Watch This If Your Website Gets Under 10k Visits/Month

Summary

This video script outlines a 3-stage roadmap for generating sustainable website traffic, emphasizing the importance of a repeatable strategy over fleeting traffic hacks. It details the process of keyword research, content creation aligned with search intent, and the significance of backlinks and site structure in SEO. The script also advises on diversifying traffic sources beyond Google to mitigate platform risks, suggesting tactics like podcast and listicle link building, and leveraging internal site structure for SEO advantage.

Takeaways

• 📈 The key to generating millions of monthly website visitors is following a 3-stage roadmap that makes traffic acquisition predictable and scalable.
• 🎯 Stage One focuses on adopting a repeatable strategy, emphasizing the importance of a strong foundation over temporary traffic hacks.
• 🎼 An analogy is made between learning a simple song on the guitar and mastering a complex solo, illustrating the need for a structured approach in acquiring traffic.
• 🌿 The script suggests creating evergreen content with SEO in mind, which provides consistent, compounding traffic over time.
• 🔍 Stage Two involves implementing SEO tactics, starting with keyword research to find topics that people are actively searching for.
• 🔑 Keyword research tools like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer are recommended to generate a comprehensive list of keywords.
• 💡 A 3-point checklist is provided for narrowing down keywords, including search demand, the likelihood of ranking, and business value.
• 🎯 The importance of matching the searcher's intent is highlighted, emphasizing the need to provide relevant and comprehensive content to rank higher in search results.
• 🔗 Backlinks are identified as a crucial part of the SEO puzzle, with tactics like podcast link building and listicle link building suggested to acquire them.
• 🌐 The fourth piece of the SEO puzzle is site structure, which involves using internal links to pass PageRank and enhance the authority of pages within the site.
• 🌐 Diversifying traffic sources in Stage Three is advised to mitigate risks associated with relying on a single platform for traffic.
• 🤝 Networking with other marketers and business owners is presented as a valuable strategy for growth, with an invitation to a global SEO and digital marketing conference.

Q & A

What is the main issue with most content creators not getting traffic from Google?

The main issue is not the tactics themselves, but rather the lack of a repeatable strategy that top performers follow to make traffic generation predictable and scalable.

What is the significance of adopting a repeatable strategy for traffic generation?

A repeatable strategy provides a strong foundation for content creation and traffic acquisition, ensuring consistent and sustainable growth in website visitors over time.

Why are traffic hacks not a sustainable solution for long-term traffic generation?

Traffic hacks may provide short-term spikes in traffic but they do not last, as they often rely on temporary or volatile methods that can't be consistently applied.

What is the difference between viral content and evergreen content in terms of traffic generation?

Viral content may generate large initial spikes of traffic but usually fades quickly, while evergreen content, optimized with SEO, provides consistent, compounding traffic over time.

What are the four pieces of the SEO puzzle for websites under 10,000 monthly visits?

The four pieces are keyword research, matching the intent of the searcher, backlinks, and site structure, each playing a crucial role in improving search engine rankings and traffic.

How does keyword research help in identifying topics that people are actually searching for?

Keyword research involves generating a list of broad keywords related to your niche, then using tools like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to find specific keywords with significant search demand.

Why is it important to choose keywords that a website has a realistic chance of ranking for?

Selecting achievable keywords ensures that efforts are focused on targets where the website can effectively compete, increasing the likelihood of ranking and driving traffic.

What is the role of backlinks in SEO and how can they give an edge to a website?

Backlinks are signals to Google that other websites find your content valuable, which can improve your site's authority and ranking. Strategies like podcast link building and listicle link building can help acquire these links.

How does site structure contribute to SEO and what is the concept of PageRank?

Site structure, through internal linking, helps distribute PageRank, a measure of a page's authority, throughout the site. This not only improves SEO but also enhances user navigation and experience.

Why is it important to diversify traffic sources beyond just search engines?

Diversifying traffic sources reduces reliance on a single platform and mitigates the risk of sudden traffic loss due to algorithm changes or platform updates.

What are some low-effort, high-reward traffic sources that can be explored after establishing an SEO foundation?

