An analysis I did for my web publishing class.

1. LaurenBateman.com Content & Traffic Analysis
BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Industry Overview
Guitar Lessonsinmyopinionwouldbe one of the mostpopularlessonstotake asa childalong
withan instrumentinthe orchestra. Onlineguitarlessonsare a greatroute to go if you’re wantingto
learna newinstrumentbutare busyand don’talwayshave time tostopwhat you’re doingandgo
somewhere tolearnfromsomeone.That’swhere the online partcomesinhandy.Youcan essentiallydo
the lessonsfromwheneverandwhereveryouwantthat’swhatmostpeople findconvenient,maybe
youwant to do a lessonfirstthingwhenyouwake up,maybe duringyourlunchbreak,oreventowind
downat the end of a longday, doesn’tmatteryoucan do itthen.In March of 2020 whenCOVID-19shut
everythingdownandeveryone wasinlockdownnotknowingwhattodo I’msure there was people out
there that use to playthe guitarthat justgot to businesswithworkandlife,sotheyputinonthe back
burnerand unlessyouwere anessentialworkingthenyouweren’tdoinganything,sopeople research
online guitarlessonvideos.Some of the mostimportantaspectsof online guitarlessonsisthatyou’re
learningfroma personandor companythat deemsthemselvesgoodenoughtoteachothersandyou’re
gettingtheirprospective onthe guitarandconnectingwiththem. Withonline lessonsthere isinaway
step-by-stepinstructionsonhowto start playingorhow to playa certainsong so fromstart to finishyou
knowwhatyou’re doingandif yougetstumpedona part youcan always referto it. There are a lotof
differenttypesof onlineguitarlessonsitall comesdowntowhatyour personal preference is.The first
optionisyoucan justpickup a guitarand teach yourself how toplayjustfromplayingaroundwiththe
guitarfor a little bit. Youcan eithergoon YouTube andlookup how to playa certainsongfor free,or
some channelswill offerfree beginnerguitarlessons.The nextoptionis youcan take lessonsfroma
guitarteacherthat will teachyouall youneedto know aboutthe guitar andhow to play.

2. Online GuitarInstruction Audience
In the past 5-10 yearsguitarlessonsandguitaringeneral ison a downhill slope andalmost
goingout of style ina way that newmusiciansare strayingawayfrominstrumentsandusingmore audio
and autotune accordingtoAlex Williamsof the New YorkTimes. The quote-on-quoterebirthof guitars
came whenthe firstlockdownof the pandemichit,andeveryone wasstuckat home.Womenwere the
one’smostlytakingupguitarlessons,theyaccountedfor45% of the new usersthat guitarteachers
were encounteringcomparedtothe 30% before COVID-19.20% of themwere under24 and 70% were
under45 so itwas a youngcrowd eitherwantingtogetintoguitaringforthe firsttime or comingback to
see if theycan masterthe guitar accordingto Alex Williamsandthe New Yorktimes. The guitarisn’t
somethingmostpeoplecanjustpickup and one minute there are expertatit,ittakespractice and
practice to evenform a couple chordsthat make sense.“Youjustreallyhave tofocuson your hand
placement,the chordsyou’re playingandpairingthemwithstrumming,”accordingtothe New York
Times. (Williams)
Company Information
Our clientisLaurenBateman.comshe isanonline guitarlessonsite offeringawide verityof
servicesinthe guitarworld.The purpose of LaurenBateman.comistoteachyouthe guitar inthe easiest
wayspossible soyoutocan playguitaras good as Laurenor evenbettersomeday. Laurenoffers
multiple serviceswhetherthatbe herfree videosonherYouTube channel,hermembershiptolearn
guitarlessons,orherpatreon.For the servicesthatcostmoneyyoucan choose fromthe beginner
course that starts at $197 to the strummingcourse for$97. The beginnerone tochose if youwant to
start learninghowtoplaybecause there, she giveslessonsandhow toplaythe cords. Onthe strumming
course it digsdeeponthe correct formyou shouldhave while strummingthe cords,the correctsound
each cord shouldmake andmore. LaurenBatemanisdifferentfromall the otherteachersonline

