The process of improving the case com- pany’s website content performance Luong, Hong Anh 2017 Laurea Laurea University of Applied Sciences Luong, Hong Anh Luong, Hong Anh Degree Programme in Business Man- agement Bachelor’s Thesis December 2017 2017 Laurea University of Applied SciencesDegree Abstract Programme in Business Management Degree programme in Business Management Bachelor’s Thesis Luong, Hong Anh Luong, Hong Anh The process of improving the case company’s website content performance Year 20172017 Pages 62 This thesis project was commissioned by the author’s employer, G company. The aim of the thesis was to describe the process of improving content on the G’s website in order to up- grade the company’s online brand image. By creating contents for the website, the author wishes to support the case company in gen- erating more leads and receiving more contacts from prospective customers. The academic goal is to represent the idea of integrating content marketing and search engine optimization best practices to master a digital marketing strategy. Hence, the author provides examples of the implementation with appropriate tools and methods which can be used in a real-life situ- ation. The research approach used in this thesis project is action research. The author is also the main person in charge of implementing the change within the organization. A variety of re- search methods were used to achieve this objective, such as: documentary analysis, competi- tors analysis, interviewing with stakeholders and observation. The flow of this thesis reflects the author’s progress of learning and development. The main results of the project are as follows. The author firstly reviews critical concepts and tools for optimizing contents, followed by an analysis of the current situation of the com- pany’s website, and insights to the target audiences gained from interviewing the CEO, the employees and investigating the competitors’ websites. These data are the foundation to build up a SWOT analysis of the website, an editorial calendar to produce content and chan- nels to distribute the content. The result of content performances after one-month imple- mentation is analysed based on the data exported from Google Analytics, feedback from co- workers and the author’s self-evaluation. Finally, the whole process is briefly reviewed to highlight the most important steps and some suggestions are provided for the future plan. Keywords: search engine optimization, content marketing, digital marketing, website con- tent. Table of Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 6 1.1 Background ....................................................................................... 6 1.2 Purpose of this thesis .......................................................................... 7 1.3 Objectives and research questions .......................................................... 8 1.4 Limitation ........................................................................................ 8 1.5 Case company introduction ................................................................. 10 1.6 Structure of this thesis ....................................................................... 11 2 Search Engine Optimization versus Content Marketing .......................................... 12 2.1 Understanding the search engine .......................................................... 12 2.2 Panda and Penguin algorithm update ..................................................... 13 2.3 Search engine optimization ................................................................. 15 2.4 Content marketing ............................................................................ 15 2.5 The relationship between SEO and Content Marketing ................................ 15 3 Basic SEO practices .................................................................................... 16 3.1 Keyword Research ............................................................................ 17 3.2 Optimizing On-Page strategy ............................................................... 19 3.3 Off-Page optimization ........................................................................ 22 4 Website content development ....................................................................... 22 4.1 The role of content for SEO ................................................................. 22 4.2 Website content strategy .................................................................... 23 4.2.1 Types of website content ............................................................ 24 4.2.2 Elements of competitive website content ........................................ 25 4.3 Other factors that influence user experience and ranking ............................ 26 5 Research approach and methods .................................................................... 27 5.1 Research oriented approach ................................................................ 27 5.2 Research methods ............................................................................ 28 5.2.1 Documentary research ............................................................... 30 5.2.2 Observation ............................................................................ 30 5.2.3 Semi-structured interview ........................................................... 31 5.2.4 Competitors comparison analysis .................................................. 32 5.3 Interview data analysis’s methodology ................................................... 33 5.4 Reliability of qualitative research ......................................................... 33 6 Collecting and processing data ...................................................................... 34 6.1 Semi-structured interview’s process and results ........................................ 34 6.1.1 Interviewee sampling methodology ................................................ 35 6.1.2 Time frame ............................................................................. 35 6.1.3 Interview procedure .................................................................. 35 6.1.4 Data collection and analysis ........................................................ 36 6.1.4.1 Interviewee's profiles ............................................................ 36 6.1.4.2 Strong services .................................................................... 38 6.1.4.3 Target audiences' backgrounds ................................................ 39 6.1.4.4 Target audiences' insights ....................................................... 41 6.1.4.5 Implementation's ideas .......................................................... 44 6.1.5 Reliability of this thesis’ interview data .......................................... 45 6.2 Case company’s website overview ......................................................... 46 6.2.1 Competitor comparison analysis .................................................... 47 6.2.2 SWOT analysis ......................................................................... 47 7 Planning .................................................................................................. 49 7.1 A brief guideline of brand voice ............................................................ 49 7.2 Determining focused services for blog .................................................... 51 8 Execution ................................................................................................ 52 8.1 Keyword findings .............................................................................. 52 8.2 Editorial calendar ............................................................................. 53 8.3 Content development and optimization .................................................. 54 8.3.1 Landing pages .......................................................................... 54 8.3.2 Blogs ..................................................................................... 54 8.4 Distribution channels ......................................................................... 56 9 Evaluation of the results .............................................................................. 57 9.1 Website analytics’ statistics ................................................................ 57 9.2 Evaluation from co-workers ................................................................. 60 9.3 Self-evaluation ................................................................................ 60 10 Conclusion and recommendations ................................................................... 61 10.1 Conclusion and answers to the research questions ..................................... 61 10.2 Suggestions for the future plan ............................................................. 61 References .................................................................................................... 64 Figures ......................................................................................................... 70 Tables .......................................................................................................... 71 Appendices .................................................................................................... 72 5 1 Introduction The first introduction provides a picture about the thesis document, such as how the idea was discovered, purpose of this thesis as well as its objectives, research questions, followed