How Deel’s Footprint Exploded in One Year of Great Content

Deel’s online presence exploded in just one year.

Actually, I lied. It only took nine months.

The company did this with a blend of content types and strategies we’ve already covered in this blog.

What makes it exceptional is the carefully crafted combination.

Deel conducted a symphony of content strategies, combining a great product, multimedia content, traditional blogging, content repurposing, and an industry glossary that gets as much traffic as its blog.

The result? An explosion of organic traffic. Let’s dig into how the company did it.

A Great Product

Having a great product certainly isn’t the only thing you need to rank well in SERPs, but it doesn’t hurt either! Deel has not only managed to create a product that stands out but also timed its market entry to perfection, aligning with the needs and demands of the contemporary workforce. That means people are searching for exactly what Deel offers, and the company reaps the rewards. Let’s delve deeper into what makes Deel a remarkable player in its domain.

What Makes Deel Great

At the heart of Deel’s success is its unwavering commitment to addressing the pain points of both employers and employees in the remote working landscape. The platform facilitates seamless cross-border payments, ensuring that employees around the world can be paid easily and promptly, a feature that has become increasingly important in the globalized workforce of today.

Deel has also incorporated a range of features that streamline compliance and tax processes, taking the burden off the companies while ensuring that they remain within legal boundaries. The intuitive user interface, coupled with a responsive customer service team, makes the experience smooth and hassle-free, fostering a loyal customer base that swears by its efficiency and reliability.

Deel’s Perfect Timing

Deel entered the market at a juncture when remote working was transitioning from being a temporary solution to a permanent working model for many companies globally. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this transition, creating a pressing need for a platform that could handle international payroll and compliance with ease.

The timing was impeccable, as Deel offered solutions that were tailor-made for the challenges of the new normal, quickly gaining traction and becoming a trusted partner for companies navigating the uncharted waters of a remote working environment.

How Deel Keeps Growing

Since its inception, Deel has been on a trajectory of constant growth, not resting on its laurels but continually expanding its product offerings to cater to the evolving needs of its clientele. The company has introduced features such as Deel Advance, which allows employees to access their pay early, enhancing financial security and flexibility.

Looking ahead, Deel is integrating more functionalities that would facilitate easier management of remote teams, such as standardized payroll reporting, US HR tools, and more employee management capabilities. By staying attuned to the market demands and being responsive to the needs of its users, Deel is poised to remain a frontrunner in the industry, offering solutions that are not just great but essential in the modern working landscape.

Investing in Its Blog

Deel recognized the immense potential of nurturing a rich and informative blog to bolster its online presence. The company embarked on an ambitious journey, adding nearly 500 new pages to its blog in the year from June 2022 to June 2023. This section delves into the strategies that fueled the blog’s rapid growth and the remarkable results it has garnered.

Rapid Expansion

Deel’s commitment to providing value to its audience is evident in the rapid expansion of its blog. In just a year, the blog grew rapidly, with hundreds of new pages added. This massive addition of content not only served to engage readers but also significantly boosted the blog’s SEO performance, creating a rich repository of information that caters to a wide array of queries and topics pertinent to the remote working landscape.

Current Performance Statistics

As the Deel blog grew, so did its SERP performance. Blog pages on Deel’s site get about 13,500 visits; this number has grown just as rapidly as the number of articles on the site. These statistics paint a picture of a blog that is not just growing but thriving, becoming a go-to resource in its niche.

Long-Tail Keyword Strategy

A significant pillar of Deel’s blog strategy is its focus on long-tail keywords. These are phrases that are usually longer and more specific than commonly searched keywords, allowing Deel to target niche demographics more effectively. 

By creating content that answers very specific queries, Deel has managed to rank high in search results for numerous long-tail keywords, driving a substantial amount of organic traffic to its blog. This strategy has not only improved the blog’s SEO ranking but has also facilitated the creation of content that is highly tailored to the needs and interests of its audience.