Repurposing existing SEO content for platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube can be a low-effort way to reach new audiences and increase traffic.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Building a Traffic Acquisition Strategy

This paragraph introduces the concept of a 3-stage roadmap for generating website traffic, emphasizing the importance of a repeatable strategy over short-lived traffic hacks. It uses the analogy of learning to play the guitar to illustrate the need for a solid foundation in traffic acquisition. The focus is on creating evergreen content through SEO for consistent and compounding traffic growth, aiming for 10,000 monthly visits. The stage 2 involves SEO tactics, starting with keyword research, using tools like Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer, and narrowing down keywords based on search demand and the website's authority. The goal is to identify keywords with business value that potential customers are likely to search for.

05:01

🔍 Mastering SEO Tactics and Keyword Research

The second paragraph delves deeper into SEO tactics, explaining the process of keyword research and the importance of matching the searcher's intent. It discusses how to use keyword research tools to generate a list of potential keywords and filter them based on search demand and the competition level, suggesting a strategy to only compete for keywords where similar authority websites are already ranked. The paragraph also highlights the significance of choosing keywords with business value and providing comprehensive answers to satisfy the primary and subsequent questions of the searcher. Additionally, it touches on the importance of backlinks as a ranking signal and offers strategies for obtaining them, such as podcast link building and listicle link building.

10:03

🌐 Enhancing SEO with Site Structure and Diversifying Traffic Sources

The final paragraph discusses the role of site structure in SEO, likening it to a mindmap that aids both search engines and users in navigating the site. It explains how internal links function as a form of guaranteed backlink that can pass PageRank to other pages, thus increasing their authority. The paragraph also shifts focus to the importance of diversifying traffic sources beyond search engines to mitigate risks associated with relying on a single platform. It suggests repurposing existing content for different platforms where the target audience is active and emphasizes the need to identify and focus on traffic sources that offer a high reward with low effort. The paragraph concludes with an invitation to a global SEO and digital marketing conference in Singapore, positioning networking as a key strategy for growth.

Keywords

💡Traffic Generation

Traffic generation refers to the process of attracting visitors to a website. In the video's context, it's about making this process predictable and scalable through a 3-stage roadmap. The script emphasizes the importance of a repeatable strategy over short-lived traffic hacks, illustrating this with the analogy of learning to play a simple song versus mastering a complex guitar solo.

💡Repeatable Strategy

A repeatable strategy is a foundational approach that can be consistently applied to achieve a goal. The video suggests that top performers in online traffic generation follow such a strategy. The script simplifies the decision-making process for choosing content types and traffic sources by comparing it to selecting between viral content with temporary spikes and evergreen content with consistent, long-term growth.

💡SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to a website through organic search engine results. The video outlines it as a critical component of the second stage in the traffic generation roadmap. It's described as a method to generate free, consistent, and compounding traffic over time, contrasting it with the temporary nature of traffic from social media or paid ads.

💡Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of identifying and analyzing search terms that people enter into search engines. In the video, it's the first piece of the SEO puzzle, where the script instructs viewers to generate a list of keywords related to their niche and then narrow down to those with search demand, realistic ranking potential, and business value.

💡Search Demand

Search demand refers to the number of times a keyword is searched for in a given period. The script explains that when selecting keywords for SEO, it's important to choose those with a decent number of monthly searches to ensure there's an audience interested in the content.

💡Website Authority

Website authority is a metric that indicates the influence and trustworthiness of a website in the eyes of search engines. The video uses the Domain Rating (DR) as an example to illustrate how to choose keywords that a site has a realistic chance of ranking for, suggesting to compete for keywords where websites of similar authority are already ranked.

💡Business Value

Business value in the context of the video refers to the potential of a keyword to attract customers interested in the product or service offered. The script advises viewers to select keywords that a potential customer would search for, ensuring that the traffic generated is not only consistent but also relevant to the business goals.

💡Searcher Intent

Searcher intent is the purpose behind a user's search query. The video emphasizes the importance of matching the searcher's intent by providing relevant and comprehensive content. It uses the example of answering the query 'how much do guitar lessons cost' by providing not just the price but also additional information that a potential customer might be interested in.

💡Backlinks

Backlinks, also known as inbound or incoming links, are hyperlinks from one website to another. The script positions backlinks as a prominent ranking signal for Google and suggests tactics for acquiring them, such as podcast link building and listicle link building, to improve a site's SEO.

💡Site Structure

Site structure refers to the way a website is organized in terms of its hierarchy and navigation. The video describes it as the fourth piece of the SEO puzzle, explaining that a well-structured site with proper internal linking not only enhances user experience but also helps in passing PageRank, thus boosting the site's authority and search rankings.

