Lions Blog: On-site SEO Ranking

We are in the process of wrapping up week four of the young NFL season. It is hard to believe that we are already about 25% done with the year and I can speak for all Detroit Lion fans when I say what a disappointment for our team (1-3).

So instead of talking about the Detroit Lions, let’s talk about how I can take my blog to the next level and make it “Billy Fuccillo Huuuuge” by using digital marketing and SEO.

Search engine optimization ranking can be increased by focusing on three criteria:

1. Keywords
2. On-site SEO
3. Off-site SEO

To find suitable keywords, I used Google’s Keyword Planner to find relevant keywords with high traffic to consider using throughout my blog:

Now, I need to focus on my on-site SEO which can by leveraging my chosen keywords above through my URL, header tag, main content, blog tags and more. For example, as you can see, my URL is www.deanfromsiena.wordpress.com. This will work for my keywords “dean” and “siena college.”

As for my site title, “Dean from Siena College,” and my tagline, “Detroit Lions Blog,” are also remained constant with my keywords. In fact, site titles and taglines carry more weight when determining page rankings for Google.  The content of my blog also speaks for itself as it matches with several keywords mentioned above.

Another sect of on-site SEO is the quality of my blog post which is measured by:

1. High click through rate
2. Low bounce rate
3. Fast load times
4. Original content
5. Good spelling and grammar

The last facet of SEO rankings is off-site SEO. Since I am unwilling to pay for Google Ads, I rely heavily on off-site SEO to boost my page rankings. The popularity of my off-site SEO depends on the number of backlinks to my blog. I have connected my blog with all my social media accounts as well as have family and friends share my link on their accounts.

I hope this short blog post provided you with some basic information on search engine optimization. If you are eager to learn more, please read Daniel Louis’ “13 Super-Easy Ways to Immediately Improve your SEO” and Dr. Michael Pepe’s blog.

In conclusion, I have a lot of work to do with my blog and I can not do it without your help! So please, share my site, share your thoughts in the comment section and have fun!

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Detroit Lions: The Business

We are all huge fans of the National Football League and our respective teams. The simple reality check that all fans need to know is that the National Football League and the Detroit Lions are – and operate as – a business that requires an inflow of revenue.

The main product sold by professional football teams are the players on the field – that’s obvious. In order to create more revenue, all of the teams branched out into selling team based apparel.

With the increased use of the internet by consumers, all NFL teams use their own website as a source of e-commerce to sell their products. My Lions use http://shop.detroitlions.com/ as their e-commerce site.

So how effective is the digital marketing of the Detroit Lions’ organization?

If you are associated with an NFL football team, you already have national brand recognition – but where exactly does their traffic come from. I know – through experience – that if you follow the Detroit Lions on social media, they advertise their online store heavily. This is known as unpaid referrals and it makes up a large portion of their traffic (it is also completely free).

Another large source of traffic is through searching in Google. When you google “Detroit Lions apparel,” it is the second website listed. This organic search lags behind only www.Nflshop.com. Although it seems counterintuitive, NFL Shop is a competitor of the Detroit Lions’ website as the revenue will go to the NFL instead of the Detroit Lions. The Lions need to improve their SEO strategy

The next criteria are conversions that lead to their revenue. Below is a picture of the Detroit Lions’ website:

As you can see, it is a very aesthetically pleasing website that is easy to follow, it has a large call to action “Shop Now” and has a large promotional banner right on top. All of these factors are put in place to boost conversions and click-through rates. This website holds true to the Lions’ brand with the unique Lions’ Honolulu Blue and the “One Pride” banner on the left.

Overall, I think the Lions have an effective website and should be more proactive with their SEO campaign. Especially because their team is the biggest disappointment in professional sports.

If you would like to go into a more in-depth analysis of the use of digital marketing in the National Football League, I encourage you to read the work of Dr. Michael Pepe’s analysis of the Minnesota Vikings. Anything from Dr. Pepe is worth looking into!