3. because she’sawomanand one of the firstwomentoteachguitar lessonsonline,online withthatshe
alsodidn’tgettrainedprofessionally,she taughtherself.She graduatedfromcollege withadegree in
archeologyandbiologyandworkedincancerresearchso she’srelatable inthe sensethatshe knows
howto cater to certainpeople.Alongwithherpaidguitarlessonsshe alsohasa YouTube channel that
makesmoneyonhowevermanyviewsandengagementshervideosget.She alsosellsmerchandisewith
herbrand on itfor studentstorep. As of recentlythere isa teamof 4 people workingwithLauren,they
range from a virtual assistant,costumersupport,social media/editor,andbusinessmanager.Herteam
mainlyworksparttime.She saysit tookher brand about 2-3 yearsto gain enoughtractiontowhere she
neededtostarthiringa teamto helpherrun her brand.
CompetingSite
JustinGuitar.com isLaurenBateman.com’smajorcompetitorinthe sense thattheystartedoffer
the same servicesandwantto be the best.WhenyouopenJustinGuitar.com’shome page youare
greetedwithawelcome videoof himanda drop-down menuof everythinghe hastooffer.Hisside
includesalinktohisapp, reviewsfromfamousmusicians,andhissocial media.He alsohasa sectionon
the homepage of mediaoutletsthathe hasbeenfeaturedin. JustinGuitar.com’s approachtolessons
seemstobe in a more corporate sense,justfromthe homepage he putsthathe has 1.5 millionYouTube
subscribers,500,000 service users.Where asLaurenBateman.comjustseemstobe more welcomingand
that you’re goingtobe learningandtalkingtoher.
Quality ContentAssessment
ContentOverviewand Quantity
On Lauren’shomepage she hasalistof hermost recentlessonsshe’scoveredandwhattype of
skill level theyare for.She alsohasa listof hermost popularlessonsamongherstudentsorjustthe
viewcountonher channel.HerYouTube channel isone of hermost successful partsof herbrand

4. besidesthe lessons.Whenyouopenherchannel,she hasa welcome videotellingyoualittle bitabout
herself andhowtonavigate herchannel dependingonwhatyou’re tryingtofindwhetherthatbe how
to playfor beginners,findingachordchart fora song,or youwant to see herplay.Ithelpsa lotthat she
has all hervideosintoplaylistonthe mainpage of herchannel because thenwheneversomeone goesto
herchannel,theydon’thave tostruggle to findwhatthey’re lookingforthere’saplaylistforall your
needsandI findthat helpful justsoI’mnotstuck goingthrougheverythingtofindone simple video. As
of February2022, there are 189 chord charts to chose fromon herwebsite and mostof themcome with
a videoexplainingwhattodo and whatchords touse.The chord chart and videoaspectsshe puts upon
herwebsite forpeople tolearnfromisa smarton her endbecause itfurthersthe students’knowledge
of the songthey’re playingandbetterunderstandit.Hertestimonialspage of herwebsiteisalso
importantbecause youwantto see whatpast studentsare sayingaboutherteachingstyle andjusther
as a personingeneral before youchurchthe guitarlessonstofurtheryourknowledge.One student
says, “I wouldwhole heartedlyrecommendthe online course andLaurentoanyone interestedin
learninghowtoplaythe guitar,” saysJeffreyGillis.
Quality and Value Content
The homepage of LaurenBateman.comisagoodexample of agood startingpoint.The picture onher
homepage isprofessionallytakenandthatadds to hercredibility,becauseif itwas justtakenon sayan
iPhone cameraitwouldn’tlookasgoodand professional.Forthe mostparther website andthe
contentsof her website are wellputtogetherandwritten,the one thingthatstandsoutto me isthere’s
a lot of word onthe homepage meaningalotfor a perspective studenttoreadandthat mightdrive
themaway.The newergenerationshave smallerattentionspansanddon’twanttoread something
that’soversaturated, that’swhyTikTokis so popularbecause the videosare shorterinlength. Another
thingto pointoutthe guitarlessonsyoupage forand ran on a completelydifferentwebsitethanthe
homepage.Itdoesn’tmake sense tohave twodifferentwebsites,thatcancreate confusionforfuture

