How to Grow a Marketplace to 100k Monthly Visits

TL;DR

Captain Experiences grew its marketplace to 100k visits per month by leveraging SEO and content strategies. The company focused on creating localized content and optimizing for search engines to increase visibility. Their approach involved understanding user needs, creating engaging content, and building a strong SEO foundation, which helped attract both users and investors.

Transcript

foreign ER on the program to talk Captain experiences was a unique vertical that I ran into is doing a great job from SEO standpoint Jonathan's the CEO essentially uh Captain experiences is a booking you I'll let you describe it yeah it's like Airbnb for booking Outdoor Sports guides nice oh Sports guys so you're not just fishing so Focus first on ... Read More

Key Insights

• Captain Experiences is like Airbnb for booking outdoor sports guides, initially focusing on fishing.
• SEO played a crucial role in Captain Experiences' growth, starting with a content week to boost site visibility.
• The company raised a $2 million round led by Bullish, with notable investors like Adam Bessvinick and Andrew Chan.
• Captain Experiences' SEO strategy involved creating localized landing pages and focusing on user-friendly content.
• The company uses a drilling model from oil and gas to forecast SEO growth, prioritizing high-search-volume markets.
• Their team structure emphasizes SEO as a core business function, with everyone contributing to SEO efforts.
• The company balances SEO and paid marketing, using paid channels for immediate results while SEO builds over time.
• They recently expanded into the hunting vertical, leveraging existing supply and similar SEO strategies.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did Captain Experiences use SEO to grow their marketplace?

Captain Experiences utilized SEO by creating localized content and optimizing their site for search engines. They began with a content week to generate relevant pages, which helped improve their visibility in search results. This approach, combined with a focus on user-friendly content, significantly boosted their site traffic and marketplace growth.

Q: What role did content play in Captain Experiences' growth strategy?

Content played a pivotal role in Captain Experiences' growth strategy by providing valuable information to users and improving SEO. They focused on creating engaging, localized content that matched user intent, which helped attract more visitors to their site and improved conversion rates by aligning with user expectations.

Q: What is Captain Experiences' approach to expanding into new markets?

Captain Experiences approaches new market expansion by leveraging existing supply and applying similar SEO strategies used in their initial markets. They focus on creating content tailored to new verticals, such as hunting, and ensure their supply can meet the demand by using their established network of guides who offer multiple services.

Q: How does Captain Experiences balance SEO and paid marketing?

Captain Experiences balances SEO and paid marketing by using paid channels for immediate visibility and results while building long-term organic growth through SEO. They utilize SEO as a foundational acquisition strategy, allowing them to reduce reliance on paid marketing over time as their organic traffic increases.

Q: What are the key SEO KPIs for Captain Experiences?

The key SEO KPIs for Captain Experiences include organic users, time on page, pages viewed, bounce rate, backlinks, referring domains, and domain authority. These metrics help them assess the effectiveness of their SEO efforts and guide improvements to their content and site structure to enhance user engagement and search visibility.

Q: How did Captain Experiences secure investment using their SEO strategy?

Captain Experiences secured investment by demonstrating their SEO strategy's effectiveness in a proven market, Galveston. They used a drilling model to forecast potential growth in new markets, showing investors their ability to replicate success. This data-driven approach, combined with existing traction, helped convince investors of their scalability.

Q: What is the structure of Captain Experiences' marketing team?

Captain Experiences' marketing team is structured around SEO as a core business function. They have a Director of Performance Marketing who oversees SEO and paid marketing. The entire team, including guide onboarding and product managers, contributes to SEO efforts, creating a company-wide focus on organic growth and search visibility.

Q: Why is Captain Experiences' content strategy important for user engagement?

Captain Experiences' content strategy is crucial for user engagement as it focuses on creating relevant, localized, and user-friendly content. By aligning content with user intent and providing valuable information, they enhance user experience, increase time on site, and improve conversion rates, ultimately driving more bookings and marketplace growth.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Captain Experiences grew its marketplace by focusing on SEO and content creation. They started with a content week to boost their site’s visibility and created localized landing pages tailored to user needs. This strategy helped them attract both users and investors, leading to a $2 million funding round.

• The company uses a drilling model from oil and gas to forecast SEO growth, prioritizing high-search-volume markets. Their team structure emphasizes SEO as a core business function, with everyone contributing to the effort, making SEO the foundation of their acquisition strategy.

• Captain Experiences recently expanded into the hunting vertical, leveraging existing supply and similar SEO strategies. They balance SEO and paid marketing by using paid channels for immediate results while allowing SEO to build long-term visibility and organic growth.