Great Learning, an established e-learning platform, offers a range of professional and higher education courses. However, despite its diverse offerings and expert-driven content, the platform was struggling with traffic, maintaining just 10,000 sessions per month. The challenge was clear: increase organic traffic, generate higher visibility, and drive targeted users to the site. By developing a strong content and SEO strategy, I was able to scale this traffic to over 1 million sessions per month.

Problem Statement

While Great Learning was offering industry-relevant courses, it faced several key challenges:

• Low organic traffic: The website was receiving only 10,000 sessions per month, limiting its ability to reach potential learners.
• Poor visibility for relevant keywords: The site was not ranking for critical high-volume keywords, resulting in a lack of visibility in search engines.
• Unoptimized content: Content on the site lacked SEO optimization and was not sufficiently targeted to capture the search intent of users.

The goal was to increase organic traffic and establish Great Learning as an authoritative figure in the education sector.

Approach: Building a Strong Content and SEO Strategy

I approached the challenge by devising a comprehensive content and SEO strategy built around five pillars:

1. Keyword Research and Content Planning
2. On-Page Optimization
3. Creating Value-Driven Content
4. Technical SEO Improvements
5. Backlink and Outreach Strategy

1. Keyword Research and Content Planning

To ensure that Great Learning’s content aligned with user search intent and catered to the right audience, the first step was comprehensive keyword research. I used tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google Keyword Planner to identify high-volume keywords with low to medium competition. Key considerations included:

• Short-tail and long-tail keywords: While targeting high-volume short-tail keywords such as “Data Science courses” and “AI certification,” I also focused on long-tail variations like “best data science certification for working professionals” to capture specific intent.
• Topic clustering: I categorized the keywords into clusters based on themes, creating topical authority. For instance, all keywords related to data science were grouped into a “Data Science Hub,” and similar hubs were created for machine learning, cloud computing, and digital marketing.
• Competitor analysis: Studying competitors allowed me to identify gaps in their content strategies. I uncovered keywords they were underperforming in and ensured Great Learning capitalized on these opportunities.

2. On-Page Optimization

With a solid keyword plan, I then shifted focus to on-page optimization to ensure every piece of content on the website was well-optimized for search engines. Key tactics included:

• Meta tags and descriptions: I rewrote meta titles and descriptions for all key pages, ensuring they were both keyword-optimized and compelling to encourage high click-through rates (CTR).
• Header tags (H1, H2, H3): Structured headers were used to improve readability and optimize for featured snippets. For example, a page about “AI courses” was divided into subheadings like “Benefits of AI Courses” and “Top AI Certifications.”
• Internal linking: I introduced a systematic internal linking structure. This not only helped search engines crawl the site better but also allowed users to navigate between related courses seamlessly, enhancing the user experience.
• Optimized content length: Research showed that Google prefers longer, in-depth content, so I ensured that cornerstone content pieces were at least 2,000 words, incorporating relevant keywords in a natural flow.

3. Creating Value-Driven Content

Content was at the heart of this strategy. Rather than simply focusing on driving traffic, I prioritized value-driven, educational content to help potential learners find what they were looking for. The key components of the content strategy were:

• Educational guides and how-tos: I developed comprehensive guides on topics like “How to Become a Data Scientist” and “Introduction to Cloud Computing,” which targeted long-tail keywords and ranked high due to their depth and utility.
• Course landing pages: I created SEO-friendly landing pages for every course offered by Great Learning, complete with optimized descriptions, detailed FAQs, and testimonials to enhance user engagement and time on page.
• Blog posts and thought leadership content: By consistently publishing blog posts on industry trends and course-related topics (like “The Future of AI”), Great Learning became a hub for learners seeking in-depth knowledge. The blog posts were optimized with internal links, CTAs, and SEO-friendly tags.

This approach ensured the site was not just a promotional platform but an educational resource, helping to build trust and long-term relationships with users.

4. Technical SEO Improvements

While content and keyword strategies were key drivers, technical SEO played an equally crucial role in improving website performance and visibility.

• Page load speed optimization: I worked closely with developers to reduce load times, as slow-loading pages affect user experience and rankings. We achieved faster speeds through image compression, implementing lazy loading, and minimizing HTTP requests.
• Mobile optimization: Given that mobile traffic constituted a large portion of users, I ensured that the website was fully responsive and provided a seamless experience on smartphones and tablets.
• URL structure: I revamped the site’s URL structure, ensuring it was clean, readable, and included relevant keywords. This improved search engine indexing and the overall user experience.
• Fixing broken links and crawl errors: Regular site audits using Google Search Console helped me identify and fix broken links, 404 errors, and crawl issues that could impact rankings.

5. Backlink and Outreach Strategy

Building a robust backlink profile was critical to boosting the website’s authority and credibility. Here’s how I tackled it:

• Guest posting: I reached out to authoritative industry blogs and websites to publish guest posts. Each post included links back to relevant pages on Great Learning’s website, improving domain authority and driving referral traffic.
• Collaborations with influencers and industry experts: I identified thought leaders in the edtech and data science industries and collaborated with them to create content. Their promotion of Great Learning’s content on social media and blogs increased visibility and led to high-quality backlinks.
• Content promotion: In addition to organic efforts, I ensured content was shared on Great Learning’s social media channels and newsletters to generate more engagement and attract backlinks from relevant websites.

Results Achieved

The comprehensive content and SEO strategy resulted in remarkable traffic growth. Here are the key outcomes:

• Traffic Increase: Monthly sessions grew from 10,000 to over 1 million within 12 months, marking a significant jump in organic search traffic.
• Keyword Rankings: Over 500 target keywords began ranking on the first page of Google, with many reaching the top three positions. Key terms like “Data Science certification” and “AI courses” saw dramatic improvements.
• Domain Authority: The site’s domain authority (DA) improved from 35 to 55, largely due to high-quality backlinks and improved content optimization.
• User Engagement: Bounce rates decreased by 25%, and average time on page increased by 40%, indicating that the content was both engaging and valuable to users.
• Lead Generation: The increase in traffic directly impacted lead generation for the courses offered by Great Learning, resulting in a 300% increase in enrollments over the same period.

By executing a well-rounded content and SEO strategy, I,along with my team of 5 members, was able to dramatically scale Great Learning’s website traffic from 10,000 to 1 million sessions a month. Through in-depth keyword research, strategic content creation, on-page SEO optimization, and technical improvements, the site became a leading authority in the online education space. This case demonstrates how a data-driven, holistic approach to SEO and content can lead to significant growth and long-term success in a highly competitive market.