💡Diversify Traffic Sources

Diversifying traffic sources means obtaining visitors from multiple platforms rather than relying on a single source. The script discusses the risks associated with depending on one platform and encourages exploring various traffic sources once a solid SEO foundation is in place, emphasizing the importance of testing and learning from each attempt.

Highlights

Top performers follow a 3-stage roadmap for scalable and predictable traffic generation.

Adopting a repeatable strategy is crucial for long-term traffic success.

Traffic hacks are temporary; building a strong foundation is essential.

Evergreen content with SEO generates consistent, compounding traffic over time.

Choosing the right type of content and traffic sources is key to a successful strategy.

Keyword research involves finding topics with actual search demand.

Use tools like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer for comprehensive keyword lists.

Narrow down keywords based on search demand, competition, and business value.

Compete for keywords where similar authority websites are already ranked.

Consider business value when selecting keywords to attract the ideal customer.

Matching the searcher's intent is crucial for ranking in Google's search results.

Provide comprehensive answers to satisfy the primary and secondary needs of visitors.

Backlinks are a prominent ranking signal for Google and crucial for traffic.

Podcast link building and listicle link building are effective tactics for acquiring backlinks.

Reverse engineer competitors' backlinks to find opportunities for your own site.

Site structure and internal linking are vital for SEO and user experience.

Diversify traffic sources to reduce risk and increase reach.

SEO should be complemented with other traffic sources for growth.

Networking with marketers and business owners can accelerate growth.

Attending industry conferences can provide valuable connections and insights.

Transcripts

How do some people get millions of monthly visitors to their website, while over 96% of

content gets zero traffic from Google?

The problem isn’t tactics.

It’s that top performers follow a proven 3-stage roadmap that makes traffic generation

predictable and scalable.

And I’m going to teach you how to do it in under 14 minutes.

And it all begins at stage One – adopting a repeatable strategy.

Now, there’s plenty of ways to hack traffic, but traffic hacks don’t last long.

And it’s like that for most things in life.

For instance, if you wanted to learn a simple song on the guitar, you could probably read

a chord sheet, practice a few times, and eventually get good at that song.

But what if you wanted to perform a complex guitar solo?

Well, repeating the same practice strategy probably wouldn’t work.

You’d need to learn music theory, practice scales, advanced techniques, and perhaps

even work with a teacher to master the intricate parts of the solo.

So building your repeatable traffic acquisition strategy needs to start with a strong foundation.

And that involves choosing the right type of content to create and the right sources

to get traffic from.

And let me make that decision dead simple for you.

This traffic chart is typical when your strategy revolves around creating viral content.

You might get big initial spikes of traffic from social media or paid ads,

but it almost always ends up fading to nothing, taking you back to square one.

Now, compare that with this traffic graph which is typical for a site that creates

evergreen content and generates their traffic through search engine optimization, or SEO.

Traffic isn’t exactly “instant”, but it’s free, consistent and it compounds over time,

helping you take steps closer to your goal of getting 10,000 monthly visits.

So, now that we know the strategy to get 10k visits per month, we need to go and actually

do the work to get those visitors to our site.

And that all happens in stage 2: The tactics.

Now, some people get intimidated by SEO they think that it’s too technical.

But when you’re under 10,000 monthly visits, all you need to do is focus on filling

in the four pieces of the SEO puzzle.

The first piece being “keyword research” – which is the process of finding topics

that people are actually searching for.

And this process starts by generating your big list of keywords.

To do that, brainstorm some broad keywords related to your niche.

For example, if I had a site about learning guitar, I would write down keywords like

"guitar," "fingerpicking," and "strumming."

Next, paste those into a keyword research tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer and then

go to a Keyword ideas report like the Matching terms report.

And just like that, we have our big list of keywords.

Now, if you don’t have an Ahrefs account, you can use our free Keyword Generator

which I’ll link up in the description.

Alright, so with our big list of keywords, we need to narrow it down to keywords

that are actually worth going after.

And to determine this, you can use a 3-point checklist with the first checkpoint being

search demand.

Now, this is easy because keyword research tools show you the number of monthly searches

for a given keyword.

And all you want to do is make sure there’s a decent number of monthly searches and

that there’s some consistency month over month.

But the second checkpoint is actually much more important – and that’s to choose keywords that

you have a realistic chance of ranking for.

