Platonik Blog How to write an SEO, marketing or website case study with 3 templates.

I am going to outline 3 case writing formats I use to create some of my website content.Website content is the fuel that drives your website and can attract, convince and convert readers and website visitors into prospects and even customers.These writing techniques are not unique or exclusive to me.I've borrowed and refined techniques to write case studies from others as I become a better writer and communicator.You don't need to be a copywriter; you simply need a writing approach and excellent source material to create case studies.Ready to start creating some case studies ?OK, let's get started.Format 1 : Before and AfterFormat 2 : 7 BagsFormat 3: Pain, Dream, FixExample of marketing case studyExample of web design case studyExample of SEO case studyExample of ecommerce case studyThe first case study format is the Before and After case studyBack To TopAn example of a marketing case study.A very popular method of writing a case study for web designers and online marketers is to show a before and after situation.My website previously used a hamburger menu as a tool for navigating my website.A hamburger menu is a little 3 lined button that appears at the top of a website.You click the icon to reveal links to other pages.This menu button usually worked well on mobile and tablet devices.Two months ago I changed the layout of my website back to a traditional horizontal menu.Each link on the menu is displayed in a line horizontally across the top of the website.This is a screenshot of the menu before.This is a screenshot of the new menu afterwards.Using Google Analytics, I was able to display the average number of pages website visitors look at.Since the change in menu design, website visitors now look at twice as many pages; a 93% increase in pages per session.Thanks to Analytics I was also able to display the change in goal conversions; an additional 42 conversions, an increase from 23 to 65 conversion or an 83% increase in conversions.I am not certain the change in the menu design is a direct cause in the increased conversion however it must have had an effect.Back To TopAn example of a web design case study.We designed and developed a website for a financial services recruitment consultancy about 4 years ago.Last year they approach us with a brief to redesign their website.Before - this is their old home page.After - this is their current home page.The old website was designed and developed to maximise job applications from job seekers.There was a search bar across the top of every page.This solution worked perfectly well with a good conversion rate of visits to jobs applied for.But the client wished to address a new business challenge.They wanted to attract job seekers and companies looking to hire them (to find job seekers and staff.)Therefore the home page search bar was moved and users are presented with two options on the home page.On the left, search for vacancies (the call to action for job seekers).On the right, looking to hire (the call to action for employers seeking their services.)Why and how does the Before and After Case Study Method work ?People are visual people.A picture paints a thousands word !We can process images 60,000 times faster than words.By demonstrating the contrast between the before and after images we can quickly translate our case study results.And results are what the potential customer is looking for.I've used extreme case of poor 'before' designs and contrasted them with great 'after' designs to illustrate better results.You can too with this approach.It's very easy.Let's move onto the second case study writing approach.Back To Top{module_contentholder,name="Blog Post - how to write case studies"} Format 2 : The 7 Bags Case Study formatBack To TopThe 7 bags case study format contains 7 sections for you to follow and complete.I'm going to use an ecommerce case study to demonstrate.An example of an ecommerce case study.Step 1: Write down your target audienceMy target audience in this example is Shopify website owners.You have to be very specific who the audience you are going to write for.However, the audience cannot be too small.In this example there are 375,000 businesses that host their website with Shopify.I could be even more specific; for example, fashion brand websites built on Shopify.Step 2 : Write down the problemThe client told me "I cannot work out why my website is not ranking better in Google".In other words, the website owner wanted to generate more website traffic from Google in order to sell more products.Shopify even surveyed their own customers who said their biggest business problem was generating marketing and website traffic.Step 3 : Write down your solution, step by stepI offer a service to audit a website and identify issues and fixes and a keyword research report where I outline ways to grow your traffic from Google organic search results.The website audit consists of the following work.I look for duplicate pages to be removed and low quality pages that need removed, rewritten or redirected.I examine the word count of each page to identify possible improvements.I run a keyword cannibalisation analysis report to identify pages with clash with each other in the search results.I analyse the page titles and descriptions of the website and offer worded improvements.On top of that I offer a keyword research report service where I show customers what people are searching for and what to content to create.Step 4 : Counter their biggest objectionYou have to get inside the customers shoes or head and expect them to doubt you.You have to counter their objection.Since I know customers can utilise the same research tools as me then this is the biggest objection I have to address in this case study format.The client responded with this objection when I offered my services to fix his problem."I am reasonably ok at keyword research please find my research attached, can you improve upon this I don't know what else you would discover?"I responded and told him."It looks like you are using keyword data from Google Adwords.You only have a list of 149 keywords.And your data source is based on advertising results; not organic searches.I found, from my paid keyword research tools, over 3001 keywords compared to your 149."So paying for my services will enable me to identify opportunities you're not currently aware of or missing out on.Step 5 : Get a quote or testimonialIt can be tough to get a quote from a client.I don't feel comfortable asking customers for quotes or testimonials but you need them in this process.Thankfully, the client wrote a case study on a Facebook group with the results my work delivered for his website."My site traffic has already increased 89% in one month from 827 to 1585 visits.Organic revenue is up 258%.Then, one week later, organic traffic up 103% and revenue up 338% month on month".Step 6 : Risk ReversalIn this step you write down how you can reduce the risk for the customer.It could be a returns policy or money back guarantee.Or in my case, I simply highlight the customer is already spending money elsewhere and could divert funds to me.In reality, the customer would not be spending additional funds; simply diverting funds."You are already spending money on social apps and social marketing services. I can show you that social traffic converts into proportionally less sales than organic traffic.Take a breather and step back and evaluate your entire sources of traffic and sales and divert some funds in my services for a month or two."Step 7 : USP (unique selling point)Now you write down why any customer in step 1 should choose you.I have a marketing degree that specialised in research and over 25 years marketing experience working with brands online and offline and no one else is able to identify easy to rank, high search volume opportunities like me.Back To Top{module_contentholder,name="Blog Post - how to write case studies"} An example of a search marketing case studyBack To TopThe next SEO case study does not use the 7 Bags case study technique.Instead I wrote my case study outlining the results first then highlighting the steps I took to earn the results.This is what I call a "how to" case study.Many digital marketing practitioners are reluctant to show results or even outline the steps they took to achieve results.And that's your opportunity to create content to win business that will stand out from the pack.Back To TopAn example of an ecommerce website case studyHere's a case study using the 7 bag method for an online retailer.Step 1: Write down the target audienceWe worked with a Shopify website owner.Step 2 : Write down the problemOne of the biggest problems consumers have with purchasing products online is the shock of seeing delivery or shipping costs.Since Amazon introduced Prime they conditioned shoppers to expect free next day delivery from all ecommerce shops.So imagine a customer's shock when she sees a product and price she likes, add to her basket, proceeds to the checkout only to be stunned with an additional cost.Step 3 : Write down your solution, step by stepThe solution is to use the built in Shopify abandoned orders email notifications.Shopify proclaim that the average recovery rate for other Shopify stores is 7%.We believed that the default email notification wasn't a great email to convince shoppers to complete their order.So we use a paid for app to construct a series of 3 emails over the course of a week with different incentives to convince shoppers to complete their order.We injected some humour into the emails, borrowing some content ideas from a skateboarding store.As a result we managed to recovering 20% of abandoned orders.Step 4 : Counter the biggest objectionSome business owners aren't as persistent with shoppers as we are and believe that sending 3 emails is excessive.Provided you set the correct tone of voice in your emails you too can recover lost orders and revenue.Step 5 : Get a quote or testimonialRecovering 2