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Udemy is one of the largest online learning marketplaces in the world, with over 50 million students taking courses on their platform. What many people don’t realize is that a huge portion of Udemy’s traffic and sales are driven through organic referrals, without any paid advertising.
In this article, we’ll break down the exact strategies Udemy uses to consistently generate high volumes of organic traffic. By optimizing your own website and content using these same techniques, you can start driving meaningful referral traffic that translates to leads and sales.
Let’s get started!
1. Optimize Your Content For Keywords
The first step is researching keywords related to your industry or niche that get decent search volumes. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs Keyword Explorer to find topics people are actively searching for online.
Once you’ve identified some target keywords, craft blog posts, course pages, and other content pieces to be optimized for those keywords. Weave the keywords naturally throughout titles, headings, body text, images and other components.
For example, if teaching marketing courses, you may want to rank for keywords like “social media marketing training”, “email marketing courses”, “digital marketing certifications”. Your blog post titles, video titles, etc would incorporate those keywords to catch relevant searchers.
The key is making sure the content is still consumable and not just stuffed with keywords. Write articles answering questions or solving problems for readers while working in the targeted keywords. This style of SEO-optimized content helps attract organic traffic and links over time.
2. Create a User-Friendly Information Architecture
Giving users a seamless experience on your site is also important for driving referrals. Make navigation easy to understand through clear labeling and organization.
For example, you may have top-level categories like “Blog”, “Courses”, “Free Resources”. Under “Courses” you could have sub-sections like “Online Classes”, “Certifications”, “Group Training”.
Group related content together logically to help users find what they need faster. For instance, have dedicated tags and pages listing all blog posts about a certain topic or industry. This type of architecture makes your offerings very accessible.
3. Publish Frequently to Engage Search Engines
Consistency is key when it comes to generating organic search engine traffic. Major sites like Udemy churn out dozens of new pieces of content every single week without fail.
You should strive to publish fresh, high-quality blog posts or tutorials on a scheduled basis, such as weekly. Be sure to optimize each new piece of content for relevant keywords. This frequent publishing pattern helps feed search engines timely signals that your site is active and worthy of ranking.
Search engines also reward sites that produce large volumes of helpful content over time. So while quality should always come before quantity, aiming to grow your on-site content is a long-term strategy that will serve you well.
Always schedule timely social sharing of new posts to channels like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well to spread awareness.
4. Build an Opt-In Email List
Capturing email subscribers is another must for referral marketing success. The best way is offering a lead magnet like a free checklist, eBook, or extended blog post that is gated by an opt-in form.
Place your lead magnet teaser and opt-in form in high-traffic areas such as sidebar widget areas, pop-ups, and post snippets. Drive interested users to willingly share their email by exchanging it for a piece of valuable content.
Once you start growing an engaged subscriber base, you’ll have a direct line of communication. Send periodic emails including curated content from your blog, new course launches, early deals – all with the goal of driving subscribers back to your site as referrals.
Nurture your list consistently with educational, beneficial material versus just sales pitches to establish trust. Checkout: https://zipprr.com/udemy-clone/
5. Leverage Internal Links and Cross-Links
Inbound links are one of the most impactful ranking factors for Google. But you have the power to influence this through smart on-site linking as well.
When publishing new content, always include internal links to other relevant and popular posts within your site. For example, linking from a blog post about Facebook ads to your Guide to PPC. This cross-linking improves the user experience too.
Additionally, make sure related sections like your blog and course catalogs are thoroughly cross-linked. For instance, when browsing course categories internally link to supplemental blog articles about each topic.
Conversely, blog posts should link back to full course listings for readers interested in learning more in-depth. Careful internal linking strategy boosts referral traffic around your entire site.
6. Promote Courses through Affiliate Marketing
Tapping into the power of influencers through an affiliate program can supercharge your referral efforts. Recruit bloggers, podcasters, YouTube channels and more willing to promote your courses in exchange for commissions on sales.
Provide affiliates with promotion tools like customized banners, landing pages with their affiliate IDs, text links, and tracking functionality. Key is paying commissions promptly so affiliates stay motivated to continuously refer new students.
This expansion of your reach to established authority sites in related niches is a highly scalable channel for new customer acquisition.
7. Create a YouTube Channel
If you offer video-based online courses, having a dedicated YouTube presence is a must. Think of it as your own mini “Netflix for learning” that you fully control.
Post tutorials, full courses broken into digestible lessons, interviews and case studies directly related to what you teach. Make sure to optimize each video for relevant keywords in titles, descriptions, tags and auto-generated transcripts.
Don’t forget to internally and externally link videos back to your main website. Provide calls-to-actions at the end of clips driving viewers to free resources or full courses on your domain for conversion.
A successful YouTube channel has potential to be a primary driver of referral traffic to your site over time with regular posting and optimization. Ride the evergreen traffic from keyword-optimized videos.
8. Be Active on Social Media
Social platforms serve as massive referral traffic sources when used strategically. Maintain active profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, industry forums and more to build awareness and an audience.
Post a mix of helpful educational content, updates on new blog articles or courses released, responses to questions, and relevant industry news. Engage readers by replying to comments, starting dialogues and participating in conversations.
Constantly remind your followers about early-bird specials, webinars and other deals through social promotions. Consider running contests across networks asking people to share your page for entries.
The goal is turning casual readers into raving fans and subscribers who regularly refer new people to your offerings through their own networks. Nurture relationships to keep the referrals flowing.
9. Leverage Quora and Reddit
Content and discussion sites like Quora and Reddit see huge daily traffic that you can tap into. Actively answer questions, provide solutions to problems, and join conversations within your areas of teaching expertise.
While helping readers first, you can naturally mention your blog/courses or include a brief bio link in lengthier, highly-rated responses over time. Participate regularly on relevant subreddits and always reply thoughtfully to build knowledge and respect.
This activity raises your profile as an industry leader while demonstrating your teaching/learning value proposition to new potential customers in a trusted, non-promotional way. It drives untapped organic audiences to discover you.
10. Take Advantage of Guest Posting Opportunities
Some of the highest value backlinks you can obtain come from guest posting for authority websites and blogs in your space. Find sites willing to take in-depth, 2000+ word educational guest posts answering common questions from their readers.
Write thoroughly on problems within your areas of expertise, include relevant case studies or data, and creatively drop 1-2 natural, contextually-appropriate outbound links back to particularly useful pages on your own site like specific eCourses detailed.
Always check link profiles to identify communities with trustworthy, established domains your readers would appreciate. Guest blogging is a classic win-win referral play when done right, with you gaining exposure while enhancing other publishers’ content.
11. Run Contests and Giveaways
Bringing excitement and a sense of community to your brand through periodic promotions and contests is a top engagement tactic. Run giveaways on your social platforms asking people to like/retweet your page for entries to win free books, courses or gear.
Alternatively hold essay contests related to your niche area, asking entrants to submit thoughtful responses for a chance to win. Always request contact info from interested participants in order to later market to them through your email list.
Contests and giveaways lighten up your image, get subscribers interacting with one another, and grow reach – all while driving new readers to discover your offerings through referrals from acquaintances or followings entered to win. Enhance the customer experience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, optimizing your site using techniques like Udemy opens the door to abundant organic referrals. Focus on developing valuable content and building relationships to turn readers into loyal referral sources. Never stop learning and improving, and your referral traffic and sales will continue to grow sustainably over time without reliance on paid ads alone.
