding growth effect for Allen Brothers.
The Results
Full transparency: SEO blogging takes time. It requires patience and trust from clients who understand the dedication required to deliver long-term results.
But, as we’ve shown time and time again, it does work — and the proof can be found in Allen Brothers’ recent organic growth.
With two years of content blogging under their belt, Allen Brothers has built a substantial library of highly optimized content that drives significant organic traffic to their website, especially during busy Mother’s Day/Father’s Day sales seasons.
Comparing that three-month period, year over year, Allen Brothers saw:
- 123% increase in organic search clicks
- 75% increase in organic sessions
- 45% increase in organic search impressions
These traffic trends put Allen Brothers in a fantastic position for the upcoming holiday shopping season, ensuring that their blog content (and relevant product pages) is visible to those customers planning the perfect holiday meal.
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Whether you’re looking to launch your business’s first blog or reinvigorate existing content marketing efforts, the right strategy will be the key to your success.
And, if you’re seeking a new partner to make that happen, Inflow’s team of senior strategists stands ready to help with a complimentary audit.
We’ll review your current website content, identify optimization opportunities, and build you a comprehensive SEO strategy for the rest of 2024 and beyond.
Get started by contacting us today:
