As surprising as it may seem for the neophytes, creating a website is not a really difficult task. As a proof, I had the opportunity to present you in my numerous articles, and Youtube videos how I proceeded for my own Twaino Agency
In reality, the real difficulty lies more in the ability to get traction on its website. Indeed, when you start a website, you rarely have an audience, not necessarily an authority, and a presence on social networks weak or non-existent.
The total or almost total absence of traffic concerns a large majority of sites on the web.
So how to go from 0 to 1000 visitors per month? This is exactly what I want to present to you today.
In fact, I had the opportunity to publish an article and a video that presents the results I obtained 1 month after the effective start-up of my Agency’s website SEO Twaino. I was then at 154 monthly visitors after 1 month of launch
After 5 months, my website has progressed nicely to exceed 1000 visitors
If you have seen it, you know the results I presented to you, and you could notice that I was serene about improving the performance in the coming months
That being said, the challenge continues with Twaino and once the 1,000 monthly visitorsi also wanted to present you my statistics and the strategies I used to reach them.
- Chapter 1: Statistics of results obtained 5 months after the launch of Twaino.com
- Chapter 2: Why does it take time to get traction on the web?
- Chapter 3: How to go from 0 to 1,000 visitors per month?
The purpose of this article and the accompanying video is to show you how from scratch I managed to get this visibility mainly from organic traffic. Therefore, this article is based on a case study based on my own website, Twaino.
So I’m going to reveal my results with absolute transparency, without any unspoken words. I will also explain to you the factors that can influence the time it will take a website will take to get visibility. On that note, let’s go!
Chapter 1: Statistics of results obtained 5 months after the launch of Twaino.com
In this chapter, I will present you the current statistics on several tools:
If you are not familiar with these Google tools, I invite you to simply click on them to automatically land on the articles that describe each of them.
1.1. my current figures with Google Analytics
To date, it’s been about 5 months since I launched the website of my SEO Agency Twaino. So the statistics I’m giving are for this period of time.
1.1.1. Traffic overview
As you can see in the following capture, I reached 1,000 visitors per month for the first time on Saturday, September 21, 2019. To be more precise, I had 1002 people coming to my website on a monthly basis.
Currently, that is, on September 25, the statistics are 1226 monthly visitors. So I am well over 1,000 and I am moving towards 1,500!
Over about 5 months, my Twaino site has grown in terms of traffic, as shown in the following capture. This is a very normal pattern, which I have experienced several times in my career.
1.1.2. The source of my traffic
Search engines are the main source of my traffic. As you can see with the following capture, the proportion in dark blue color that represents organic search traffic is much higher.
Also notice that the traffic on September 24th was much higher compared to the others. In fact, I did a communication on LinkedIn, which allowed me to get a little more direct and social traffic than I would normally experience. Reason why you see a spike that day.
1.1.3. The most used electronic medium by my visitors
Most of my visitors use their computer to browse my website.
This information is not surprising since my activity is B2B and my target audience is composed mainly professionals. Thus, most of my visitors are likely to browse my website with their computer than their laptop
Here are some numbers with Google Analytics, let’s move on to Search Console.
1.2. The current data with Search Console
Unsurprisingly, the data from Google Search Console is in line with the trends we just noted in Google Analytics
1.2.1. Overview of my traffic
On the graph below, you can notice that very few Google queries were coming to my website in July. Three months later, you can see that more and more people are visiting the website directly from Google.
Let’s take the example of September 23, when I got the following numbers from Google
- 56 clicks
- 5,550 impressions
In other words, my website was displayed 5,550 times in the search results or SERP and was clicked 56 times.
That said, being displayed does not necessarily mean being in the top positions. The impression even counts the times the site appears on the very last page of the results. So the number of clicks is more important to me than the number of impressions
1.2.2. The query that brings me the most traffic
The keyword or query that brings me the most traffic from Google is the name of my SEO Agency: Twaino.
What this means in practical terms is that many people went to Google and typed in ” Twaino “ and then access my site via the results. This is quite a good signal, which tends to confirm that my branding efforts are paying off
Moreover, it allows my site to gain legitimacy in the eyes of Google, which is a good signal in my opinion.
1.3. Twaino on Google Maps
As I also want to increase my visibility geographically I had the opportunity to create a Google My Business account for my SEO Agency. To see my results in terms of my presence on Google Maps, just type “Twaino” in Google to get the profile of my SEO Agency.
