90-Day Marketing Challenge – Mini-Update

Yesterday marked the half-way point for Month 1 of the 90-Day Content Marketing Challenge and I wanted to share a small update with you…

First, a disclaimer: it is wayyyyyy too early to get any kind of a definitive feel for the long-term results of this undertaking. That said, however, I thought maybe what I’ve seen so far would give you a bit of encouragement.

Here’s are a few results so far…

1. # of new visitors to the site (thru Sept 15) is 50% higher than for the entire month of August (which was double July). Granted, this is a fairly new site – and it is easier to double a small number than a large one… but these results are still encouraging.
2. # of page views have nearly doubled over the month of August, as well.
3. # of new visitors for my finance site has reached the same level as August (entire month), but the number of pages viewed per visit has skyrocketed from just over 2 pages in August to nearly 9.4 so far in September.

For WebCopyResults.com – Half the time, twice the results. A really good start.

But is it sustainable?  Time will tell.

At this point, it is too early to credit anything to the long-term benefits of content marketing.  I am just now starting to see search engine results for articles I wrote last spring – but I find that by itself very, very encouraging. If a handful of marginally optimized articles I put on a low ranking site 6 months ago (and forgot about) are now consistently returning Google, Yahoo and Bing search results – I can only imagine how things will be 6 months from now if I remain committed to producing quality, optimized content on a consistent ongoing basis.

That by itself is enough motivation to keep me on track with writing for my own projects (in addition to writing for paying clients). Prior to this exercise, my own projects were always the first to be put on the back burner. I now realize if I don’t make the time for what matters to me, I certainly won’t “find” it.

So, if the content itself isn’t driving the increase in traffic – what is? I believe there are two main reasons for the increase in traffic, thus far:

1. Visiting and commenting on related blogs and forums. One community that has been invaluable to me is Lynn Terry’s Mastermind Group and general forum. Not only do I learn something new (and valuable) every time I visit, but the support and sense of community there is phenomenal. The other members of the group really supported the launch of the 90-Day Content Marketing Challenge by Tweeting, Stumbling, Digging, etc… Which leads to the second factor…
2. Creating “Buzz.” The 90-Day Content Marketing Challenge is a live, real-time case study that could succeed – or fail. There was a definite spike of traffic around its launch because it was new and maybe a little different.

These two factors should be fairly easy to replicate in your own business. If you want to bounce some ideas around, leave a comment below and I’d be more than happy to brainstorm with you.

Til Next Time,

P.S. If you haven’t checked out Lynn Terry’s Private Mastermind Group yet – I can’t recommend it strongly enough. I promise the information, ideas and access to FREE resources you will receive will MORE than make up for the cost of membership.  Check it out!