How our client went from page nine to page one of Google

Like it or not, Google rankings matter. The top result for any given search term has a click-through rate of almost 40%, but this drops to 18% for the second result and 10% for the third. With less than 1% of people willing to visit the second page of Google at all, businesses have to face a harsh reality- if you’re not on the first page you might as well be invisible. 

For Company Watch, this was a familiar problem. As a business, they were at the top of their game, but their position on Google didn’t reflect this. They had the skills and the knowledge to offer clients an incredible service, but many of these clients simply didn’t know they existed. Luckily, we knew just what to do. 

By combining compelling content with a targeted SEO strategy, we were able to secure Company Watch their rightful place on page one. Here’s a look at how we did it, and how we can do the same for you. 

Meet the client

Since 1998, Company Watch have been on a mission to help businesses avoid risky investments. They combine expert human analysis with sophisticated financial modelling to provide the most accurate possible risk predictions. Their H-Score® has predicted around 90% of public company insolvencies since 1998, while their forecasting tools allow clients to see how any given company would fare in a vast range of future economic scenarios. With a proven track record and a loyal customer base, they are truly leaders in their field. 

How we helped

We worked with Company Watch to design a six-month content strategy aimed at maximising web traffic. We began by asking them to come up with ten “umbrella” terms for which a high Google ranking was essential. These included “credit reference agency”, “company credit rating” and “credit rating report”. 

Next, Company Watch ran these terms through an SEO tool to generate variations of these keywords. These included “long-tail” keywords- commonly searched phrases containing these terms. By analysing the “SEO difficulty” of these keywords (the amount of competition for a given ranking), they were able to come up with four key phrases that would match popular searches without being too common to rank. 

These phrases formed the basis of our content plan. We dedicated one blog a month to each, optimising the titles and content for web searches. The result was impressive. Over the course of six months, we were able to move Company Watch from page nine to page one for several of these key search terms. By sharing the same content on social media, the Company Watch team were able to double their LinkedIn following. All of this meant more eyes on Company Watch and, ultimately, more clients. 

Read more about our social media strategy for Company Watch:

Our work with Company Watch is ongoing. The next step is to target shorter, more competitive keywords with the aim of achieving even higher traffic and rankings. This will involve writing longer articles, allowing us to mention these phrases more often than our competitors. We’re yet to see the results of this, but we’re confident that it will help Company Watch climb to even greater heights. 

Make every word count

SEO isn’t an exact science. Google is notoriously protective of its algorithm, but there are some simple steps you can take to ensure that your content has the maximum impact. These include:

• Focusing on long-tail keywords as well as short phrases.People often google full questions, so mirroring this format will increase your chances of a high ranking.This is why so many blog titles start with “How can I…?” or “What’s the best way to…?”  

• Including a meta description for every page. This is the short summary that appears under the page title in a search result. It’s your chance to seal the deal if a customer is debating whether or not to click.

• Writing a relevant alt tag for every image. This is a short description of the image that will appear if the image can’t be loaded. Besides making your website more accessible, an alt tag allows search engines to index your page based on images as well as written content.  

• Adding a clear URL slug to every page. This is the short piece of text that identifies individual pages within your website (e.g. the “/blog” in leancontent.co.uk/blog). A descriptive slug will make it easier for search engines to point clients to the most relevant content.

Don’t lose the human touch

Of course, ranking on Google is only half the battle. Getting your company onto page one will guarantee clicks, but these will be in vain if your content isn’t worth reading. It’s easy to shoehorn keywords into a blog, but customers can smell these tactics a mile away. 
The true skill comes in incorporating these words and phrases into genuinely compelling content. This is where we can help. We pride ourselves on writing blogs that grab the attention of humans as well as search engines. Get in touch today and reserve your place on page one!