You can see that I have already received 8 very positive reviews from satisfied customers. This has given me a score of 5/5 stars so far. It’s a good start and deserves to be extended.
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And that’s it! I’ve just gone through the numbers that my Twaino SEO Agency in a global way. At this point, it would be legitimate to ask why getting visibility on the web took me so long despite being an SEO consultant.
Chapter 2: Why does getting traction on the web take time?
Timing is a very important factor to consider when launching your website. Indeed, it is extremely easy to be “bewitched” by speeches that claim that success on the Internet is done in a simple and quick way [fusion_menu_anchor name=”21″ class=””][/fusion_menu_anchor]
I want to tell you clearly, run away from all the people who will tell you these things. I often say that you can start to get traction with a new site between 6 months and a year, all depending on:
- The competition in the industry;
- Your web & SEO skills;
- The authority of your site.
2.1. Getting results usually takes time!
With my website Twaino, I managed to get the 1 000 visitors after 5 months. This may seem like a lot of time to some people and very little to others.
Note that except for some rare cases, it usually takes time to establish a business on the web. I had the opportunity to do the trick with my article on the 1 month after the launch of my SEO Agency.
What you need to know is that it takes an average of 6 months to 1 year for a website to really start getting traction
In an article published on Forbes, Josh Steimle says:
” Many businesses underestimate how much time and money it takes to succeed with SEO. Success rarely comes in the first 3 months, even with a good SEO budget. […] If you can’t budget for 6 to 12 months of SEO, you may be better off using that budget elsewhere. ”
If you want to start an online business, it is important to keep in mind that during the first few months, you will be operating at a loss. You will have to prepare yourself psychologically and financially
2.2. Factors that can influence the duration
As you might expect, the standard 6 months to 1 year duration does not apply to everyone. There are certain factors that can either speed up or lengthen the time it takes for you to see results.
2.2.1. Your skills
If you don’t have a lot of knowledge in web marketing in general and SEO in particular. You will have a lot of difficulties to make your business emerge online
For example, if from the beginning you don’t take the right content management system or CMS, you will have big difficulties in the future from an SEO point of view. The same is true if you use free platforms such as Blogger.
So, a person with no knowledge in website creation and webmarketing will take much more time than an expert in the field.
My results also come from certain skills that I have personally acquired over time to
- Create a website and optimize it
- Create quality content
- Create visuals to enrich the user experience.
These are the skills that I put together to get these results in 5 months
If you don’t have these skills, you can always call on professionals for the different tasks that you are not able to perform yourself.
In any case, even if you choose to outsource some of these activities, I would always advise you to try to to have a minimum of knowledge in these fields. The idea will not be to become an expert, but you will at least have enough skills to exchange with the professional, and be able to analyze the constraints and the results of the actions
I can only recommend you to train yourself in SEO and in the complete management of a website!
2.2.2. The competition in the sector of activity
The industry also plays an important role in the time it will take you to get results.
For example, I’m in the SEO business where there are already a lot of players. As you might expect, almost all agencies have “extremely well optimized” websites. So it’s perfectly natural that my Twaino site would take longer to emerge
Thus, I think that if I had launched my site in a much less competitive sector, I would undoubtedly have had much better results in a much shorter time frame
2.2.3. The domain name
In order to boost the SEO of a website, it sometimes happens that some SEOs buy expired domain names. In fact, there are platforms that are specialized in this type of business
These are for example
- Kifdom.com
- Youdot.io
- Domexpire.fr ;
- Godaddy.com
- Etc..
It is important to know that expired domain names have already been used and some of them have had time to acquire a certain authority. Launching a site using an expired domain name can considerably accelerate your performance from an SEO point of view
Twaino.com does not fall into this category and its authority was effectively “0” when I started
Indeed, my goal since the beginning is to really create a brand, with my own branding, and therefore I did not want to start with an expired domain name.
Therefore, I can say without “blushing” that I really started from “Ground Zero”.
2.3.4. The SEO strategies you use
In SEO, there are basically two types of SEOs. There are those who strictly follow the search engine guidelines and those who do not.
The first category is referred to as White Hat SEO and the second as Black Hat SEO
After that, there are obviously nuances and intermediate levels that you can deepen with my guide on SEO.
Black Hat SEO practices are often recognized as being able to give results very quickly
Personally, I am a White Hat SEO, which means that for my site Twaino, as for my clients, I formally follow the guidelines that can be summarized in this sentence Design your pages thinking first of the Internet users and then of the search engines.
