Go Big or Go Home - BrightonSEO April 2013

go big or go home…

Hannah Smith@hannah_bo_banna

…a phrase usually used to

goad someone into an

outlandish or awesome act

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

…actually often said act is pretty dumb

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@hannah_bo_banna

today’s not about

big drinking

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today’s about

big content

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WTF?!

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expensivecontent

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WTF?!

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takes more than

40 hours to create

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plus

further timeto outreach

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sounds like a gamble?

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funnily

enough

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I used to be a betting shop manager

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gambling is a

mug’s game

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which presents something

of a problem

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because investing in

big content

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is a major

gamble

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and I am

risk averse

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this is the story of howI learned to embrace

gambling

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but first, some context…

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it was always a competitive niche…

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Jan 2012: we’d been working

together for over a year…

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‘small’

content

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+ some guest blogging

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consistent

results

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then@hannah_bo_banna

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it got real@hannah_bo_banna

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the stuff we were doing

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playing it

safe

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small

content

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small

gamble

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small

reward

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these consistent

results

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were not going to be

enough

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to really

compete

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the client was

happy

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the client was

happy

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the client was

happy

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but we were on

borrowed time

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go big or

go home?

@hannah_bo_banna

sounds

risky

@hannah_bo_banna

remember, I’m

risk averse

@hannah_bo_banna

but@hannah_bo_banna

is it really a

gamble?

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maybe not when you’re the

agency

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but you still need to

persuade

the client…

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they are the ones that stand to

lose

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they agreed to a test

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don’t expect the client to

pay more

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we pitched to go

slower

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moved from a 4 week content cycle

to an 8 week content cycle

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we absorbed some

risk

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we

over-delivered

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like

crazy

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we

figured

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if we could

proveit worked

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we could pitch for

moremoney later

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it was a

gamble

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but that nag

romped home

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@hannah_bo_banna

148linking root domains

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what happened next

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it’s not about going

bigonce

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101linking root domains

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79linking root domains

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74linking root domains

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197linking root domains

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55linking root domains

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188linking root domains

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6linking root domains(don’t panic, it’s new)

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it’s not been the

smoothestride

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Socia

l Media

Producti

vity

AdWord

sHirin

g

Word

Press

Blogging

Google Analy

tics

Email (N

ew)0

50

100

150

200

250

Linking Root Domains

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however

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per £1 invested in

content & outreach

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we’re now building more than

double

the number of links

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we’re twice as

effectivenow as when we were

playing it safe

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but it’s not just about

links@hannah_bo_banna

results you actually careabout

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Jan 2012

versusJan 2013

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improved rankings

for head terms

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45% increasein organic traffic

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increasedconversions

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conversions are

money#justsayin

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happyclient

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@hannah_bo_banna

5 tips for going big or how to avoid going home

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

your content needs to support the brand’s

positioning

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in order to get

sign off

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& in order to be

repeatable

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‘whacky’ideas

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cost too much

time

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& are hard to

repeat

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evergreen content is far

less risky

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@hannah_bo_banna

use your best idea

first

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but have plenty more in your

back pocket

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it’s not about going

bigonce

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@hannah_bo_banna

set benchmarks for

‘success’

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beforelaunch

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don’t believe the

hype

@hannah_bo_banna

“great content produces

out-sizedreturns”

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one cold

email

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sadly, that only happens

sometimes

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great content gets you

top-tierguest posts

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a word of warning

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I was hoping to build a

flywheel

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#naive

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nevertheless

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investing in

big content

@hannah_bo_banna

is a major

gamble

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that can

pay off

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& if you too are in a

rut

@hannah_bo_banna

small

content

@hannah_bo_banna

small

gamble

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small

reward

@hannah_bo_banna

& it’s not

enough

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to really

compete

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@hannah_bo_banna

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@hannah_bo_banna

hannah.smith@distilled.net

@hannah_bo_banna

Caffeine Addict

SEOmoz Associate

Writer for State of Search & SEO Chicks

HANNAH SMITH

Principal Consultant, Distilled

Image Credits

Shots - http://www.thethirstypig.com/2011/01/13/100-shots-at-blue-frog-%E8%93%9D%E8%9B%99/Please drink responsibly - http://lmaotwitpics.com/2012/12/27/drink-responsibly/Ladbrokes - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaggers/8047471537/sizes/l/F*ck Yeah - http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669791/infographic-the-rise-of-tumblrs-fuck-yeah-movement1 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/204714598/sizes/l/in/set-72157594159394280/2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/5489483429/sizes/l/in/set-72157594159392957/3 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/94877877/sizes/l/in/set-72157594159391763/4 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/5122443605/sizes/l/in/set-72157594159390514/5 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/4322212584/sizes/l/in/set-72157594159389491/Clock - http://digitalbloggers.com/gregfionascott/how-to-stop-procrastinating/Your best shot - http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessicahagy/2012/10/04/40-things-to-say-before-you-die/2/Go big or go home - http://kristiehuey.com/GO-BIG

@hannah_bo_banna