For example, Deel ranks number one for search terms like “tax deductions for independent contractors,” “does part time get holiday pay,” and “benefits of being an independent contractor.” These are all specific to Deel’s use case and are perfect opportunities for Deel to demonstrate its value to these potential customers.

Ranking Through Specificity

Deel’s approach to ranking involves a meticulous focus on specificity. Because Deel uses a high volume of blog articles targeting long-tail keywords, the company can dig into the details of what the people searching need. That means each blog post is crafted with a clear focus on addressing specific questions and providing detailed answers. 

This strategy has enabled Deel to rank high in search results, as search engines prioritize content that provides comprehensive answers to user queries. By focusing on specificity, Deel has been able to create content that resonates with its audience, fostering a community of readers who return to the blog for reliable and detailed information. This focus on specificity has not just enhanced the blog’s SEO performance but also built a reputation for Deel as a thought leader in its industry.

Taking a Risk with the Glossary

Creating a glossary can be a high-risk, high-reward strategy. While it has the potential to significantly boost a website’s SEO, it comes with its own set of challenges. Let’s delve into why glossary pages can be a risky endeavor and how Deel navigated this path successfully.

The High-Risk Nature of Glossary Pages for SERP Ranking

Glossary pages can be a double-edged sword when it comes to SERP rankings. On the one hand, they can enhance a website’s SEO by providing detailed explanations of industry-specific terms, thereby attracting organic traffic. At the same time, you can build your reputation as an authority on important industry topics.

On the other hand, it is a high-risk strategy because there is no guarantee of ranking high on SERP. The competition is often stiff, with many companies vying for the top spot for popular keywords. Plus, people don’t especially care where they’re getting their glossary definitions from. Many people will even rely on Google’s summary of a page rather than clicking through to the site the definition is coming from.

With those risks, many companies aren’t interested in the substantial investment glossaries can involve. With the time, resources, and expertise required to craft high-quality definitions, it isn’t always worth it.

The Uncertainty of Ranking and Facing Tough Competition

Venturing into the creation of a glossary page comes with the inherent risk of not knowing whether you’ll secure a high rank on the SERP. The competition is often fierce, with established players dominating the top spots for popular terms. 

Despite this, Deel took the plunge, understanding that a well-crafted glossary could potentially become a goldmine for organic traffic. The gamble was to create a resource so comprehensive and user-friendly that it would naturally attract visitors and, over time, climb the SERP ranks.

Learning from Another HR Giant

Previously, we broke down BambooHR’s glossary pages’ roles in its content strategy. You might think that BambooHR’s domination of the HR glossary space made Deel’s work more difficult, but Deel seems to have learned from BambooHR’s successes in important ways.

BambooHR leveraged glossary pages in its content strategy to establish itself as a thought leader in the HR technology industry. By creating an HR Glossary that defines common industry terms with professional quality, the company significantly boosted its website traffic and SEO performance, with 13 of its top 20 site pages belonging to the glossary. 

The glossary pages, which match search intents and queries precisely, have a low barrier to entry, cover a wide range of topics, and attract backlinks, enhancing BambooHR’s authority and trustworthiness in the industry. 

Also, each definition page features customized calls to action that lead to product landing pages or demo-booking pages, turning the glossary into a revenue generator. The initiative builds on BambooHR’s existing reputation, established through previous marketing efforts and innovative HR policies, to offer a resource grounded in expertise and usefulness, thereby solidifying its position as an industry frontrunner.

Where Deel Followed and Differed from the Norm

Deel’s glossary has quite a few things in common with BambooHR’s. One that stands out immediately is its customized calls to action. Each glossary page on Deel’s site ends with a call to action that perfectly fits the needs of a person searching for that term. Just look at the example below, found on the definition of “annualized salary.”

However, what sets Deel apart is its commitment to providing value through its glossary. The company went beyond just defining terms—offering detailed explanations and contextual examples to help readers fully grasp the concepts. This approach not only enhanced the user experience but also positioned Deel as a thought leader in its industry, a strategy that is likely to have contributed significantly to its success in the competitive SERP landscape.

