{"id":1812,"date":"2021-04-19T07:30:03","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T07:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seobuddy.com\/blog\/?p=1812"},"modified":"2023-06-21T03:02:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T03:02:16","slug":"my-seo-journey-dillon-carter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seobuddy.com\/blog\/my-seo-journey-dillon-carter\/","title":{"rendered":"My SEO Journey: Dillon Carter from goaura.com – Happily outsourcing our link-building effort to an agency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My SEO Journey is a new series where entrepreneurs and Indie makers will share their honest SEO Journey filled with failure and success, and most importantly proven results. Episode #10 features Dillon Carter from Aura<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dillon<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My name is Dillon Carter, and I\u2019m one of the co-founders of Aura<\/a>. My co-founder James and I met online while selling on Amazon and eventually started working together on software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aura is an intelligent repricing tool for 3rd party Amazon sellers. 82% of organic sales occur in the Buy Box, which is the little box that allows one-click purchases. The issue is that only one seller can be in the Buy Box at a time. Our software ensures that our users stay competitive 24\/7 and increase sales.

When we initially started Aura we didn\u2019t have much marketing experience. Being a non-technical co-founder, I took on that role. 💪<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning Effective Keyword Research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I started researching every blog related to SEO (naturally avoiding the terribly expensive and short-sighted courses) and everyone said the same thing \u2014 keyword research is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keyword research doesn\u2019t immediately seem important but it\u2019s been the catalyst for effective SEO efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By targeting the right keywords, you ensure the right kind of traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because we\u2019re a small team and bootstrapped, we focused on keywords with buying intent, such as \u201cbest amazon repricer<\/em>\u201d and \u201camazon repricer<\/em>\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buying intent-based keywords ensure that the traffic you gain from ranking is actively looking to purchase your service\/product. There\u2019s really no point in adding more traffic if it doesn\u2019t also increase sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we had a few solid rankings and our domain authority began to grow we then shifted into non-buying intent keywords to expand the volume of traffic we were getting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Domain<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For us, the biggest resource was the free course offered by the Growth Machine<\/a> team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning On-Page and Content Optimization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once we had a list of keywords we wanted to rank for we needed to learn how to create content that ensured Google knew what we were targeting. While on-page and content optimization initially seems overwhelming, we found the on-page optimization guide by Backlinko<\/a> an incredible resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, we started creating a streamlined process for choosing keywords to target and how the content should be written. That\u2019s when we hired someone part-time to write the content for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time I was full-time in college so I hired another student and walked him through what Backlinko recommended we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outsourcing High-Quality Backlinks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One thing we learned very early on was that amazing content targeting the right keywords simply isn\u2019t enough. Google wants to see amazing backlinks pointing to your content. The issue with that is just how time-consuming it can be. You\u2019ll commonly see a small team hire a virtual assistant<\/a> to take on this role, but I think that\u2019s ineffective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For us, we chose to work with an SEO firm that specialized in getting backlinks in an industry we\u2019re in. That\u2019s when we started working with the team at Smash Digital<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We still head the strategy, keyword research, and content creation process, but Smash Digital ensures that we\u2019re getting quality backlinks every single month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re currently on a monthly contract with Smash Digital and couldn\u2019t be happier. While I cannot share the exact amount we pay them for backlinks, their fully managed SEO campaigns<\/a> start at $2.5k\/month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every single month we receive 10+ amazing backlinks. Including some from Close<\/a>, 99 Designs<\/a>, and Founder\u2019s Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Referring<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Once you have the above, it\u2019s a pretty well-oiled machine where keywords go in and rankings come out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Search<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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There\u2019s more\u2026<\/div>\r\n

Now it\u2019s time to discover the other 102 steps that will get more organic traffic flowing to your website. Get the SEO Checklist here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to get a sneak peek of what it looks like?<\/strong>
\nEnter your email and get a free demo version of the SEO Checklist.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n

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