How a Gaming Server Increased their Marketing ROI by 170% with Us

Hostari is a dedicated hosting service for popular multiplayer games like Valheim and Core Keeper. 

Using a mix of targeted content set to a tailored content calendar and populating key landing pages with conversion-centric content, we were able to jumpstart their SEO growth from scratch. 

The client also reported the rise in traffic also contributed to an extra $45,000 in revenue, as well as reducing the company’s reliance of paid ads.

In this case study, you'll learn exactly how we managed this by:

• Identifying and targeting popular multiplayer game communities with tailored content. 
• Writing conversion-centric content for Hostari’s key landing pages.
• Developing a comprehensive SEO content strategy from the ground up.

The Problem — Ranking Behind Established Competitors

Hostari reached out to Embarque for help with content and SEO as part of their long-term growth strategy. 

At the time, the company was relying heavily on paid ads., While it brought in in a decent flow of users, it was costly and unsustainable in the long run. Especially against the background of big players like G-Portal and Shockbyte dominating search results. Hostari determined early on that it needed a strong SEO boost in order to stand out.

With only 100 organic visits per month and no existing content or SEO strategy, we would have to build their online presence from the ground up..

The Solution — Tailored Content Targeting Gamer Communities

Right away, we found that our main focus should be put entirely on creating content tailored specifically for players in popular multiplayer games looking for dedicated servers. Through multiple strategy sessions, our team developed a laser-focused content plan catering to fans of various titles, ranging from Counter Strike to Valheim and Terraria.

The team at Embarque held multiple discussions and brainstorming sessions with Hostari to nail down key details like their brand voice, target audience, and content style preferences. Using this information, our team went ahead and crafted a tailored SEO content strategy for the company. 

We focused on creating helpful, engaging content for Hostari's target audience of everyday gamers looking to easily set up their own game servers. We also crafted a linkbuilding strategy focused on targeting for the gaming hosting servers Hostari had. The links had to be in the gaming niche and came from high-authority websites.

We were focused on creating content around:

• How-tos on seting up dedicated server, configuring servers, etc.
• Commercial listicles on helpful server hosting tricks, server hosting services, etc.
• Sales-driven landing pages to bring in conversions.

We arranged a number of test topics in a content calendar and made a branding cheatsheet to align on tone and map out topics. This helped us plan content in advance and ensure consistency.

Next, we conducted thorough keyword research and selected high-potential topics to tackle each month based on search volume and competitiveness. These were presented to Hostari for review and approval. 

The Results — 40x Organic Traffic Growth and revenue-driven SEO Growth in 7 Months  

Today, Hostari mainly relies on SEO for revenue growth.

When we started in late 2022, Hostari had no organic traffic After the first batch of pages, they quickly rose up to getting more than 100 visits per month. 

After rolling out tailored content targeting players in key communities like Valheim, we saw significant growth within a month. By January 2023, organic traffic shot up to over 1,000 visits per month.

Hostari’s traffic then grew rapidly month after month. Just 7 months after starting, they surpassed 4,000 organic visits per month in July 2023 - a 40x increase overall compared to December 2022 when we first started.

As of the time of this case study’s drafting, they’re very close to hitting the 6,000 monthly traffic milestone.

According to the client, with the rise in traffic also came a great boost in their revenue flow. According to Hostari’s Marketing Director, they generated $35,000 in revenue within this period.

Key Takeaways

• Home in on the audience: We knew right away what kind of audience Hostari is aiming to convert: gamers. As such, from the very start, our team’s already working to plan and create content specifically tailored for Valheim, Rust, and other multiplayer gamers. This laser-focused strategy led to rapid growth in Hostari's traffic.
• Revenue-driven SEO traffic. By focusing on gaming server topics, as opposed to standard gaming guides, we were able to quickly rank for key topics that led to sales. 
• Create an enduring content base with evergreen topics: How-to articles and listicles on gaming servers have a long shelf life, continuing to drive organic traffic for months on end without requiring much revisions or updates.
• Systemisation ensures consistency: Embarque produces a steady cadence of new content, which kept growth for Hostari’s traffic consistent from month to month. We only managed this because we systemised our approach to content creation, using tools such as content calendars and branding cheatsheet.

Get Ahead of the SEO Curve with Embarque!

As you can see from the graph above, their traffic is continuing to trend upward (even after recent updates in late September that greatly affected traffic of man sites.)

There are many similar success stories among our clients, you can check them out in our case study tab.

Have an SEO problem and wants it resolved well enough that it’d be the spotlight for our next success story? Reach out to our founder Julian at julian@embarque.io and we’ll get you started!

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