And while there’s no definitive way to quantify this, a simple rule you can set for yourself is to

only compete for keywords where websites of a similar authority are already ranked.

To figure this out, go to our free Website Authority checker and type in your domain

to check your website’s level of “authority.”

For example, my guitar site is pretty new and has a Domain Rating, or DR of just 1.

Now, whatever your site’s DR is, add 10 to it.

And that number is kind of arbitrary, but it sets an upper threshold to ensure you’re

only competing against websites in the same league as you —at least for now.

Now, let’s take this number back to our big list of keywords.

And I’m going to set a “lowest DR” filter with a value up to our upper threshold

number and hit Apply.

And if we expand the search results for one of these keywords, you’ll see that

there are indeed pages ranking here in the top 5 with low website authority scores.

Now, given that you can execute on the rest of the SEO puzzle, you will rank for keywords that

get searched regularly, and therefore, you can easily get to 10,000 monthly visits.

But before we get to solving the rest of the SEO puzzle, we need to talk about the third

checkpoint for keyword research, which is all about choosing keywords with business value.

Go and look through your list of keywords, and for each one, ask yourself: would someone

searching for this topic be interested in my product or service?

For example, if my guitar education site sells courses or private lessons,

a keyword like “how to play f chord on guitar” is definitely going to attract my ideal customer.

So would keywords like “how much are guitar lessons,” “what is a guitar riff,” and so on.

These keywords all hit the sweet spot so they’re worth going after.

Now, a keyword like “what is the most expensive guitar in the world” has some

search demand and is possible to rank for.

But it doesn’t exactly sound like something a potential customer would be searching for.

So, go through your entire list, save the good keywords that check all points and you’re ready

to go to unlock the second piece of the SEO puzzle which is to match the intent of the searcher.

Google’s job is to give searchers the most relevant results to any given query.

This means that the pages ranking in the top 3 positions are what Google believes

searchers want to see for that query.

For example, if I search for “how much do guitar lessons cost,” you’ll see that Google

shows the answer directly in the search results.

And if we click into that page, you’ll see the author gives you the answer within

the first 10 words of the blog post because they understand that that’s what searchers want.

Now, copying what the top ranking page did doesn’t mean you’ll outrank them.

Matching the searcher’s intent by providing a price range fast is just a prerequisite to even

have a chance at ranking.

But if you go a step further and think about what else the searcher might want to know,

you may be able to give yourself an edge.

Like, what determines this price range?

How do I know if a teacher is actually good?

What can I expect to learn in my first few lessons?

And is it going to be worth the money?

These are subtopics that you’d want to cover in your post so you can make

it as comprehensive as possible.

Because ultimately, we want to give visitors the best possible experience so they either

convert or leave satisfied with the answer they got.

So when creating content, go in with the general mindset to immediately satisfy

the primary desire for your visitor, and then continue to satisfy their next 5 questions.

And if you do that, while nailing the more technical parts of content writing for SEO,

which we’ve got a step-by-step tutorial for, then you’ll definitely be able to nail

this piece of the SEO puzzle.

But in all honesty, there’s usually not a whole lot you can do to be better than competitors

for factual informational topics like “how much do guitar lessons cost”

or “how to play f chord on guitar”.

And that’s where the two missing pieces to the SEO puzzle are going to give you

an edge… with the third piece being backlinks.

Backlinks are when a web page links to another page on a different website.

And links have been one of Google’s most prominent ranking signals from the beginning.

And if you’re not getting a lot of traffic now, a lack of links is likely a big part of the reason why.

So let’s fix that and start by getting links to the easiest page on your site: the homepage.

Now, the first tactic you can use is podcast link building.

And because podcast hosts usually have a website, they often link to the guest’s

homepage and socials on an episode page.

So, by getting interviewed, you’re pretty much guaranteeing yourself a link.

Just go to Google and search for “best [whatever your niche is] podcast”.

Then click through to some relevant pages, see if there are any podcasts that you might

be a good guest on, and then contact the host with your pitch.

The second tactic you can use is listicle link building.

And this is when you try and get mentioned in “best of” lists in your niche.

So I’ll go to Google and search for “best online guitar lessons” and I’ll click through to this page.

And all I’m going to do is look for a reason why my site would be a good fit for their post.

So as an example, if this site changed from a free to a paid model, I could reach out to

the author to let them know and suggest my site as a replacement with free forever online lessons

Now, the final method you can use is to reverse engineer your competitors backlinks.