Deel is also very careful about how it targets keywords in its glossary. Because Deel’s use cases are specific to remote work, its glossary is a “Remote Work Glossary,” as opposed to BambooHR’s “HR Glossary.” That might seem like a fine line, but it allows Deel to use a strategy that sees its glossary ranking for more than 33,000 pages despite an already-crowded field.

Bite-Sized Videos

Bite-sized videos have emerged as a potent tool to engage audiences effectively. These short, concise videos are not just a trend but a strategic approach adopted by many companies, including Deel, to enhance their content strategy. Let’s delve into why these videos are great for content and how Deel utilized them to its advantage.

Why Bite-Sized Videos Are Great for Content

Bite-sized videos come with a plethora of benefits that make them a go-to choice for contemporary content creators. First, they are repurposable, meaning they can be easily integrated into various platforms and marketing strategies, thereby maximizing their utility. 

Second, their concise nature makes it easy to rack up views, as viewers are more likely to watch shorter videos to completion, enhancing engagement metrics. 

Finally, the snappy format of these videos ensures that the content is direct and to the point, holding the viewer’s attention effectively. 

How Deel Leveraged the Features of Bite-Sized Videos

Deel astutely recognized the potential of bite-sized videos and harnessed each of the aforementioned features to bolster its content strategy. By creating a series of short videos, Deel was able to repurpose them across different platforms, including its YouTube channel, Instagram, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn page, thereby reaching a wider audience and enhancing its brand visibility.

Moreover, Deel ensured that its videos were snappy, presenting complex information, such as regulatory compliances and financial insights, in a simplified, easy-to-digest manner. This approach not only facilitated a higher view rate but also fostered a deeper connection with the audience by offering value in a concise format.

Deel’s Strategy for Creating a High Volume of Similar but Different-Enough Videos

Taking a deep dive into Deel’s strategy reveals a meticulous approach to creating a high volume of similar yet distinct videos. The company embarked on a series of videos focusing on different operations on the platform, such as how to sign your contract in Deel. Each video, while maintaining a consistent format, offers helpful tips for users. Here’s one you can check out for yourself:

By addressing commonly asked questions in a short form, Deel is both helping its support team reduce their workload and giving its users an even better experience.

In addition to these helpful tips, Deel has also created a series of Explainer videos. These videos are concise and accessible—they explain different platform features in under three minutes. By using consistent branding and graphics, each video feels like an extension of the same product. This strategy allows Deel to advertise its product and quickly show the many ways it can benefit users.

Repurposing Content Across Channels

Here’s a little secret about content marketing: It’s okay to copy, as long as you’re copying from yourself. We’ve spoken at length about the advantages of repurposing content, and maybe Deel’s listening because the company is an expert at it.

Just take a look at this X post and this Instagram post. There’s no reason why the same joke couldn’t appeal to both audiences, although the randomness of the algorithms might mean that one gets more attention than the other. In this case, the Instagram post got more than 300 likes, whereas the X post only got a dozen.

Deel could improve its content in one place, however. One important thing to remember when you’re repurposing is that you shouldn’t post the same thing at the same time on different platforms. In the case above, both posts went up on the same day. That makes it obvious to multi-platform subscribers that you’re just recycling the same content.

Get More Breakdowns

Deel’s holistic approach to content strategy is a master class in effective digital marketing. Through diligent keyword targeting and thoughtful creation of blog articles, Deel has managed to rank high in search results, driving high volumes of organic traffic to its platform. 

The venture into glossary pages, despite the inherent risks, has proved to be a rewarding gamble, reinforcing Deel’s authority within its industry. The strategic use of bite-sized videos and smart repurposing of content across platforms has also broadened its reach and deepened audience engagement. However, an area for potential improvement lies in the timing and pacing of repurposed content to prevent redundancy. 

Overall, Deel’s successful content strategy offers valuable lessons for any organization looking to strengthen its digital presence.