5. studentsandmaybe that’sthe reasontheydon’tsignup foryour lessonsandgosomewhere else.
Laurens’ssite isunique because she’snotthe mostpopularonline guitarteacherlike Justinissoher
studentseithermustseekherwebsiteoutorrun across hername onsocial mediaor ina recentnews
article theyread.
Brand Trust & Authority
NewsCoverage
Like I statedearlierLauren’ssite isn’tthe most popular, sostudentsare mostlikelygoingtohave toseek
herout or read abouther insome type of publication. The mostnotable publicationLaurenhasbeen
mentionedinisthe NewYorkTimeswithanarticle titled“Use thistime duringCoronavirusisolationto
learnto playthe guitaror ukulele”the article talksaboutthe bestonline guitarteachersandwhatthey
offer.Alongwiththe NewYorkTimesLaurenhasalsobeenpublishedinyahooNews,CMUSEa music
newspublication,Kyseramusicpartsstore,BostonVoyager,andthe New York TimesWirecutter.All
great publication tobe publishedin,butshe needsto be more noticeable.Wheneveryourresearching
online guitarlessonsLaurenisn’tthe firstresultongoogle norevenonthe firstpage,soyou must do
some diggingtotry to findhersite. Justinonthe otherhandas handfulsof articleseither includinghim
or writtenabouthim.InLaurenseffortstobe more friendlyandone onone she hasput behindherthe
publicityshe couldbe gettingandnewtraffictohersites.Justinhasbeendoingonline guitarlessons
since 2003 so withtime comesthe publicityand he’sgottentobe a trustedmemberof thisservice.He
alsohas beentraininginmusicformostof hislife where Laurenforalittle bitputiton the back burner
whenshe wasworkingincancer research.Justinisfeaturedinthe BBCone of the mostpopularnews
stationsinthe world,The telegraph,USA Today,The Independent,andNPRall forhisworkinmusic.I
wouldsayJustinGuitar.comisgainingmore trustandtravel,onlybecause Justinhasbeenaround longer,
and he knowwhatto do in the industryandhow to navigate.NotthatLauren isn’tdoingagood jobshe

6. justneedstobe inthe industryfora little longerandmake a name forherself thenshe will be onthe
uphill.
Social Presence
Laurenhas 161,000 subscribersonYouTube while Justinhasalmost1.5 millionat1.49. Laurenhas
gained17,000 Instagramfollowers,while Justinhasgained80,765. ClearlyYouTube andtheirguitar
lessonsare eachof theirstrongsuitswithhavinganunevenratioof followersthroughplatforms.Inthe
last30 daysJustinhasgained3,420 followerswhereasLaurenhasn’tgainedanynew followerson
Instagram.AlthoughLaurenhasbeenona steadyhill of gainingfollowersJustinhasbeatenherinjust
abouteverycategoryleadingme toside withhimwhenitcomestowho hasa bettersocial media
presence andbrandtrust.

7. TRAFFIC ANALYSIS
VisitAnalysis
LaurenBateman.com JustinGuitar.com
June July November June July November
Visits (most recent months) 40,700 47,600 30,700 2.9 million 2.6 1.7 million
Unique Visitors (most recent months) 24,900 29,800 18,400 1.1 million 983,300 720,000
Visits per Unique Visitor 3 2.7 1.7 3.9 3.9 7
Definitions:Visitisdefinedasa total numberof visitorstoa site.It alsoincludesnew andreturning
visitorsinitsconclusion. Unique visitors are visitorsthatare goingto the site forthe firsttime. Unique
visitorsare individualswhovisitthatsite regardlesshow manytimesthey’ve visiteditinthe past30-
days.Visitsperunique visitor isacalculationwhere the visitsare dividedbythe unique visitorstoget
the numberof visitsperunique visitor.Sayyouhave 100 visitstoyour site buthave 20 unique visitors
that wouldmeanyouhave 50 visitsperunique visitor.
Comparison: Accordingtothe data from Summer2021 there’sasteadynumberforvisitsandunique
visitors,althoughinJulyJustin’sunique visitorsdoesdipdownintothe 900,000s where it had previously
beenaround1.1 million.InbothJune andJulyJustinhasthe same numberof visitsperunique visitorat
3.9, butfast forwarda couple of monthsand itrocketsup to 7. Also,inNovemberJustin’svisitsalmost
go downby a millionto1.7 millionandhisuniquevisitorsdropsdownto720,000. The reasonJustin’s
numbersrocketedupinNovemberisthe new variantof COVID-19isgettingstrongersoitcould be
possible thatpeopleare startingtoworkfrom home more and havingthatfree time again.
ReturningVisitors: Returningvisitorshave businesswantandneedtosurvive.WithLauren’sretuning
visitorstheyare loyal inlearningthe guitarandloyal toher inthe sense thatshe has a personable
approach to teaching.The decrease invisits perunique visitorispossiblybecausepeople courseshave
ended,orthey’ve gotteneverythingoutof the lessonstheycould.