If you want to venture into Black Hat SEO practices, be aware that the search engine algorithm is able to spot you
In this case Google indicates that it is :
” […] illegal practices that may lead to the application of a manual action for spam, a penalty of algorithmic type or the permanent removal of the site concerned from the Google index. Once a site has been sanctioned for spam, it may no longer appear in Google.com results or on our partner sites
The penalties can be very severe and I would advise you not to use strategies that Google prohibits. [fusion_menu_anchor name=”3″ class=””][/fusion_menu_anchor]
These are some of the factors that can influence how long your website will take to start getting traction. Now let’s move on to the different strategies I used
Chapter 3: How do you actually go from 0 to your first 1,000 visitors per month?
- Step 1: Create a technically clean website
- Step 2: Define a quality content creation strategy
- Step 3: Think about link building or netlinking
- Step 4: Create a YouTube channel and a LinkedIn page
The strategy I used to achieve my numbers is extraordinarily simple. In fact, I’ve put together a complete guide on its different steps and I invite you to consult it if you want to go deeper into the subject.
This strategy is both simple to understand and simple to say, but it takes effort, time and consistency to work!
Step 1: Create a technically clean website
Creating a website is obviously a necessary first step. And yet, even if it seems simple to create a website, I can tell you, that there will be a huge difference between the performance of a website proposed by a professional, and that of an amateur.
As we have seen, the skills in creation of a website can greatly influence the time you will take to generate traffic.
For my part, I personally designed Twaino from A to Z and to be efficient, I elaborated the graphic charter and the the site’s mock-up before starting.
Technically, my website works quite well
- The architecture is well designed
- It adapts very well on mobile phoness with the AMP enabled
- The graphic charter is consistent
- The loading speed is quite good, although I can still do better.
It is important to note that 75 % of consumers admit to making a judgment about a company’s credibility based on its website design. As a result, after a bad experience on a site, 88% of Internet users are less likely to return afterwards.
Without necessarily reaching perfection, having a website that is relatively flawless is in my opinion the very first step to getting your first 1,000 visitors quickly
When I talk about technically clean, I am combining both the design of the site and the technical part of SEO which concerns
- Speed optimization
- Correct architecture
- Keyword research
- Well optimized meta tags and titles;
- Well structured URLs;
- Etc..
To learn more about these concepts, my complete guide on SEO is able to help you. Keep in mind that a well-built site from a design and SEO point of view serves as a solid base to build your authority and improve your visibility.
Step 2: Define a quality content creation strategy
The best strategy to generate traffic quickly is to create a blog and implement a good content creation strategy. Nevertheless, I must emphasize what seems to me the most important “quality” of the content created.
Indeed, for me, the quality of the content is the element that now makes all the difference in the search engine rankings.
The main idea behind my content creation strategy is simple, but effective. I analyze what is best on other websites, and I try to create a content 10x better. It’s all about outbidding the quality of the content
Creating high quality content that adds value to your visitors takes time and effort. But when you consistently do better than your competitors, the long-term return on investment is considerable.
3.2.1 The current state of my content creation strategy for 5 months
I had the opportunity to create a blog with a large number of articles. I currently have between 70 and 80 articles published.
The articles are well categorized for easy navigation. I deal with SEO but also with related topics
- Marketing
- Business creation
- Website creation and management
My articles are detailed with a length between 3,000 and 30,000. The idea with the “massive” articles that are between 20,000 and 30,000 words is to give the readers the maximum
- Detail
- Added value.
In general, the more value you can add to your users, the more likely you are to succeed on the Internet.
3.2.2. Twaino’s typology of a quality article
To illustrate this part, I will use as an example my complete guide on How to create backlinks.
With a length between 25 000 and 30 000 words, I had the opportunity to dig all the issues related to backlinks. If you are in an industry as competitive as mine, it would be wise to propose contents as detailed as possible
Indeed, the contents of small lengths are likely to be quickly outclassed in the SERPs. If for example, I proposed a 500 words content on backlinks, the probability that I appear in the first positions of SERPs is almost nonexistent
And from a user point of view: Such a short article would probably not be able to accurately inform a visitor thirsty to learn.
I believe that with a long and quality content, you will be able to outrank most of the content that already occupies the top positions. Moreover, it will be difficult for your competitors to propose a content that outperforms you from a qualitative and quantitative point of view.
I therefore suggest you to use a system of bidding on the quality of content. For the same reason, I enrich the textual contents with images and infographics created by me from Adobe Illustrator.
