321Linsen.de/VašeČočky.cz: How to increase blog traffic by 3474%

29. 07. 2019 Autor Martina Habartová

VašeČočky.cz is well known in the Czech Republic and no longer needs to be introduced to Czech E-commerce. There is hardly any conference that does not mention its success story. However, there is not much heard about its German web version 321linsen.de. That will change now.

We will tell you how we managed together with 321linsen.de to increase their number of visitors to the blog by 3474% between 2017 and 2018.

A trusted domain is important

In the age of medic updates and the battle against fake news, it is more important than ever to work on the trustworthiness of a domain. Especially if your business is in the YMYL segment (Your Money, Your Life). But what does that mean in practice?

Off-page optimization

Work on generating high-quality links and focus on quality rather than quantity. On the German market, we not only have gone the way of paid articles with 321linsen.de but we also have acquired unpaid links from large websites, such as Wikipedia or Wikihow. Furthermore, we partnered with zoos, sponsored schools for children with low vision, and gave away colored contact lenses to cosplayers.

On-Page optimization

VašeČočky.cz has entered into a partnership with optometrist Daniel Szarvas on the Czech market, who helps them to verify the information in their articles and consolidate their position in the highly competitive contact lens and eyewear market. And if information from third-party sources is used in their articles, these sources are named and labeled.

Monitoring competition and following (Google) trends

Firmly convinced by the „Content is King“-principle; nowadays, almost every e-shop has a blog or a section containing articles or advice. But how can you stand out from the crowd?

• Thoroughly check the websites of your competitors and write down which topics they were writing about, what you liked about the content and based on this information, what you could improve in the future. Why reinvent the wheel, if someone has already done this before?

• Revise your keyword-analysis! If you have not just started your business last year, your keyword analysis will most likely be outdated. Because since your last keyword analysis, a lot might have changed. New trends, longtails or other possibilities may have arisen, which you may have missed.
• Search for keywords that appear in featured snippets and see how they look like. Would you be able to write a better text? Note: 321linsen.de appears with only 2 articles in 20 featured snippets.

• Create in-depth content and customize exciting articles with varied content. The days are gone when it was enough to write a few paragraphs full of keywords in the blog, and you could then enjoy the growing number of visitors. Especially if your industry is highly competitive and there is a lot of competition. Therefore, it is important to keep up with the times, and to prepare articles in such a way that they attract the attention of the reader while attracting the search engine bots that are looking for the best content on the given topic. We also recommend using lists, spreadsheets, infographics, videos,and other attractive content formats.

• You do not have to create tons of text, sometimes it is enough to update and improve older content. Why create a new article with a new URL, if you already have an older, linked article whose URL has a certain history and even is in the search engine index? Look for topic clusters (topics that are related to a specific topic) in your updated keyword analysis. Check if you have already written about it and if the article contains all relevant phrases.

• Take advantage of special events and promotions that are searched by customers. In the case of 321linsen.de, the creation of a page for Black Friday has paid off. This page appeared in high positions in the search engine and brought a significant number of visits.

Publish regularly

We all know it. There is still a lot of enthusiasm at the beginning of starting a blog; however, the subsequent regular publication of articles turns out to be very cumbersome. If you want to publish articles frequently and regularly on your blog, it is very helpful to have a publication plan. Otherwise, you will notice at the end of the year that New Year’s Eve is already coming up and you have postponed most of the publication due to large amounts of other duties and responsibilities. If you are lucky, the last article dates back to July.

This should not be missed in your publication plan for the blog:

• When will the article be published? Month, week, exact date … as you like.
• Which topic area does the article refer to? This is very helpful, especially if you have several categories on your website.
• What should be the topic of the article? The exact heading is not necessary.
• Does the article need an extra check or expert opinion? Think of the medic update.
• Which keywords should appear in the article? Determine the relevance and search volume of the keywords.
• Are there any similar articles on the website? Avoid duplicates.
• Where can the copywriter find inspiration? Select benchmark content.
• Which graphical elements should the article contain? For example an infographic.

Tip: Before you start writing an article, look at the SERP results for the keywords you are looking for. Also, try to estimate what Google assumes about the intentions of users searching for these keywords. This will help you to understand how to approach the article.

Discuss articles with native speakers

In the case of websites with multiple language versions, localization also plays an important role alongside the translation of the text. Ideally, you should have unique content for each country with appropriate text which was checked by a native speaker of that country.

From our own experience with website optimization of foreign websites, we can name countless cases in which the customer was convinced that the translation agency / a translator / a friend (who lived abroad for a long time) translated his website perfectly. A native speaker; however, frightens at the first sight of the website content and flees.

A native speaker not only helps you with the stylistic and grammatical accuracy of the texts but he or she also helps you to develop a better understanding for the thinking and habits of each culture. Your target country or group may deal with topics, customs or traditions that are very close to your business. However, you might not have thought of it on your own.

Approach the website visitor

Do not strictly hold on data from search engines and marketing tools. Above all, think of your customers! The websites 321linsen.de, or the e-shop VašeČočky.cz fulfill this requirement by 100%. Apart from continuously conducted AB-tests in order to facilitate the customers’ journey through the website, they also adjust the content as much as possible to local habits. Thus, the content does not fall along the wayside. Since 321linsen.de has expanded its product range to sunglasses in the past year, they have now developed an application ‒ the Virtual Mirror ‒ with which you can try on sunglasses directly on your face. In the future, they also want to focus on user-generated content (UGC), which they will integrate into their articles on their blog.

That’s why content creation is essential for Maternia (321Linsen.de/VašeČočky.cz)

Leonie Bauer, copywriter & marketing specialist (GER, AT, CH) at Maternia

Content creation plays a major role in acquiring new customers and transferring information to existing customers in online contact lens trading. However, reasonable content creation can become very challenging for Maternia because the focus is first and foremost on the customer benefit. The content on our blog, glossary, and other guides are intended to be informative and consumed by a specific audience. This well-defined group of users represents many potential customers who are addressed by cleverly created content and together with relevant link building are essential for generating revenue.

How does Maternia create meaningful content?

Planning

At the beginning of the content creation, the target group has to be clearly defined. Another question is the type of article: Should the text clarify a known problem, give tips, or promote a new product?

Research

When doing research, finding a topic is always the main task. Important further questions are: which content is already available and which niches exist? An indispensable part of research is also a detailed keyword analysis and the determination of specific keywords.

Content creation

The actual content on the pages of our shop should be well-structured, short and succinctly written, as well as easy to understand. Very helpful is the implementation of images, infographics, lists and step-by-step instructions that increase the chance of featured snippets. The use of terms related to the chosen keyword also plays a major role in content optimization.

Final correction and distribution

After the content has been created, the content has to be checked by our optician. Internal linking also plays an important role in guiding our readers to other content and relevant products. At the end of an article, it is helpful to provide sources and references from well-known sites to build credibility and trust. Finally, the new content will be distributed on our Facebook channels by our social media team at Maternia to maximize coverage. We also distribute the contents via our newsletter.