So again, assuming Justin Guitar is a similar site to mine, I’ll take that URL, and put it into

Ahrefs’ free Backlink Checker.

I'll set the mode to “exact URL” since we’re looking for homepage backlinks and run the search.

And right away, you’ll see up to 100 backlinks pointing at that page – at least in the free Backlink Checker.

But the full version of this report in Site Explorer, will show you thousands more backlinks with

plenty of filters to narrow down your list of prospects.

For example, I can search for the word “best” in the titles of referring pages, and in just a few

seconds, I’ll find over 200 pages that Justin Guitar is mentioned and linked on,

which are opportunities for me.

Now, homepage backlinks are just foundational and every site should build them if they don’t

already have them.

But I have two harsh truths for you.

Harsh truth #1. You’re going to need backlinks to the actual pages you want to rank.

And harsh truth #2. It’s not easy to get backlinks. especially to mundane pages like

“how to play the f chord on guitar.”

But the good news is that you can still rank high in Google for some topics without direct links

to your pages.

And that’s done by unlocking the fourth piece to the SEO puzzle: site structure.

Your website is connected via internal links, which are hyperlinks from one page on your

website to another page on the same site.

And when it’s mapped out, it kind of resembles a mindmap, which helps both search engines

and users navigate through your site.

Now, not only is site structure important for user experience, but internal links are

the only type of backlink that’s guaranteed because you are in full control of your site.

And the reason why they’re helpful from an SEO standpoint is because of how backlinks work.

So backlinks essentially give “power” to a page through something called “PageRank”.

Basically, if a page has tons of quality links pointing at it, that page’s PageRank increases,

making it more authoritative in the eyes of Google.

Now, if that page links to 2 other pages, it’s actually able to pass some of that

PageRank which also helps to power those pages too.

And if that page links to 2 other pages, then it’s possible that more residual value

can be passed down – but to a lesser degree.

Now, if you carefully structure your internal links, you can maximize the impact

of your site’s backlinks while giving users a great experience with your content.

For example, I might create a page on guitar chords.

And on that page, I’d link to all relevant pages like “how to play A chord”, "B chord," "C chord" etc.

So PageRank can be passed via. internal links as these pages earn backlinks.

Now, rinsing and repeating the steps in SEO can easily help you reach 10,000 monthly visits

and can actually take you into the millions of monthly visits depending on your niche.

But getting traffic through search engines shouldn’t be your end game.

And this takes us to stage 3: diversify your traffic sources.

When you put all your traffic in one basket, whether that’s the Google,

social media or whatever basket, you’re taking on unnecessary risk.

Any of these platforms can take away your traffic overnight be it through an algorithm

update, a platform update, or even a shadow ban.

And as unjust as it might feel, they have every right to do it unapologetically.

But the good news is that you aren’t starting from scratch anymore because your SEO machine

should be doing its job – sending you consistent and compounding traffic.

Now, unlike before when we chose just one traffic source, this is a good time to

test multiple traffic sources.

But there’s a couple things that you should consider before choosing.

#1. Your target audience should spend time on whatever platform

you’re trying to get traffic from.

And #2. You’ll want to choose low effort traffic sources with high reward potential.

And I want to expand on this a bit, starting with “low effort.”

Now, because our traffic foundation was built with SEO, you should have a ton of content on your site

that can be repurposed to different platforms.

For example, this post on 56 Google search statistics is a perfect piece of content to

repurpose into a Twitter thread and LinkedIn post – two platforms where

our target audience spends a lot of time.

Now, this post on finding competitor keywords can also be repurposed for Twitter and Linkedin,

but it would probably be better as a YouTube video – another platform

on where our target audience spends time.

Now, whichever traffic sources you try, give them a fair shot, learning from each previous attempt.

And as you do this, you’re going to notice that you’re better at creating content for some

platforms than others.

And that other platforms have disproportionate effort to reward ratios.

And once you identify the best platforms to expand to, focus your efforts there,

while keeping the SEO train still running.

Now, one of the best ways to grow fast is to network with a group of like minded marketers

and business owners.

And there’s no better place to do that than in Singapore!

In October, we’ll be hosting our first ever global SEO and digital marketing conference

where you’ll get to hang with me and some of the brightest minds in our industry.

Early bird tickets are still available, so I’ll leave a link in the description.

Hope to see you there!