There is also a clickable summary to allow readers to easily navigate from one chapter to another.
In the body of my article, I use other types of visuals namely
- Videos, which can be my own, or those from reliable and relevant sources
- Graphs
- Illustrations or computer graphics
3.2.3. Some tips and advice
Tip 1: Content creation as the first strategy
I consider content creation as my main strategy to get visibility on the web. I am convinced that if you implement a good strategy at this level, you will achieve great performance in the SERPs.
To make it simple, try to show the readers that with only your contents, he will have all the information he is looking for on a subject. So, I advise you to focus on creating content with high added valuethat will really help your audience.
This will allow you to gain
- Visibility
- Authority
- Credibility.
Tip 2: Do some branding and use original visuals
For visuals, I strongly recommend that you avoid image banks since these visuals are usually found on several websites. You will lack originality and your branding may be negatively impacted
For me, promoting your brand image is a crucial element to develop your business. At my level, I try to enrich Twaino’s identity as much as possible
Therefore, I have set up from the beginning a precise visual identity, which aims to be original and easily recognizable
The idea is to mark the mind of your audience with your identity. A branding strategy is, in my opinion, a really important element. And even if it seems to me still too early to draw a conclusion for the moment, I strongly believe in its effectiveness on the medium / long term.
That said, there is no doubt that creating original and personalized visuals takes time or investment. But it’s worth it through the return on investment you’ll get in the long run [fusion_menu_anchor name=”33″ class=””][/fusion_menu_anchor]
Tip #3: Use multiple content formats
Try to present your content in different formats since readers have different sensibilities. While some prefer textual content, others prefer visuals or simply videos
That’s why I practically make a video for every article I publish!
Step 3: Think about link building or netlinking
Still, at this time, the acquisition of backlinks is a very important step when you want to have more visibility in search engines. Combined with a good content creation strategy, you will achieve excellent performance on the web
On this topic, my guide can help you understand what it is and the different steps to acquire links
So what about my Twaino site? Well, to be perfectly honest, I’ve hardly looked into acquiring backlinks. For the moment, I’ve just been content with offering from time to time guest articleswithout going much further
The principle of this strategy is simple, you will propose your contents on the website of another blogger of your theme. In your article, remember to put a link to the page of your website that you want to present to this audience. This is a great way to get backlinks and improve the authority of your website
There are plenty of other strategies like link buying which is a Black Hat SEO practice. As I mentioned before, I really want to offer an SEO service within my SEO Agency that respect the guidelines of Google of Google. So obviously, this is not a technique that I apply
This purely White Hat approach forces me to propose high quality content in order to compete with competitors among whom some use Black Hat SEO practices without complex
Black Hat strategy or not, in the end the decision is up to you, I have no value judgment on this subject. Just know that my results are purely White Hat!
Step 4: Create a YouTube channel and a LinkedIn page
In my content creation strategy, video plays an important role and I devote a lot of time and energy to it, even if the results are slow to come.
Indeed, video is an important media, and if you still have a doubt about it, I recommend you to take a look at the key SEO figures you should know 
As I mentioned, I’ve been creating video content regularly and publishing it on my YouTube channel for the past 5 months. Currently, my channel is still very small, as I still only have 28 subscribers.
Note that videos allow me to propose a different type of content compared to most of my competitors.
Finally, I try to be more and more active on Linkedini think it’s a good source to get qualified traffic.
Indeed, my SEO agency Twaino addresses the B2B sector and for that, LinkedIn seems to be the most adequate social network to find professionals likely to be interested in my service.
I have already had some results on this platform following communications communications that I have made. Therefore, I intend to optimize my presence on this social network in the future in order to increase the notoriety of my SEO agency Twaino.
Conclusion: Next goal – 5,000 monthly visitors!
We can consider that an online business is viable by its ability to generate qualified traffic ! This challenge is common to both start-ups and established businesses
In the most authentic way possible, I had the opportunity to show you my first results during my first launch. 4 months later, my efforts are really starting to pay off.
So, my strategy to go from 0 to 1000 can be summarized in these three pillars
- Design a clean website from a design and SEO point of view
- Create quality content that is 10x better than anything else out there
- Use social media to get your name out there
Don’t forget to check out the complete strategy to see how to adapt it to your own business in order to improve your performance.
For my part, I will continue in the coming months to pursue this strategyand I hope to have the chance to write a new article as soon as I reach 5,000 monthly visitors on my website. 🙂
On that note, I wish you to have a lot of traffic !
See you soon
