History Niche Case Study: 10 Months to 35% Increase in Pageviews

This case study discusses how we started working on a content website in the history/ancient culture niche and immediately was able to grow it in terms of traffic, content, and revenue, also making sure we come down on expenses incurred.

Our efforts paid off quickly. Within 10 months, we increased pageviews by 35%. This growth happened between April 2023 and January 2024.

Our Growth Plan

We took over a history and ancient culture website in May 2023. The site was growing steadily, but its owner couldn't maximize its potential. Our goal was to increase traffic, content, and revenue while reducing expenses.

We began with a thorough SEO audit. We studied the site's operations and workflow. This helped us create both short-term and long-term strategies.

We divided our approach into immediate actions and long-term plans. This strategy allowed us to make fast improvements while setting up for future success. 

Immediate Implementations

‍1. Increased content frequency

We identified many unexplored keyword opportunities on the site. From day one, we doubled our content production. This strategy boosted traffic significantly and helped the site maintain rankings during Google updates. We focused on creating high-quality content, which Google favors.

‍2. No active link-building

Many SEO experts claim sites need active link-building to grow. We proved this isn't always necessary. The site already had a strong link profile and continued to gain organic links naturally. Instead of link building, we chose to focus our efforts on content quality and technical SEO improvements.

‍3. Leveraging the power of internal links

We enhanced the site's internal linking strategy. This involved creating topical clusters of related content and adding more relevant internal links throughout the site. We also developed a better site structure with no dead ends. These improvements had a significant positive impact on the site's performance.

4. Technical fixes

We prioritized finding and fixing technical issues. This included addressing problems like single-page indexing errors, slow page loading times, and basic cache implementation. We ensured that every technical aspect of the site was thoroughly optimized.

‍5. Ad optimization

We improved ad placement on pages for better performance. We also adjusted ad network settings to optimize loading times and increase RPM (Revenue Per Mille). We achieved this without changing the existing ad network or disrupting the overall setup.

 Long Term Strategies

‍1. Keyword clustering

We're creating topical authority clusters based on well-performing keywords. 

For example, if "How did the Second World War end" ranks well, we explore related topics like "How did the Second World War start" and "What kind of destruction was caused". 

This approach improved our ranking potential and established authority in specific niches.

‍2. Google Discover and web stories

We are in the process of optimizing and planning our content according to Google Discover guidelines. We will try some topics specifically for this section, similar to web stories going forward, to make sure we do not miss the latest trends and improvements.

‍3. Social media and YouTube integration

Activating social media handles for this site and creating YouTube videos that can be embedded into top-performing articles will not only help us diversify revenue better but also make this site more brandable and authoritative, just like Google likes it.

‍Conclusion

With the right short and long-term strategies, BlackBook Digital achieved significant growth in just 10 months for a history niche website. The team implemented both strategies to increase pageviews by 35%. 

Major tactics included increasing content production, improving internal linking, and fixing technical issues, all without active link-building. 

We also optimized ad placement and developed plans for keyword clustering, exploring new content formats, and expanding to social media and YouTube. These combined efforts led to improved traffic, revenue, and overall site authority in the history niche.