The diet industry is, notoriously, a trend-based industry. Diets gain popularity at an exponentially rapid rate before fizzling out over time.

When interest in the keto diet spiked in 2018, a soon-to-be Growth Machine client knew they had to capitalize on the wave. At the time, the company competed with just one other keto product brand, allowing them to amass $100MM in sales their first two years in business and attract 100,000+ sessions in monthly traffic.

There was just one, glaring problem: Educational posts on the website were quickly becoming outdated, which didn’t align with the company’s commitment to high-quality content. What’s more, the company knew they were on the cusp of an explosion of new readers — and wanted to capitalize on keto’s growing popularity.

The brand partnered with Growth Machine to optimize and update their library of existing content, invest in a link building strategy, and launch a new content plan. In just four months, the brand experienced a 303% increase in web traffic and held nearly 2,000 #1 keywords. By the end of year one, the company extended their initial 12-month contract to two years. Here’s how we did it.

The Business Problem: Housing a Library of Outdated Content While Experiencing an Exponential Increase in Traffic 

After launching in 2016, the brand experienced tremendous growth in just two years — both in terms of sales and web traffic. The keto diet gained momentum throughout 2018 — hitting 100 on the Google Trends index in December of 2018. 

With an already established brand presence, considerable market share, and domain authority, the brand understood that high traffic growth was theirs to lose.

The brand envisioned becoming the go-to educational hub for the keto diet on the internet. When the brand partnered with Growth Machine in March 2018, they had two primary objectives:

1. Optimize and improve existing content: The keto diet, like much of the diet industry, can be overwhelming to beginners and is plagued with misinformation. To better serve keto newcomers, the brand wanted to revamp their extensive existing library of resources into clear, highly sourced, science-backed content to prevent confusion and provide practical tips. Through the rewriting process, all content would be optimized for SEO to capitalize on new searches. 
2. Broaden their content library to outrank competitors: The client wished to better serve keto diet beginners by publishing high-quality content on related topics. By continuing to publish new, SEO-optimized content, they hoped to outrank competitors on Google.

The Strategy: Optimizing on Existing Content to Capitalize on a Spike in Interest 

Our content strategy was to capitalize on the growing interest in the keto diet while positioning the brand for longevity — not just explosive popularity. 

Knowing there is a time limit to diet trends, we designed an aggressive content plan and link building strategy to build domain authority while getting science-backed content into the hands of readers.

The Keywords: Optimizing Existing Content While Targeting New Keywords 

When the project first launched, we focused exclusively on optimizing old content, including keto recipes and information guides. The aim of each optimization was two-fold:

1. Improve existing content: Our subject matter experts rewrote existing blog posts to “make keto easy,” as the client requested. The writers added new, up-to-date scientific studies to a heavy list of sources, added new infographics, and improved paragraph and blog structure to make each article easy to digest for beginners.
2. Target short-tail, highly competitive keywords: The original content plan focused on just five umbrella concepts: keto, collagen, MCT oil, intermittent fasting, and low-carb. All existing posts were optimized for short-tail, related keywords, putting them in the best position to outrank competitors on Google.

As the project expanded from one year into two, we saw an opportunity to incorporate new content into the content plan. We targeted longer-tail keywords with less competition, writing complementary topics including low-carb, meal planning, and fitness. These topics were less saturated on Google and helped build up domain authority for the client. 

The Pace: Capitalizing on a Finite Time Frame

Due to the nature of the industry, we knew we were racing against a clock — and yet, we had no way to gauge when interest in the keto diet would subside. Our team ghostwrote all of this content for high-profile members of the brand (including the company founder), so there was the added pressure of rewriting misleading or ambiguous posts as quickly as possible.

Therefore, we implemented a highly aggressive cadence for optimizing old content. At the beginning of our partnership, we optimized about 15 posts per month for Perfect Keto. As optimization opportunities wound down and we pivoted our focus to new content, we shifted the priorities to deliver mostly new posts and a few optimizations per month.

The Link Building: Building Up Domain Authority 

When the brand first launched in 2016, there was just one other keto product brand on the market. When the diet went viral, the brand wanted to outrank their rapidly growing list of competitors on Google.

To rank within the coveted #1 spot, we knew optimization and publishing new content wouldn’t be enough. Instead, the client invested in link building throughout the entirety of their relationship, helping them reach #1 for 1,800+ keyphrases with 100+ featured snippets.

The Results: A 303% Increase in Traffic in 4 Months and Lasting Brand Authority

Growth Machine’s content and link building strategy caused an exponential increase in web traffic almost immediately. Less than four months after partnering with us, the client hit 369,391 total monthly sessions — a 303% increase from the start of our relationship.

Throughout our partnership, the brand was able to claim the #1 spot on Google for 1,800+ keywords with 100+ featured snippets and 1,400+ People Also Ask features. Today, five years after the start of our relationship, the brand still ranks #1 on Google for 1,500+ competitive keywords, even beating out Amazon for product-related keywords. 

Yes, the trend wavered, but the brand authority remained.

Lastly, our writers included strong calls-to-action at the end of each blog post, whether purchasing a product or signing up for their email list. Over time, this helped the brand grow their email list to a jaw-dropping 1 million subscribers.

What Could You Do With 2K #1 Keywords?

Our calculated SEO and link building strategy allowed the brand to quadruple their web traffic in a mere four months. In less than a year, the company had the #1 spot on Google for 1,800+ highly competitive keywords with 100+ featured snippets. This allowed the brand to achieve their goal of capitalizing on the exponential growth of keto diet searches while outranking competitors.

Even though their blog might be seeing less traffic than the keto heyday of 2018, our SEO strategy helped this brand cement themselves as the go-to authority in the keto space with long-lasting results.

To see how Growth Machine can design a one-of-a-kind content, SEO, and link building strategy to grow your organic traffic, schedule a consultation. You just might be able to capitalize on the current trends and see your brand shoot to the top for your desired keywords.