1. How Laurentian Created a Data-Driven
Content Strategy Using SEO
Jonathan Migneault Jeff Riddall
Social Media Coordinator VP Product & Customer Success
Laurentian University Mintent

2. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Hello, I’m Jonathan
• Social Media Coordinator
• 9 Year Journalism career with CBC, Journalists
for Human Rights, The Wire Report, Sudbury
Star and Northern Life
• Active #PSEWEB blog contributor
• Enjoy hiking, canoeing and cross-country skiing
• Live with wife Alisha and 2 cats - Huckleberry
and Finn
JMigneault@laurentian.ca
@jmigneault
@Jonathan Migneault

3. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent

4. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Hello, I’m Jeff
• VP Product & Customer Success
• 20+ years of digital marketing experience
• 9+ years with Mintent/gShift
• Social Media Addict
• Craft Beer Snob
• Empty Nest Adventurer
• Former Hockey Dad (imahockeydad.com)
• Lover of Words jeff.riddall@getmintent.com
@Jriddall on Twitter
JRiddall on LinkedIn
jeffriddall on Instagram
jeff-riddall on Snapchat
Jeff Riddall on Facebook

5. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent

6. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Agenda
● Managing Your Web Presence
● Search and Social
● Content is Still King
● Start with a Content Strategy
● Optimize Your Content
● The Challenge at Laurentian
● Distribute Your Content
● Measure Everything
● Laurentian Results and What’s Next
● Q & A

7. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Understanding your web presence
• Encompasses all of your brand’s digital points of presence:
– Your website(s)
– Off-site content – blog posts, articles, press releases
– Social media accounts and posts
– YouTube and other video networks
– Social local – Yelp
– Google My Business
– Review sites
– Directory listings
– Paid Ads
– User generated content
– Dark Social - email, messaging apps

8. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
It all starts with organic search
Search and social play an important role for students throughout the customer life
cycle. People turn to both search and social channels throughout the stages of their
journey – with over 90% of customers report they use search at every stage of their
customer lifecycle and over 85% of customers saying they use social channels for
discovery and consideration or purchase.
Forrester, April 2016

9. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Then it all goes social
• Students visit your website to make sure you
exist and are credible
• Research is done outside of your website
through social media or via people (influencers)
they trust
• Positive or negative feedback can be published
at any time during the process
• These conversations are happening whether
you acknowledge them or not

10. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
But, which social?
• Which goals do you want to achieve with social
media marketing? Do you want to improve brand
awareness or generate leads?
• Which channels does your target audience use?
• What kind of content do you plan to create? Will it
be more of image-based content, blog post links or
video content?
• Which channels are your competitors using?
• How many social media channels can you manage?
Most popular social networks worldwide as of January 2019, ranked by
number of active users (in millions) via Statista.com

11. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Content is still King
“If the social web were a living
organism, content would be the air that
it breathes.”
“You must have at least one source of
original rich content and you have 3
viable options: a blog, a podcast or a
video series.”
“A source of rich content provides
something that is shareable,
conversational and engaging for social
platforms.”

12. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Modern content campaigns

13. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Start with a strategy and a calendar

14. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
But which content?
• Focus on the content and keywords
you already have some authority for
• Source and analyze the SERPs for
content opportunities
• Page 2 SEO
• Consider keyword search volume and
competition

15. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
And which keywords?
• Review keyword clusters or groups
• Mind the long tail

16. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
What does Google want?
Current, relevant, authoritative content.
Organizations need to prove to Google they are the definitive source of whatever keywords (products,
services, content) they want to be found for.
Google’s mission has never changed - “to organize the world's information and make it
universally accessible and useful.” In other words, deliver the right content to the right
people at the right time.

17. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Optimize your content
• All starts with Keywords and Content – providing the best
answer to a searcher’s question(s) – i.e. intent
• On-Site Optimization (Keyword rich Title Tags, Headings (H1,
H2, etc), internal and external links, image alt tags, meta
descriptions)
• Schema where appropriate (Products, Events, Questions
and Answers)
• Mobile Friendly
• Engaging, Shareable Content (Text, Images, Audio, Video)
• Include Strong Calls To Action to promote engagement
and/or conversion

18. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
More on intent
Search intent optimization is all about delivering the
right answer exactly the way your target audience
want it.
There are three major types of search intent:
• Do (also known as “commercial” or “high”
intent): The search user is ready to act (buy,
join, etc.).
• Know (also known as “informational” intent): A
search user is looking for information.
• Go (also known as “navigational” intent): Search
users know which site or brand they want to go
to.

19. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Informational intent-based content

20. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Optimize your social content
• Social content is indexed and can appear
in search results too
• Optimize social posts using topical,
related keywords from blog or site
content
• Incorporate relevant keywords as
hashtags, which are the basis of social
search
• Include visible social follow buttons on
your site and social sharing buttons
within your content

21. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Establish human connections
• Identify and establish human connections
with relevant social users and influencers
Tip: Use Instagram or Twitter search to see
who’s using keywords / #hashtags you want
to be found for
• Curate and share relevant content from
others in hopes of reciprocation
• Build your social community focused on
trust and relationships

22. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
“Content builds relationships. Relationships
are built on trust.
Trust drives revenue.”
Andrew Davis, Bestselling Author and Speaker

23. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Distribute your content
• Publish & distribute content wherever
you’ve determined your audience is
and have established a following
• Consider and analyze international
search opportunities
• Identify and build connections with
relevant influencers who can help
share your content with their trusting
audience
• Use unique tracked links to measure
what is working or not working by
channel, content type, geography, etc.

24. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Measure everything
• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• SEO Monitoring
• Tracked Links
• Social Analytics and
Listening

25. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Website traffic

26. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Organic visibility
• Focus on the relative
visibility of clusters/groups
of topical or logically
organized keywords rather
than individual keywords.
• Identify keyword and
content opportunities.
• Build on existing authority.

27. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Measure content engagement
• Reach, Likes and Shares are great, but Clicks
and Conversions are better.
• Leverage branded Tracked Links
• Measure and monitor top performing
content, engagement over time,
engagement by channel, by influencer, by
content type, by geography
• Define and monitor conversion paths, which
may cross on-site and off-site content
• Optimize content distribution for maximum
engagement

28. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
“There are three objectives for content
marketing: reach, engagement, conversion.
Define key metrics for each.”
Michael Brenner, CEO, Marketing Insiders Group

29. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
1. Declining organic search traffic
2. Poor use of headings on program web pages
3. Lack of high search volume keywords
4. Very few images contributing to SEO
5. Limited ability to support content authors
6. No SEO tools to discover keywords, content and backlinking opportunities
The challenge at Laurentian

30. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
1. Re-wrote 120 academic program overviews in 60 days
2. Leveraged previously untapped keywords
3. Proper use of headings within body content
4. Added images with alt tags matching keywords
5. Keywords better reflect program content
Laurentian actions

31. BEFORE

32. New
keywords in
headers
brought in
more traffic
from Google.
Inc. 25% rise
in entrances.
AFTER

33. Results

34. 25%Average increase to program page entrances
10%Average increase to program page traffic

35. 99Keywords that now rank our programs in #1 position
9Median search position for all programs, up from 10th
th

36. Organic Search Contribution to Web Traffic

37. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
1. Increased focus on Tracked Links to track traffic sources
2. Monitor for new keywords and content opportunities
3. Formatting content towards Google Schema and Voice Search
4. Align content keywords across web, email and social media
5. Evaluate performance in international countries’ search engines
So what’s next?

38. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Stuff to remember
• Today’s student journey is owned by the individual.
• Nearly every online journey starts with search, more of which are mobile.
• Google wants relevant, quality content above all else.
• Focus on optimizing and building on the content you already have authority/momentum for.
• Create, publish and distribute keyword rich, intent optimized content via targeted channels.
• Measure everything, but especially true engagement – clicks and conversions.

39. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Win stuff
Drop a card at our booth for two chances to WIN!
- A bottle of Saskatoon Liquer from Lucky Bastard Distillers
- A Website/Content Audit – valued at $1,000

40. Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent @getmintent @LaurentianU #DataDrivenContent
Download this deck from SlideShare
Mintent.id/PSEWEB-LU-Mintent
Read the Laurentian/Mintent Case Study
http://mintent.id/PSEWEB-Laurentian-SEO-Case
Check out our free Keyword Research Sources eBook
http://mintent.id/PSEWEB-Keywords
Contact Us Anytime
JMigneault@laurentian.ca
jeff.riddall@getmintent.com
Thank you