Content Optimization Case Study: Merging Articles for SEO Success

Ever feel like your website content could be more impactful?

It’s no secret that Google has put great emphasis on ranking quality and helpful content. So when our client, Total Equipment Training, wanted to improve their blogging strategy, we jumped at the opportunity to analyze the Google Analytics and Semrush data to make a data-driven plan.

In this case study, we evaluated the success of merging several semi-related blog articles into one comprehensive article.

Are you struggling to keep up with Google’s ever-evolving SEO landscape? Contact Boomtown’s digital marketing experts to discuss your paid or organic SEO strategy.

Strategic Content Merging for Boosting Conversions

To identify content with hidden potential, we began by analyzing Total Equipment Training’s blog. Our goal was to find opportunities to merge underperforming articles into a more comprehensive, high-quality resource to increase website conversions.

We identified the “Mobile Crane Inspection Guide” as a strong foundation because of its existing high traffic. However, it wasn’t driving conversions as effectively as we’d hoped. To address this, we chose it as the core piece for our content merge.

Our research concluded there were 3 related articles that could be combined to turn it into a comprehensive guide:

Merged Article #1:
Redundant & Thin Content

Despite addressing the question in the title, ‘What Is a Crane Inspection’ struggled to rank within Google’s top 3 organic results or SERP features. The article’s lack of depth significantly limited its visibility to our target audience.

This article’s content also overlapped with information already covered in our ‘Mobile Crane Inspection Guide,’ making it redundant for users.

This article needed to be merged so we could salvage any good content.

Merged Article #2 and #3:
Duplicate Content & Keyword Cannibalization

We identified ‘Mobile Crane Safety’ and ‘Mobile Crane Safety and Training’ as prime candidates for merging due to significant content overlap.

These articles, published within six months of each other (January 27th and July 28th, 2023), essentially covered the same topic. This created ‘keyword cannibalization,’ where multiple pages compete for the same keywords on Google.

This lack of original content was confusing search engines, thus reducing overall visibility for both pages.

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The SEO Content Merging Process

With the underperforming blog posts identified, we embarked on a strategic merging process to enhance content quality and user experience.

We began by organizing all content into a Google Doc.

This allowed us to identify and retain only the most relevant information while incorporating necessary SEO updates (e.g., keyword optimization, improved internal linking)
While AI initially seemed like a potential tool for streamlining the merge, crafting the precise prompts proved challenging. Ultimately, a manual approach ensured a well-structured and informative resource.
Once irrelevant content was removed, we restructured the content to incorporate necessary SEO improvements.

For an improved user experience, we added a comprehensive Table of Contents at the article’s beginning to assist with user navigation.
A preface was added to the article to inform users of the update and strengthen SEO by signaling freshness to search engines.
We drafted the 3 obsolete articles & added a redirect to our updated page.
We updated the publication date of the article from May 3rd, 2023 to April 10th, 2024.
Finally, we submitted the page for indexing in Google Search Console to expedite Google’s recrawl.

The culmination of this strategic merging process? The Ultimate Guide to Mobile Crane Inspections, a comprehensive resource designed to empower users with the essential knowledge for effective crane inspections.

If you are interested in a digital marketing strategy to modernize your content for Google’s latest updates, please reach out to the SEO experts of Boomtown!

(888) 454-3330

Data-Driven Insights: SEO Optimization in Action

The updated “Ultimate Guide to Mobile Crane Inspections” went live on April 10th, 2024. Because it takes a few days for Google’s crawlbot to reassess the page, we’re analyzing data within Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for the period of April 15th, 2024 – July 15th, 2024. This timeframe is compared against the pre-merge data collected from January 9th, 2024 – April 9th, 2024.

The results are in!

47 MORE sessions after the merge – 20% Increase In Sessions

4 MORE key events after the merge – 133% Increase in Key Events

Bounce Rate and Avg. Engagement Time per Session improved

According to Semrush (Organic Research tool):

8 MORE keywords on Google’s Page 1.
3 MORE SERP Features.
20 MORE keywords total (Google’s top 100 results).

It is important to note the following for data integrity:

We focused solely on Landing Page data to directly track how our SEO optimization impacts Google search results.

Landing Pages reveal the initial page users reach upon entering the website, offering valuable insights into the effectiveness of our SEO strategy.

This data has been filtered to see the impact of our SEO optimization efforts.

Traffic Source: Organic Search channel only.
Target Audience: US traffic only (client’s target audience).
Data Integrity: Excluded spam/bot traffic.

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Before/After: Website Analytics Data (Per GA4)

Quantifying SEO Success with Boomtown Internet Group

At first glance, four additional conversions might seem like a modest result for a strategic content merging process. However, for our client, a single conversion can translate to significant revenue, potentially covering several months of SEO investment.

Boomtown will revisit this data analysis in a few months to track further progress. We may also continue to make minor tweaks to further optimize the content, especially as changes to Google’s algorithm become known.

Backed by the expertise of our SEO content team, Total Equipment Training’s website is poised for continued growth and revenue gains through ongoing optimization efforts!

Ready to leverage the power of content merging for your SEO strategy? Create a digital marketing strategy that fits your needs.

Contact Boomtown’s Digital Marketing Experts!