8. EngagementAnalysis
LaurenBateman.com JustinGuitar.com WebAverages
Bounce Rate % 72.39 45.44% 40-50%
PagesPerVisit 2.24 5.67 4.6
Avg.VisitDuration 2.33 8:08 3:05
Bounce Rate: Bounce Rate isdefinedas how manytimessomeone onlyvisitedone page andforhow
long.Bounce Rate is one of the mostimportantaspectstobusinessownerswhentalkingabout
numbers.There isanequationtothat ownersuse to calculate the bounce rate,itsRb = (Tv / Te).The RB
standsfor bounce rate,the Tv standsfor total numberof visitsviewingpagesandthe Te standsfor total
entriesforpage.Throughoutthe industrythe average time on asecondfor a useris190.4 seconds,the
average page viewsperuseris4.6, the bounce rate persite is40.5%, and the average new visitsis
62.9%. The higherthe bounce rate on a site,the worse itis,youwant yourbounce rate to be low
meaningthatusersvisitedmore thanone page while onyoursite.Sometimesif avisitoronlyvisitsone
page that meansthat itcould be hard to navigate orunderstand.Laurenmentionedthatherbounce
rate washigh,and that doesn’talwayshave tobe a bad thing.Since she hasa lotof contenton bothher
YouTube channel andwebsite itispossible thatausergoogledhow to playa certainsongand her site
was one of the top resultsandtheywatchedthat videoandgotwhat theyneededtogetoutof itand
left.
Pages PerVisit
Pagespervisitreferstothe numberof pages a visitorvisitsbefore theyexitthe website.
Lauren’snumberswouldbe consideredbelow averageforherindustry,thatcan be botha goodthing
and a bad thing.Onone hand itcouldpossiblybe goodbecause theyare comingtoeitherherwebsite or

9. YouTube channel andtheyare
searchingfora specificandshe isone
of the resultsfoundtheywatchthe
videoandgetwhat theyneededfrom
that video.Onthe badside itmeans
that a lot of people aren’texploring
herwebsite tofindmore abouther.
Somethingonthe page made themuninterestedandnotwantto lookaround. Justin’snumberare at
the average or a little above andthat’sbecause he’sbeeninthe industrylongerandhe know the trends
and whatpeople like andhe’scateringtothem.He hasmore resourceson his website toinvestigate
unlike Lauren.He producesalbumsandyoucan findthemonhiswebsite aswell ashisYouTube
channel. Laurenisdoinga
goodjob withthe toolsshe
isgiven andnot havinga
professionalmusiccareeror
studiedmusicfora long time
like Justinormanyothersin
the industry.Inthe nextcouple years, she will buildupanevenmore loyal fanbase thatwill wanttoget
everythingtheycanoutof the guitarlessonsandhopefullypassLauren’sname aroundif anyone isin
the marketof pickingaguitar back up.
Average VisitDuration
An average visitdurationisdefinedasthe time the usersspendsonthe site.The statisticiscalculatedby
subtractingthe difference intime betweenthe firstandlastpageviews. Lauren’svisitdurationisbelow
average that couldbe accountedbya few things,itcouldbe possible thatauserhas thispage

10. bookmarkedandfrequentlygoesbacktoit andis onlythere fora little bitora useristryingto learntthe
guitarand lookingatthe chord chart andtheykeepgettingmesseduponone partso theyneedtogo
back and refreshtheirmemoryonwhattodo inthat part of the song. Anotherthingthatcouldbring
Lauren’saverage page durationupcloserto the average isengagingviewsmore thanshe alreadydoes
on herlivestreamsonYouTube.It’sagreatideaand a way to engage more withyourfollowers.Just
doesn’tdothemas
frequentlysoIthink
that’sa categorythat
helpsLaurenout.
JustinGuitar’s
audience isfarmore
turnedintohiscontenteitheronhisYouTube channel orhiswebsite.The case forhimmay be that a
newuserhas come across hischannel wantingtolearna new songand he was the firstresultthatcame
up,so theystayedforthe whole videotolearnit.
POPULARITYANALYSIS
Total Backlinks No. of Referring
Domains
Average No. of
Backlinks per domain
LaurenBateman.com 1,925 638 3.017
JustinGuitar.com 917.367 9,693 94.64
Definitions:Backlinksare definedas linksonwebsitesotherthanyourownthat go back to a page on
your website. Referringdomainsare definedas websitesfromwhichthe targetwebsite orwebpage has
one or more backlinks toyour site.Thinkof itas the short nickname forLauren’ssite.The referring

