29 Jan Using PPC to Uncover Untapped Low–hanging Keywords for SEO Growth
Starting from zero and building a website’s traffic can be difficult if you’re unsure how to go about it, especially if you operate in an industry where there are brands already dominating the SERPs. But there are ways to uncover content topics before they’ve become common knowledge, making them incredibly useful to establish your business as the authority on that topic.
It is said that 15% of all queries on Google are brand new, highlighting the opportunity for newly-established brands to make ground on their competitors. Discover how I used pay-per-click marketing to unearth hidden topics perfect for SEO content, surging my client to the top of the first page for a variety of industry-related terms.
Who is Dr David Marlin?
Dr David Marlin is the founder of AskAnimalWeb.com (formally drdavidmarlin.com), a website designed to connect horse owners, riders, and trainers with experts when looking for advice on all things equine-related. This included educating people about the best equipment, supplements, devices, and products for their horses, but backed by scientific data. Since rebranding, they now cover a breadth of animal wealthfare topics.
The Problem
Dr David Marlin’s team came to Amanda White Digital wanting to find a way to get their scientific research out to the world. Operating in the animal welfare and care industry, they have created a website designed to foster a community that could ask whatever equine-related questions they may have and get them answered by real, accredited professionals. Dr David Marlin’s team wanted to get the website and community in front of new eyes, looking to grow its user base to utilise the membership model they had implemented on the site. The theory was more users equals more memberships.
The problem was the Animal care industry and more specifically, the equine industry, it is widely dominated by the same brands across search. In order to break through and get in front of a new audience, they needed an approach that was out of the box.
The problem was the businesses operating in this space, who widely dominated the search engine results pages. The first page for common questions was full of brands trying to sell their products that weren’t strictly ethical, or they were suggesting advice that was not accurate. To do our part to improve animal welfare, we needed to get ahead of them in order to provide people with the correct answers and the most up-to-date research-led solutions.
The Solution
In order to break through on search engine results pages dominated by long-established brands, we needed to take advantage of the search queries not being picked up by these brands and their SEO tools. We knew people had questions that were not yet being answered, they were considered too niche and too new to be identified as opportunities yet.
As David Marlin is already an authority on these topics within the industry, we wanted to make Dr David Marlin the figurehead of this information in online search too. Somewhere, people who have what they deem a ‘niche’ query can ask and get reliable and trustworthy information.
To make this dream a reality, we put together a strategy that consisted of topic clusters full of common horse ailments that we knew were being searched for. As what they were exactly searching for was a mystery, we needed to find a way to access the finite details. A great example of what we did was take the start of a question like “Can I feed my horse…”, and put this into a PPC campaign using broad match keywords to identify the questions they’re asking.
To begin with, we identified a few key areas that we wanted to make strides in first. Those topics were ulcers, asthma and heatwaves, all in relation to horses. The plan was to add these simple broad match keywords into a search campaign and let Google do the heavy lifting, identifying the questions asked.
This wasn’t your typical PPC campaign used for getting conversions, it was our way of leveraging the insights Google search campaigns give you to elevate Dr David Marlin’s organic search presence.
It didn’t take long to return valuable information. Within a few months of running, the campaign had returned hundreds of queries, which we then exported and sorted by most frequently asked. We then used this information as the basis for our SEO articles, ones that we knew people would be searching for because they were answering the exact questions our users were asking. This data was obtained for as little as 20p per click.
The next step was to create in-depth, expertly curated, and perfectly answered articles that answered the questions asked by the user. However, when it comes to becoming a point of authority in an industry that revolves around animal health, you have to go above and beyond to establish topical authority. Thankfully, Dr David Marlin had long-standing authority in the animal welfare space, built up over years of research, webinars and events. This meant we were able to harness his expertise and authenticity and pair it with the help of his team to bring in other industry experts to expand the library of content on the website.
When a user had a query about their horse, it was no longer just a case of asking Google for the answer, we were becoming known for the place that had the most up-to-date, science-backed answers. Users would immediately come to us to seek clarification, as opposed to trawling the search engine results.
We heavily utilised Google search to mine the queries that users were asking in real time about their animals. Uncovering seasonal queries regarding eating frozen grass to how to cool down your horse in a heatwave.
As soon as the organic content was driving people to the website, it was then a matter of remarketing to these people to ultimately increase website subscriptions. As the brand established more authority, we sought to utilise Google Ads and Meta Ads to target the users who had engaged with the organic content. In addition, we used email nurture sequences to reach them through a different medium.
Since working together, the Dr David Marlin brand has gone from strength to strength and has recently rebranded to ‘Ask Animalweb’ where the brand will be covering a wider variety of animal questions, not just equine.
Results & Benefits
When Dr David Marlin’s team began working with us in June 2022, the aim was to drive organic traffic to their website, with the ultimate goal of becoming a point of authority in the animal care and welfare sector as well as increasing the number of subscriptions.
By June 2023 organic traffic was up 98.80% and increased by an additional 16.73% the following year. During this time, the number of subscriptions steadily grew, thanks to a stream of in-depth articles, webinars and guest pieces with industry experts. The number of subscriptions peaked in February 2023, with several hundred members joining the site on a paid basis.
For a relatively small budget, brands can uncover the 15% of brand-new queries that are searched each day, as they happen, thanks to the use of a PPC campaign. Proved to be particularly helpful for small or newly-established brands looking to get a foothold on the SERPs.
What the Animalweb Team Had to Say
“The Animalweb team looked to Amanda and her team for guidance and understanding of SEO and how to grow our online reach. We needed a forward-thinking and reliable team that would take the time to understand our business and what we were trying to achieve”.
“We feel Amanda’s team not only helped improve and better our online business, they actually helped guide us to deliver information and advice that real-world animal owners and lovers needed! We can now answer their real-life questions and concerns! Not just the ones we could think of. We continue to work with Amanda because she is always thinking of the next thing we can do to drive the business, she is an integral cog that pushes this business forward – and it means we can continue to help and support more animals and their owners”.
Want To Get Found On Search?
If your business is looking to make the most of search, whether you’re an existing business or you’re just getting started, let’s talk. Get in touch to find out more about working together.