11. domainwouldbe laurebateman.com.Average numberof backlinksperdomainiscalculatedwhenyou
divide total backlinkswithnumberof referringdomainsthenyoucome upwiththe numberthat
representsaverage numberof
backlinksperdomain.The
average numberisimportant
for businessownerstoknow
because theywantto knowhowmanybacklinksare linkingtotheirsite,because the more backlinksto
your site the more trafficyoursite will get, andthe more people are talkingaboutitandresearchingyou
and yourbrand.
Analysisof Link Quantity: Lauren’sstrongestbacklinkisthe New YorkTimesarticle whentheyreference
her.That has helpedherandherbrand.It’s goingto helpanyone’scareerwhenthe New YorkTimesis
mentioningthem.A handful of herbacklinks
that refertoher ownwebsite so they’re going
to have a good reference score because it’s
comingstraightfromthe source. Other
popularbacklinksLaurenhave included Yahoo
News,CMUSE, NewYorkTimesWirecutter,
and the BostonVoyager.Justinonthe other
handhas a lotof high-quality backlinkssothat
comeswiththe territoryhe’sone of the most popularand long-standingbrandsinthe industry. His
popularbacklinksincludeBBC,the Telegraph,USA Today,andNPR.The average backlinksgoingtoback
to justinguitar.com
Trend Analysis:Lauren’sbacklinkstohersite are only gettingstrongeroverthe past2 yearsaccording
to NeilPatel.com.FromDecember2018 to June 2019 there wasvirtuallyno backlinks toherthere,butin

12. earlyJuly2019 there wasa jumpfrom0-253 my guessisthat isaroundthe time she wasgettingtraction
fromthe NewYorkTimesarticle she wasmentionedin.Anothersignificantincreaseinbacklinkstoher
site datesto December2019 to December2020 there isan uphill incline,itmightnotbe much butits
givingLaurenthatpush she needstokickstart herbrand evenmore.The biggestjumpyousee in
backlinksisfromMarch 2021-Feburary2022 (Present).Justin’ssite, likeLauren’sdidn’treallyseeany
backlinksfromDecember2018 to June 2019. But inJulyof 2019 Justin’sbacklinkswentfrom0 to almost
300,000 ina matter of monthsafterhe startedgainingpopularitybecause of lockdownandeveryone
was boredintheirhouse andtheyeitherwantedtopickupa new hobbyorperfectone theyalready
had.Fast forwardto May 2021 Justin seesaspike once againinbacklinksgoingfrom430,00 to just
undera millionwith917,000 inpresentday.
Analysisof Link Quality: WhencomparingbothLaurenBateman.com andJustinGuitar.com,Lauren’ssite
isgettinga lotlesstrafficcomparedto Justin’sinthe sense thatif a randomuserwere to searchhowto
playa certainsong on Google andor YouTube Justin’svideosare more likelytopopupbecause he has
more backlinksandoverall traffictohisvideobecause of hispopularity.Google isalwaysgoingtopush
the site that has more trafficcomingto itand isbeingtalkedaboutmore because that’swhatitthinks
youneed.Eveninthe newswhenresearchingJustinall the articlesare abouthimandwhat he’sdoing
withhisbrand.Whenyou searchLauren’sname it doesn’trightawaygive youarticlesandmagazines
aboutwhat she’sdoingwithhersite itgivesyounewsaboutherlastname if there’sanybacklinksto
that. A big thingforboth sitesisif they’re gettinganyrestricteddomainsthatlinktothem.Inthiscase
Lauren’ssite isn’tgettinganybacklinkstorestrictedsites.Those sitesinclude educational,
governmental, ororganizational.Justinonthe otherhandisgetting28 educational backlinks,3
governmental backlinks,17educational referringdomains,and2governmental referringbacklinks.This
isgood forJustinbecause withthose backlinkshe’shittingadifferenttype of targetmarketthathe’s
probablynotuse to hitting.All andall LaurenBateman.comjustisn’tcompetingwithJustinGuitar.com,

13. justnot on hislevel inthe since thattheydon’tcome fromthe same musicbackground,Justinhasbeen
doingthisforyears andknowshisway aroundthe industryandhas had time toget hisbrand outthere
and have a loyal fanbase where sure Laurenisdoinggood withwhatshe wasto work withandshe still
has a couple yearsto catch up to Justin,butIthinkwiththe right toolsandstayingonthe paththat she’s
on nowLaurenwill catch upand be fightingwiththe bigname brandsto getherself outthere.

14. Work Cited
Bateman, Lauren. Lauren Bateman Guitar, https://www.laurenbateman.com/.
“Learn How to Play Guitar with Justinguitar.com.” Justinguitar, https://www.justinguitar.com/.
Williams, Alex. “Guitars Are Back, Baby!” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Sept.
2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/style/guitar-sales-fender-gibson.html.
Butterworth, Brent. “Use This Time during Coronavirus Isolation to Learn to Play Guitar or
Ukulele.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Mar. 2020,
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/coronavirus-learn-guitar-ukulele/.
“Free Seo Checker: Website Seo Analysis Tool & Audit Report.” Neil Patel, 15 Sept. 2021,
https://neilpatel.com/seo-analyzer/.